Your right, don't talk or ah knowledge them your safe, if ya talk ya reset the clock, I let em take me to court and tell the judge I have 750 in SSI 800 on mortgage

I just had these people phoning me. I wasnt answering unknown numbers.  Im  confused though cause i dont know about anyone else here but Im in Canada.  What debt  could i owe that requires a debt  collector from Pennsylvania?  Also, it wasnt even on my number they called me.  They called on text message app "Text Free".  

Actually, by law, they MUST identify the company they are calling from.  That is completely different from saying they're debt collectors.

They actually have a duty not to disclose that they're debt collectors except to the debtor him or herself. In other words, they're not permitted to tell anyone that the debt exists. The name of the company might be construed as disclosing the fact of the debt.

Then again, they could just be jerks.

you are where I live in Texas its four years each state has its own limitations look up with that dumbass

Wrong, they have 7 years to collect. If after 7 years with no contact, the statue of limitations apply.

Easy solution. Drop your landlines and get a no contract cell phone for home use! They can't track your number for a no contract phone. Too bad someone wouldn't drive a plane into the building they work at. I'm afraid to fly so im out lol.

Do what I do. When they call I keep saying, Huh? Huh? Huh? Who? Who? Who? One day they called and I had a canister airhorn and let it fly, that was awesome

Don't answer, let it go to voicemail.  If it's important, they'll leave a message.  Screening your calls this way will minimize your minutes usage.

This phone is an 'Obama' phone. The person they are trying to reach had this number before I did. I have told them at least 20 times and they still keep calling. I don't answer anymore because it uses up my minutes that I need. But they are tricky and keep changing their number.

FYI...Same calls as everyone else. I owe nothing but closed out my deceased mother estate in 1999 using my name, address and phone #. So they are writing and calling me. They said she owes $39.00 to T-Mobile and I should pay them. Okay right..When h3ll freezes over!!!

I added then to NOMOROBO (No More Robo) plus I have the Panasonic cordless phone system with call blocker with first ring  turned"Off" option. So now, I never hear their annoyance calls because it never rings in. So they can call until the world comes to an end and I will never know it unless I see it on my caller ID. The joke is on them

Yup... yet another one from Portfolio Recovery... also look out for 412-235-0111

This number never leaves a message, calls several times a day and shows up on the caller id as 'Donna Hines'. Since they call my cell, I just block the number using the Mr. Number app.

I was reading some old posts about statute of limitations.  I am not sure how accurate this is, but I was told that if you discuss/acknowledge a debt past the statute of limitations with the creditor or a collector, the time begins to toll again.  So, ESPECIALLY with these PORTFOLIO nuts, don't answer, don't talk, n o t h i n g!!!!

I find it fascinating that after everything has long since been discharged or passed the statue of limitations, I have this company calling me from multiple numbers on a debt that they can't legally call me on.

I don't answer at this point. They call several times a day, all week long. I did get a surprising reprieve for all of Monday (even though they did call on Sunday). I also noticed that as I am now attempting to rebuild my credit after my family suffered layoffs and property loss, this is when these vultures swooped in for the kill. How long have they had this debt on file, and have been licking their greasy chops, waiting for us to recover?

You're not making your cheap profit off of me. Move on. I even changed phone numbers, so they're up on things once you open a LOW BALANCE account and purchase little, while paying it off. Back the hell up. We still don't have any money. This was done for the purpose of bringing our utility deposits down in the future... NOT for you to collect on something that isn't yours to collect on. No one hired you, and you're not getting paid unless you harass people. We know this, and hope more and more people become wise to your shady practices and abusive behaviors. We hope your business shuts down in bankruptcy. Insolvency. Please, just go away already.

I have an 'Obama' phone and they are trying to reach the previous owner of the number. They will not stop calling no matter what I tell them .

This number keeps calling me at work, no one is there when I pick it up, sometimes it transfers to a person. Today I talked to the person, they said they are a debt collector. I asked them to take my number off their list, since I don't have any uncollected debt. They said my number is not their system, they also acted like I called them and not visa versa. She couldn't remove my number since it wasn't in there. They've been calling me for months.

Portfoolio, Portfoolio  !!!  First call since Tuesday, call #528 since your barrister Pearson informed me and the state attorney general that Portfoolio had "decided to cease collection efforts." That was more than 3 1/2 years ago. Clearly, then, these calls are not attempts to collect on some fanciful "debt," since they declared in writing that they had decided to cease that effort.

Call on, Portfoolio. We are sorry you are lonely and sad and just want to hear a human voice. But don't hold your breath, it won't be a voice in this house. Take a long walk off a short pier, Portfoolio!

I got this call from Pittsburgh and another bleeding Portfolio Recovery goon... I owe you nothing, period... add this one to the long list of pests.

PORTFOLIO RECOVERY = schmucks.

With this plethora of phone lines in so many locations, these bottom feeders have to harass a LOT of people into paying on uncollectable debts (for which they are no longer liable) just to cover their telephone bills.

At it again with this number

I just keep adding them to my auto reject list...bunch of scumbags

You are not dealing with normal human beings. Do not talk to them at all, ever, not one word, not even your name, not even to tell them they have a wrong number. Best of all is to never pick up the phone at all. These are bottom-feeding, demonic vermin utterly lacking in decency, ethics, or humanity. It is IMPOSSIBLE to converse on a normal level with them. They want to rob you blind.

Ignore them, or, if they are pestering you too many times a day, complain to the Consumer Protection division of your state's Attorney General. Under most circumstances, Portfoolio can be made to 1) identify themselves in Caller ID, and 2) call no more than twice a day, and 3) limit the number of calls per month.

If they are calling you about someone else, you can safely send them a "cease and desist" letter, instructing them never to call your phone number again. (If they claim you owe them for a debt, the slimeballs will probably afflict you with a fraudulent 1099-C, imputing "income" to you for the IRS. They buy some old written-off debt, that they cannot verify is yours, and cannot verify even truly exists, pursuant to their purchase for pennies on the dollar, of a huge printout from some bank or other outfit. For every $1000 worth of the so-called "debt", they pay maybe $30 or $40, in some cases, up to $60 or $70. They then turn around and start dunning you for about $2500. If you become uncooperative to the point of telling them to stop bothering you, then they tell the IRS you had extra income of $2500.) The whole blessed thing is an extortion scam, it is a disgusting marker of the state of our nation, as it has been enabled by the Best Congress Money Can Buy, along with the whole financialization of our (former) economy.

Your are Way WRONG

I use a voicemail service for ALL but personal calls.  I give out the voicemail number to everyone but good friends.  When the voicemail number is called, if the caller does not have Caller ID the computer will inform that the call cannot be accepted.  If the computer identifies a number, the caller can leave a message.  The compute then sends a text message to my cellphone and an email notification to me.  I can then listen to the message by either clicking on the text message or the email.  
1.  If a caller does not leave a message, the computer so indicates - and I ignore the call.
2.  The service allows blocking number, and as to Portfolio I have blocked their numbers.  The computer can be instructed to answer with "Number disconnected" or "Ring but do NOT answer" or Ring busy.  With Portfolio, I set the number to ALWAYS rings but NO answer.  :-)
So far I have added four Portfolio numbers.  There is no limit.

Portfolio Recovery and their whole new bach of numbers have been calling rentlessly again since I blocked all their old numbers on my cell phone.  I pay Verizon $5 extra each month to be able to  block 20 numbers and I think Portfolio Recovery is about 19 of them.  I am out of space to block the latest versions.  I live in Texas and am out of the 4 year limitation all though I know they can try to collect for the next 20 years.  I hate them and I hate living like this.  My husband died and then I was laid off from my job 2 months later.  Unemployed for 19 months then took a low paying job just to cover life's expenses. I understand you are not to talk to these people because they can make the 4 year clock tick again if you say the wrong thing. They need to go to hell and find a legit business that is really profitable.  Thanks to everyone for the great advice on how to handle these scum suckers!

block there number

I'm not sure how these people got my number either-- it was weird they are looking for a former co worker of mine who I haven't seen or heard from in about two years.  At first they called asking if I was E**** ******S, so I told them that they had the wrong number.  I made no mention of the fact I knew her.  So then instead of hanging up like any normal person would when you tell them they have the wrong number she was like "well, do you know her?"  and so I told her I USED to work with her and hadn't seen her in years she was very rude and acted like she didn't believe me and all but called me a lier.

They call frequently, sometimes several times in one day, and usually several days in a week. Every time I do answer it just hangs up, but I stopped answering their calls a while ago, because they've called us for months.

You say hello about 3-4 times before anyone says something. Then ask for my husband. When I say he is not here, can I take a message they hang up. They call at night about 8:15. They call about 2-3 x a week.They wouldn't tell me who they were. The number is always 412-235-6111.