Here's some interesting reading:

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation's consumer protection agency, is warning consumers to be on the alert for scam artists posing as debt collectors. It may be hard to tell the difference between a legitimate debt collector and a fake one. Sometimes a fake collector may even have some of your personal information, like a bank account number. A caller may be a fake debt collector if he:

?is seeking payment on a debt for a loan you do not recognize;
?refuses to give you a mailing address or phone number;
?asks you for personal financial or sensitive information; or
?exerts high pressure to try to scare you into paying, such as threatening to have you arrested or to report you to a law enforcement agency.

If you think that a caller may be a fake debt collector:

?Ask the caller for his name, company, street address, and telephone number. Tell the caller that you refuse to discuss any debt until you get a written "validation notice." The notice must include the amount of the debt, the name of the creditor you owe, and your rights under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
If a caller refuses to give you all of this information, do not pay! Paying a fake debt collector will not always make them go away. They may make up another debt to try to get more money from you.?Stop speaking with the caller. If you have the caller's address, send a letter demanding that the caller stop contacting you, and keep a copy for your files. By law, real debt collectors must stop calling you if you ask them to in writing.
?Do not give the caller personal financial or other sensitive information. Never give out or confirm personal financial or other sensitive information like your bank account, credit card, or Social Security number unless you know whom you're dealing with. Scam artists, like fake debt collectors, can use your information to commit identity theft ? charging your existing credit cards, opening new credit card, checking, or savings accounts, writing fraudulent checks, or taking out loans in your name.
?Contact your creditor. If the debt is legitimate ? but you think the collector may not be ? contact your creditor about the calls. Share the information you have about the suspicious calls and find out who, if anyone, the creditor has authorized to collect the debt.
?Report the call. Contact the FTC and your state Attorney General's office with information about suspicious callers. Many states have their own debt collection laws in addition to the federal FDCPA. Your Attorney General's office can help you determine your rights under your state's law.

http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0258-fake-debt-collectors

One more thing Glenn or is it Glen now....you and your attorney state that what I have said was not all correct.
Just for my information and education,  so that I don't make the same mistakes again,  would you advise me what exactly is not true in my post  and explain why it is not?   Your researched advise as well as your attorney's obvious knowledge  would help me greatly.

Don't call me young man!!   I am a Retired High School Physics/Math teacher and my reason for being here is the same as many other regulars and that is to hold accountable those who scam and  violate the rights of other individuals.  I am 100% debt free including ownership of my home,  property,  and every automobile that my wife and I own and have been for almost 20 years.  My wife is an Elementary School Principal that will be also retiring in May of this year.  I came here because I too have received phone calls from the beloved "Rachel"  with credit card services,  scammers out of Jamaica, and Security Alarms hawkers.  Scammers yes....but Not One Single Debt Collector has called me as you implyed.  I am here because I find it interesting,  educational,  and because I get a Kick out of poking sticks into the bicycle spokes of those who come here to SHILL.   I enjoy being a pebble in the shoe of some people...I also play golf,  fish, and two days a week I tutor local Junior College students in mathmatics and Algebra.  And once again you are making assumptions based upon your mouth and not your brain.  You are not the only one who has researched the subject at hand and there are many others who are better versed than you or me on this board.  
I would not be so bold as to encourage you to take my advise on this subject or anything else I have said.  I could care less about your contact with an attorney.  I don't need one...I don't have any bills or the problems that you apparently  have.  As far as my merry life,  yes I do enjoy a very happy and prosperous life.  One that I have worked to earn.   Sounds like you are lacking in that category.  Don't take my advise......as I have encouraged others certainly not to take yours.  Based upon your advise,  many people who come here seeking information, would be paying any demanding caller without proof, question or validation.

Okay good day to you young man. Your right you win keep going on your merry life questioning  everything. However There are always complaints that people have. Look at you why exactly are you on here then??? Have these people called you because you owe a debt? I myself have done research and the things you say are not totally correct. I was going to use your advise for some other problems I have but as I contacted an attorney your claims and statements are not all correct!

Your letter would prove nothing to me,  no more than any other shill or stranger with  "A Letter"  or a telephone call praising the virtues of a debt collector.  Your unsolicited choice to come on this board and make such a flowerly post to accredit a collector or scammer who made threatening calls and an ambiguous claim of a "legal matter against a persons social security  number"   is an old and often used threat on this board and is a pure BS way of trying to induce a potential victim into a desperate act of stupidity.    I don't believe your post and I could care less about your personal situation.  The information is there for other readers to read and make their own decisions and choices as whether to hand over their hard earned money  to a Total Stranger or not.  The bottom line stands as I have stated and if you have any objections to this, too Bad.   "Follow the  laws of the FDCPA" .  Do this and there will be no complaints or attacks made on the collector. There will be no need for board  shilling or rebuttals   If one cannot follow these laws,  then be prepared to deal with it and and accept it when the alleged debt is not paid due to lacking validation under the FDCPA.  Your post is a cookie cutter shill post,  using the same terminology and less than perfect diction that I see time after time throughout this board.    The Piety of your creditor and your personal problems are none of my concern or interest.  People being baited or defrauded is....

You can believe what you want whomever you may be... However I have a letter from the company to me if you want it I can show you I have nothing to hide now. I a trying to take care of my accounts seeing that I got sued over an HSBC credit card that my wife had in her name an a user. Thise people put a levy on my account I had my atty fight it seeing that she has passed away. They had my money tied up with the bank for days until I went to court and got it taken care of. So do you have anymore questions I was bringing some clarification to help some people you are on here bashing me???

Yes,  and most people pretty well know what those reasons are.   Put it in writing and in the mail.

1.   If this was admittedly, your debt, and you were provided with verifiable validation of the debt that was in compliance with the Fair Debt Collections act and acceptable proof to you,  and they provided verifiable proof of their right to claim and collect the debt,  and in your state,  and the alleged debt was still within the Statute of Limitations in your state,  and beyond any shadow of doubt this is acceptable to you,   then go for it.  

2.   However,  if this debt is not yours,  questionable,  Inflated in amount,  or is out of the Statute of Limitations,  was not fully validated in accordance with your rights under the Fair debt Collections act laws,  and you accepted the word and threats of a stranger over the phone,  then you are a fool  or a shill.  If you did not demand full validation,  and I don't mean a Faxed or Emailed sheet of paper in the form of a bill,  I mean validation of the original debt with verifiable proof,  and valid copy of any signed contract that may exist between you and the Original owner of the debt,  via the US Mail and on legitimate stationery with company name,  physical address,  legitimate telephone number (not 1-855 BS)  and within 5 days of the request for validation was made,  and you did not dispute the debt pending written verifiable validation,  then you are not giving anyone worthwhile advise and you are a SHILL.
I Also doubt very seriously that you would just come on to this board thread to put in a good word for a collector and reassurance for anyone for paying them.  If the debt is owed and the above criteria is met......pay it.   If it is not or does not meet all of the above criteria,  dispute and don't pay it.   That's it in a nut shell.

For anyone reading this:   I fully believe that Glenn is a Shill and I don't believe a word he said.  Read  paragraph 1 or 2 which ever  fits your own circumstance and use your own gut feeling and reasoning.  Do not let anyone who comes on to this board solely for promoting payment of a debt collector fool you into making any payments to anyone without the full validation as given in on this thread.  Remember:   DISPUTE all debt claims,  whether yours or not,  until the collector provides full and verifiable validation in accordance with the Fair Debt Collections Act.  

Readers:

This for me was a Cash Yes account which is a pay day loan. I reviewed this the company did provide me the docs on the account as well. It is my account so it is not a scam, however they did tell me people get a lot of these. A lot of them are fruad he told me because I stopped paying and never paid that he wanted to talk to me about it to see if I did it or not. Needless to say I paid the darn thing and got a letter saying it as well. But, it was a pain....

these people are obv calling you for a reason

If you took out the loan and then quit paying on it,  you don't have much to stand on.  Since you paid them 50.00,  and  if they are after repayment of tht loan that you say you took out,  you pretty much admitted liability by making the payment and shot the Statute of limitations to hades if it was an older debt.  This  very well could be a scam or a collector trying to make a legally uncollectable debt but since you do have a debt hanging out there that you admittedly defaulted on,........I  Don't Know what to tell you......Maybe someone else reading this that has a better answer will chime in  about what you might consider doing.  I don't think I would be qualified to advise you.   I will advise you that in the future,  never admit liability, never trust a stranger on the phone,  and never pay a dime to anyone until they have provided you with written verifiable validation of the debt, as required by the Fair Debt Collections Act,    via usps mail.

i got this message in reference to a Plain Green Loan that i got, then i quit paying on it. they said they were going to charge me with fraud, because i closed out the bank account that i was repaying the loan out of. i did not know if it was a scam or not so i ended up paying them 50.00 and made arrangement to pay the rest back, but im not sure if i should. if they are calling you in reference to your son, then he has taken out a loan of some sort and put you as a security refernce so they can find him in the event they cant reach him. these people have been calling my mom and my mother in law. if anyone out there knows if this is a scam please let me know.

i received a call from this number saying they were wanting a reference for a friend of mine; the name the gave for the reference is actually my son - not a "friend" per se.  i don't know who is calling or what they want, but they would not be calling me for a reference of a 'friend' when in fact the name they gave is my son.  not sure what you can do to help stop these calls, but if you can stop them, that would be wonderful.  thank you.

Received a call from this number from a Scott Atkins saying there was a legal matter pending and that I needed to call this number asap.  These people need to stop making these harrasing phone calls to people.  I think this is a scam & I will not be calling them back!!!  LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!

Received a call from this number threatning there was a legal matter against my social security number.  I am just about sick of getting calls from these numbers with their threatning comments.  I am reporting this number as of today & hopefully somebody can get to the bottom of this & STOP them from harrassing people.  Person calling spoke very fluent English.

I want to know who and where the above number called my phone from.