As a person who works in finance,  if a collections agency is calling , your loan or credit card is already written off and added to your credit file, if you actually owe money it is better to pay it off quickly, but it will stay on your file.  But if it's a company you have never heard of, do not fall for the scam.  I have had customers who have been threatened, sent fake lawyer letters and constant calls from agencies, trying to collect for cable bills were there has never been cable (out in the country), utility bills for young people who still live at their parents homes, and a whole list of other scams that have ruined people's credit rating.  If you are getting these calls on a new cell or new home phone number, you can be sure it is fake.  

Do not EVER give your information to anyone over the phone, a legitimate agency will send you a bill.  The only people who need your SIN number is Revenue Canada, and your employer, if applying for a loan, they don't need your SIN, it will take a little longer to get a loan approved but it can be done.  

You can get a free credit report by faxing in one page to Equifax, the page can be found on the Equifax website, you can do this every month if you like for FREE,  it comes in the mail in a week. Always check your own credit.

Got a call from a person claiming to be from Aero Incorporated who ask if they were speaking to (my Name).
When I asked them who they were and why they were calling me she would only give me the company name but not why they wanted to speak to me. The person calling from this company (someone called charlotte) kept repeatedly asking me to confirm who I was and got very rude when I said I would not confirm who I was until she told me what her company did and why they were calling. She ended the call with a clearly nasty tone and with the threat that she would be calling me again.

they called me ask if i was this person i said yes and then they hung up,i called back they hung up on me ?

I get a call at least once a day when I pick up that don't talk nor do they leave a message...so best thing to do is just block their number in your phone ...

actually, if there was a legitimate claim, in order for someone to affect your credit information they would require your SIN. If a company claims you have outstanding debts, they would have had to attempt to reach you via paper notice prior to sending your info off to a collections agency. So tell me, why am I getting such calls when I've made all my payments, check my credit once a year, have zero out standing payments, and have never received notices in the mail for outstanding debts?

i can't believe this has been going on since 2007....they called me 3 times today.

ARO Inc has called us several times requesting information about an ex-employee. Usually misrepresenting themselves as an actual BC government agency.  I always ask them if they have this person's written authorization to request the information. Sometimes they then just hang up. Once, the woman I was speaking to said "yes", so I gave her my office fax number so she could send it. Not surprisingly, no fax came.  Legitimate agencies have always sent the authorizations when I request them.

They've now tried sending a letter to Payroll/HR asking for "Employment Verification". Of course, no authorization from the person in question included. No letter writer's name, just "Manager, Verification Services". It makes me wonder how many employers who aren't familiar with laws pertaining to this would simply just complete the form and send it back. Scary.

My response was to fax them a copy of the letter and the text of the BC Personal Information Protection Act, with relevant sections indicated. I don't think it'll do much, but it made me feel better anyway.

Hey, we understand all this and of course it's a legit company. However, It's just the fraudulent people out there that are "pretending" to be this company that seems to be the case in many of these calls. Do not under ANY circumstances return the call, guys. If you owe money, you will be properly billed and made perfectly aware of it. That's their job. That's what they do.

they called me before 8:30 this morning and didn't leave a message when the  machine came on.  Interesting thing is someone called the office of the building I live in and they were trying to find out information about me which was not given to them.  Now calls are starting... wonder if there is a connection?

Lol "N"

http://www.canlii.org/en/on/laws/regu/rro-199 ... reg-74.html#BK6

These agencies also have rules to follow if you feel they are harassing you.

http://www.canlii.org/en/on/laws/regu/rro-199 ... reg-74.html#BK6

Maybe "N" could refresh himself on this  

I recieved a call From ARO this am about traffic tickets that i paid last week. There was some sort of processing fee blah blah, i own a balance of $13.
Im very paranoid of online banking and transferring of money because ive never heard of ARO, and i dont know who is able to see my info. So i asked for a bill to be sent through the mail and ill pay it that way.
The woman then got really frustrated and demanded i tell her why i needed something in the mail and why i dont pay the way they want me to. She hangs up in a rage.
Is this company ligit? Will they send a billof 13$  in the mail for me to pay?

ha ha ha sure do you work for them

Yes, it is a collection agency that Cogeco uses.  Six months ago I called Cogeco and informed them that I was getting these calls and they told me they had my number attached to another account that was in collections.  I got them to stop calling and asked them to tell ARO to remove my number.  I also talked to someone at ARO and they said they would comply.  For six months all was quiet.  Now they have started up again so again, on the line with Cogeco and they say they will call ARO and ask them AGAIN to delete this number from their system.  So, this is what I have to say to the people who say these calls are legitimate.  THESE COLLECTION AGENCIES DO NOT GIVE A HOOT WHETHER OR NOT THEY ARE HARASSING PEOPLE LEGITIMATELY.  THEY ARE SNAKES THAT WILL GO TO ANY LENGTHS. They are like a dog with a bone.  Perhaps this number belonged to someone else a long time ago, perhaps they used a "fake number", or perhaps someone entered the number into the system wrong.  Whatever it is, these people are relentless jerks and the people who claim these calls are necessarily legitimate are parroting the company line, but the line is b***s***.  I have had collection agencies repeatedly call me and ask to speak to my neighbour.  They were very abusive when I would not leave my residence to fetch my neighbour to come talk to them.  I did not even know the neighbour in question. Also, as my husband has a fairly uncommon last name, collection agencies from Vancouver have called to try to collect on accounts from an individual unknown to us with the same last name.  We live in Ontario.  So, they obviously do not care who they harass in pursuit of their dollars.  What is really disgusting is that when I got my son a cell phone, collection agencies were then calling and harassing a child.  He is now trained to only pick up calls that we have entered as contacts and as his number was never used on any documentation, this is simply ridiculous.  To the twits who think I must owe something to be getting these calls, my house is paid off, car bought for cash, no loans, credit card taken to zero every month, all utility bills paid on time, never once defaulted on anything.  Yet, I have received hundreds of calls from ARO and other jerks from these shady collection agencies over the years.

I receive Calls atleast 3 times a day from the 1 866 667 3341 I have no clue who they are they wont tell me if I don't tell them im who they want and I have stuff due but I have no way to get rid of them and they call while im in class what should I do?

I thought this was a scam too.  But it's not.  I would never call them back and they'd leave a recorded message on my machine for months.  Then recently got a letter from ARO claiming we owe $80.  When I actually read the letter it was on behalf of our insurance company. We stopped using the company but I didn't know we had owed them money.  But they did want a credit card or banking info which I told them I would not give.

Received a call from them almost everyday, but just hangs up..  After this number call another call cmes in from (18665805355) saying that they are a collection agency looking for "Charles Francis"... I don't know how they got our number but we don"t know who Charles Francis is...  Beware!

I got a call from this number today, but it just played music instead of a message.

1866 667 3341- ARO INC is a collections agency. Check out www.aro.ca. If they are calling you it's for a reason. It is in your best interest to return their call because either there looking for you or someone who provided your number as a contact for them.  How do I know this? I use to work for them. It is all LEGITIMATE, and yes we ask to verify address and dob before proceeding with the call for security purposes. We cannot divulge information to 3rd parties as it is against the privacy act.  If you are recieving calls from this number, just answer, if you don't have the money work something out with them, there are many options available.  If you continue to ignore or be ignorant about the matter, then after 30-45 days upon arrival in collections it does mark on your credit bureau, if this happens it stays on there for 7 years and affects your credit score.

they called me this morning didnt leave a msg but when i called on my house phone they were closed.

I have been getting calls from this number for a week now. Finally, after researching this number, I answered yesterday. They asked to speak to me, (using my first and last name), and I said "No, sorry man you have the wrong number."  The funny thing is,  A REAL collection agency got my number from the credit bureau a few weeks ago and called me about an actual overdue, legit bill that I owe. So, how did THIS company get my number? It's really weird.

Scam from a collection agency trying to collect on a non-existant account.  They are hired by a cable tv provider called Cogeco, based in Montreal Quebec, same city where this collection agency is located.  Funny thing, I live in Ottawa Ontario, and in an area only served by Bell and Rogers, no other tv provider, never had an account with Cogeco.  I had fun flipping off the idiot who tried to threaten me with legal action. I told her to go ahead and do whatever she liked, since the law provides serious penalties for fraudulent attempts to collect money.  She hung up, I had the last laugh.

You are full of shiite.............

This company is a scam!! They called me on my moving day when I was all stressed out and told me I had an overdue enbridge bill from 3 years ago. That seemed fishy since I didn't even live in Ontario - or an enbridge serving area at that time!

The woman was insistent that it was mine and that it had been moving through the collection system until it reached this company. She wouldn't take credit card, wanted a direct deposit from my bank account **red flag**

I hung up angry and confused, and my boyfriend proceded to do some major research on the company and found out that they target people and then keep calling them. I never answer 1-866 #s anymore!!

Number keeps call, and will not give info when asked why they are call. If they can`t give info there is no need for them to call me.

Honestly, these types of phone calls from various different numbers have increased exponentially in the last two weeks.  No messages ever left on the machine.  I get at least two of these calls a day and I refuse to pick up.  If you want me and you leave a message, I will call back.  If you are an unknown caller at an unknown number that means I DON"T KNOW YOU.  Go away.  Bug someone else for a while.

I get this call at least once a day, sometimes twice. So much for the Do Not Call List.

Thsi number calls me at least once a day! How can I stop it?

These so call collection agencies may have a superficial legal business but they also act as PHISHING your personal info with the only purpose to steal your identity. I called them back and they had bits and pieces of public info about me, some correct and a few that was wrong (there's more that one person with the same name in the same province), they tried to confirm it was correct insisting they needed to be sure they had the right person over the phone before telling me who they are and why they are calling me! Yeah, right!! If truly a collection agency they wouldn't have a problem telling me who they are and what it is all about!!!!! I have PERFECT CREDIT and no due debts. Note that the number they dialed is my summer house located in Ontario, Canada and only gave it to the present utility companies, all my business and personal bank and credit cards have my primary home address in the USA!!!!!

Beware, do not give your info. Tell them that they have the wrong number, do not say yes to any of the confirmation questions such as: "is your date of birth 1968? Even if it's right, say NO and be firm about telling them that if they keep on calling you, that you will fill a complaint with the local police and the RCMP for harassment.

Anyone on these boards telling you that it's in your best interests to call them back otherwise you will be reported to the credit bureau are working for these companies. If they where legit then it would already be reported to the credit bureau, then you can deal with it directly with those bureaus (i.e. equifax)

good luck and please be careful, the less you give them the better!

they did not leave a message