We do have a serious problem with how businesses handle and store the data we inevitably must give them to operate. I'm all for better rules, but the problem behind the problem is that individuals have little control or oversight of personal data trafficking. The most determined criminals are going to obtain and use data against us no matter what the law says.

To the oversight issue, I draw a comparison of email spam to illegal sales and collection calls. I assign a unique alias to my email addresses every time I give an address for the first time to a business. Fewer than ten people on Earth know my "real" addresses and are sworn to never reveal them. This practice does not stop the spam cold but it does tell me *where* a criminal obtained a working address for me, so I can identify the data leak and act accordingly. This also creates assurance that when a bank or retailer or insurer emails me, the message has a 9x% chance of being genuine.

That same oversight is very difficult to impossible with NANP-compliant phone numbers. There are not enough ten digit sequences in existence to make such aliasing feasible. When the abusive caller rings in, I don't know for sure who is calling or why or how my number was obtained. One can't much trust Caller ID or even the word of the caller. I've laid individual "pipes" for every email channel, but any damned fool can pounce on my phone line.

It also follows that any damned fool could find and use my Social Security number for fraud. What's the warning which is repeated every time some high profile data breach or malware attack makes the news? Create unique and complex passwords for *each individual* purpose! Using "password1" for every service in creation only invites abuse, we are lectured. Yet what do we have attached to all our records for finance, employment, government, college, military, and so on like a de facto national ID number but the same stupid nine-digit sequence? We're saddled with a master key anyone can duplicate which unlocks far too many cabinets in our lives.

More I could say, but I'm well off topic as it is.

There is a deeper issue here as with all calls of this type.  Data protection.  If there were better data protection laws and practices in place, these fake debt collectors would not have their database of names and numbers to pull from.  I don't know about you guys, but I hate having to put a phone number in to register for an online diabetes news letter.  If the data thieves can connect a phone number to me, then they have my name and thus can cajole me into entering a contract with them... no way.  This is one dragon that doesn't give up control without a fight.

It seems we can never repeat this basic warning enough: DO NOT PAY angry and pushy strangers on the phone! Calling to collect alleged debt which is time-barred is not the illegal part, it's threatening legal process and threatening a "warrant" and a "sheriff" are coming. Also toss in deceptive practice for the fiction that you somehow missed a summons, and trying to shame you by blabbing about your supposed problems to an employer.

Consumer debt in America is *not* a criminal matter and collector claims are not typically sent straight to a judge. Lawful debt collection is a process, not an ambush, and you are due a chance at each stage to raise a dispute. You do not consider "making agreements" with hostile lawbreakers. You gather audible and written evidence of their FDCPA violations and *sue them* when possible. They owe *you* for the grief they've caused, not vice versa.

FTC and CFPB material on US federal collection law:
http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpajump.shtm
http://www.consumerfinance.gov/askcfpb/search ... debt-collection

My family and I received a phone call from a heather lawson trying to get money from my husband stating if he didn't pay he would get a summons from court.  She even knew all of his information. Scary but fake. People will do anything these days I swear.

Called and told my employer a sheriff was on the way to serve me a warrant for not responding to a civil hearing notice.    Turned out to be an OLD credit card that was past its SOL, was told the costs for the hearing would be $5k vs the $1900 they said I owed.   Scared the crap out of me so made payment arrangements only to find out through attorney this is a scan and to not pay anything additional.  Company was called Colonial Asset Management out of California.   I spoke with a Heather Lawson.

Check into all strange numbers before agreeing to anything and also google your states SOL before making agreements as well.