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This is Portfolio Recovery & Associates. They are a collection agency that acquires old debts... sometimes 20 or more years old after the original debt has been charged off or sold to several other collection agencies who did not recover the money. A lot of the information is so old that PRA does not even know who the original financial institution was or if the debt was actually ever paid off or not. They simply use old outdated information, addresses and phone numbers to harass innocent individuals. I was even told at one point that they run random credit checks on people and simply start calling if they find someone who ever had a charge off or something like that in the far past. If you have a phone number or address that was ever owned by someone who ever owed money at some point and time or your name is in any way close to someone that they are looking for you can wind up on PRAs list and start getting harassed by them forever.

I have been getting calls from them almost every day of the week for over 6 months now... sometimes 2-3 times per day anywhere from 7:00 in the morning to 10:00 at night 7 days a week.

They are looking for someone else that I have never heard of and when I told them that I was not this person and that this person never lived here and that I had this phone number for over 15 years they called me a liar and hung up but continued calling again a couple of weeks later. One time they asked me to verify my name and address. I would not tell them but I asked them what name and address they had on record. They had an entirely different first and last name but the address was the same as mine. I have a P.O. box and when I told them that there were over 400 box holders for my address he said "son of a ***" and hung up. They recently called again and when I once again told them that I was not who they were looking for and to quit calling they asked me to verify my name again and when I would not they hung up again. The very next day they called back asking for me by my name. I guess they finally looked up my phone number and saw my name attached to it so they replaced my name for the person that they were originally looking for and added it to their collection database.

I have tried filing complaints with the do not call registry but with no results. The phone number on my caller ID is always different. I found out that they use a spoofing program to send out fake caller ID numbers so you can not report them to the do not call registry. Each and every time they call the caller ID shows up a different random number but the name is always the same... Portfolio Recovery Associates. The number that I entered on this complaint is their corporate number. They have two other numbersโ€ฆ a Virginia number of 1-75*-519-**** and a toll free number of 1-86*-925-****. Hopefully this will help as we all are wasting our time reporting them using the spoofed numbers that they randomly send out when they call.

It turns out that they use a spoofing program that sends out a random fake phone number to show up on your caller ID when they dial you so turning them into the do not call registry does not good as you are turning in someone else's number. Even though the phone numbers are all different and fakeโ€ฆ Portfolio Recovery Assoc always shows up on the caller ID.

I looked them up and got some more information from other sources and since they are using fake phone numbers when they call... the best thing that you can do is every time that they call you... file a complaint with the do not call registry using their corporate phone number 1-88*-772-****. This way you are supplying a real phone number for them when you file your complaint. Hopefully the do not call registry can do something about these people or at least be able to hand out fines to the proper people for harassing folks. The other alternative is to file a complaint with your local phone company and police dept. PRAs other two numbers areโ€ฆ 1-75*-519-**** for their regular office and 1-86*-925-**** for their customer complaints dept.

Location: Phoenix, Arizona

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Guest

"Hello." [New Jersey accent]: "Is this Walter Winchell?" [Pause] "May I ask who is calling?" "This is *** Skankunt. Is this Walter Winchell?" [Pause] "May I ask what this is in reference to?" "Is this Walter Winchell?" [Pause] "Who is this and on whose behalf are you calling?" "I've told you who I am.

And that's an entirely different question altogether.

I'm calling for Portfolio Recovery Associates. I'll call again!"

Guest

I HAVE RECEIVED THREE PHONE CALLS. THE PHONE CALLS HAVE BEEN N THREE SEPARATE TELEPHONE NUMBERS.

THEY SAY I HAVE AN OUTSTANDING ACCOUNT. THE ACCOUNT IN QUESTION WAS WITH HOUSEHOLD FINANCE CORPORATION. IT WAS A HOME EQUITY ACCOUNT. BACK IN 2010 MY ACCOUNT WAS TRANSFERRED TO CALIBER HOME LOANS.

DURING THE TRANSFER.

MY HOME EQUITY LOAN WAS WRITTEN OFF. THE ONLY PROBLEM WAS A 1099 FORM WAS NEVER SUBMITTED, SO THE ACCOUNT STAYED ON THE TRANSFERRED ACCOUNT.

Guest

Pay your debt. Duh.

By time it gets to a collection agency you have avoided paying YOUR debt for quite a while. Phone calls for payment are legit. Getting you to answer the phone is legit.

Not illegal as long as they identify themselves. SO, want to stop the calls, pay your debt.

Guest

These people call our number every day. We just ignore the call. I am going to forward all their calls to their home office.

Guest

Employees at Portfolio Recovery Associates earn a yearly salary starting around $25,000 plus commission on each payment received. These debt collectors become very money hungry and after every cent they can make.

There have been many lawsuits filed against PRA surrounding harassment and breaking FDCPA laws. http://www.castlelaw.net/blog/are-you-receiving-harassing-calls-from-portfolio-recovery-associates-.cfm

Guest

Nunya, who is an obvious bill collector posting on this site, is giving wrong information (probably on purpose) about states' statutes of limitations for credit debt. It's between 4 and 6 years, depending on your state, not between 7 and 10 years!

In PA where I live, the statute of limitations if 4 years. Nice try, bottomfeeder. And calling constantly on the phone is indeed harassment, especially if you leave an illegal robocall that doesn't identify your company or that it's a collection call.

I've filed lawsuits against bottomfeeders like you and will gladly keep on doing it. You lowlifes can pay ME because I actually know all about collection laws and what you scammers can't do!!!

Guest

Nunya, you sound like you worked for them or something. Try having someone calling your house all throughout the day.

If this was a PROFESIONAL DEBT COLLECTOR AGENCY, THEY WOULDN'T BE RUDE! like common sense will tell you to least have respect. oh wait, all PRA are all *** HOLES.

Yup!

tell us something we didn't know Nunya..

Guest

Written by Nunya on August 6, 2011

it's not considered "harrassing" if PRA calls you....cause you owe a debt!"

If one files a Cease and Desist Order with PFR, and continues to receive calls, PFR can be sued for harassment. Also note, old debts placed on one's credit report can be removed. If the dept returns, PRA can be sued for defamation.

"Written by Nunya on August 6, 2011

Let's say I would know a bit about PRA."

This sounds as though Nunya works for PRA, and wouldn't like for the average person to know their rights. Don't let her post discourage you from taking action.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-442537

the pra is the *** of the earth call the ins and have the pra raided

Guest

They also run a scam where they say that you paid them $25.00 so it will reage the debt thereby skirting the statute of limitation laws. They are trying that on me, to bad for them I have documents showing it paid

Guest

Here is what some people are doing to get back at Portfolio Recovery Associates. Put an ad on Craigslist for free stuff or deals that are too good to be true.Here is an example of one ad that I saw on Craigslist:Free scrap metal, aluminum, copper, shelvingWe are closing down our shop and have a yard full of metal, aluminum, copper & shelving that needs to be gone by next week.

Bring a truck or trailer... we can load for you.1-88*-***-****.1-88*-***-**** is PRAs corporate number. They also have two other numbers 757-519-**** & 866-925-****.They receive hundreds of calls a day and as fast as they can get the ads deleted you simply put it up again.

This also costs them money since it is a toll free number where they pay for all calls coming in.You can also do ads like free furniture or price items way below fair market value etc... to generate LOTs of phone calls.

Guest

Let's say I would know a bit about PRA... The way the company works is that they buy up portfolios with thousands of charged off accts...

the information of the debtor is already included in the acct and they DO NOT find it via internet or by running random people's credit reports. The company has spent millions of dollars on technology and databases to pull info if the info on the account is outdated... anything that has your ssn attached to it can lead them to your updated information (even if the acct is 20yrs old) ...such as opening a line of credit, signing a contract for a phone...etc... Each line of credit has a time limit that it will be reporting to your credit and also a statue of limitations...

in most states, the statue of limitations runs out in 7 to 10 yrs... while the acct is still within the s.o.l. and you become delinquent...the original creditor/debt collector (whoever owns the acct) can sue you to collect the debt. Even after the s.o.l.

runs out, you are still obligated to pay the debt you just can't be sued to pay it. Then of course it will eventually fall off your credit after negatively impacting your cbr for some time. You're never alleviated of your debt until it's paid. The way I look at it...

If I let you borrow 2k dollars 25 yrs ago and you never paid me back... even after 25 yrs... I would still want my money! There is no way PRA can be fraudulant either...

it's a publically traded company which makes it impossible because people would not invest money in a fraudulant company. And it's not considered "harrassing" if PRA calls you....cause you owe a debt! The "system" dials out numbers automatically and they can call as many times a day as they like... but if they speak to the debtor then after the call disconnects the system will place a 7 day hold on account then it can't be called til after 7 days.

Yes and sometimes wrong numbers are dialed but how will they know it's a wrong number until somebody picks up the phone and tells the representative that??? Calling wrong numbers is a waste of time and money.

And also all calls are recorded, some monitored so if a rep cursed at you or threatened you or did anything that was clearly harrassment it will be recorded thus you can report them...not only will the company be sued, but the representative will also be sued and fined and then will lose their job. And if somebody says "That's not me!" then the representative should only verify the last 4 of the ssn and if it's incorrect no other information needs to be verified and the numbers of the incorrect person are removed from the acct....any other questions...let me know.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-324647

Portfolio Recovery Associates says they use specially designed software that helps them pinpoint the consumers who are worth the expense to pursue and go after them when the time is right. Sounds like a lion waiting to pounce on its victim and, in the case of PRA, that sounds about right. http://www.castlelaw.net/blog/are-you-receiving-harassing-calls-from-portfolio-recovery-associates-.cfm

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-324647

Nunya is an ignorant twatwaffle that is sadly unsuccessful in her sad,pathetic "life" Having to eke out a meager living working as a boiler room collection spaz. Getting whatever thrill she can squeeze from being a c unt to people over the phone like the coward she is.

Let's see if you've got the ovaries to knock on someone's door and try your "scary" tough bill collector *** face to face.

Odds are good that wouldn't end well for you. Well at least my taxes aren't paying your monthly welfare benefit,well that is if your *** lazy *** hasn't *** that all up and you are back on full welfare popping out more unwanted spawn.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-324647

"There is no way PRA can be fraudulant* either... it's a publically* traded company which makes it impossible because people would not invest money in a fraudulant* company."

* spell check needed.

This statement being true, ENRON was a huge misunderstanding and the share holders should be grateful to have their retirement invested in such a reputable company.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-324647

Thats not true we get spam called no one is on the other end. No voicemail when we don't answer and we get no mail from them. We have no outstanding debts but they call us anyways they are fraudulent they do this to everyone regardless if you have debt or not.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-1485297

Yep! I have no debt.

Never have. Calls everyday and hangs up. Never spoken to them. No one on the line, ever.

Spoofing and pfishing.

Wasting their time. Probably for someone else, I guess.

Guest

I reside in VA. I researched several of these spoofed phone numbers and they belong to civilians in various states and are landlines, not cell phones.

This can't be legal can it?

I have FBI and lawyers in my family and I'm going to find out more about this and update this comment board so those can take legal action if some wish to. VA has strict SCC laws.

Guest

now they are fining thier employees for violations of internal practices. they never train the employee on teh practice but will fine you. then they will have a meeting several days later to CYA.

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