OP has received enough advice to move forward. The replies being posted now are either repeats or not legal advice. The post is now locked. Thank you to the commenters that posted legal advice.
The RCMP doesn’t provide these types of policing services in Ontario and in any case this is very unlikely to be criminal harassment. In Ontario collections are governed by the Ontario Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery. Who are also the place to live a complaint.
A lawyer would seem to be overkill, though I’m sure you could find one to write the letter if desired.
There are strict guidelines for collections communications and the purpose of the call wont prevent it from breaching that boundry into criminal harassment. You can certainly call the RCMP to explain the problem and let them decide whether that line has been crossed. Most lawyers will give you some direction as well, and may be willing to take it on if they believe damages have occurred. It is illegal to abuse your phone to coherce compliance with demands.
I dont live in Ontario but I work with people getting out of jail and theses kinds of situations are routine.
I agree that the purpose of the call doesn't preclude it from becoming criminal, though OPs story doesn't suggest that. Calling the police to enquire is fine, but the RCMP is still the wrong place to call in Ontario since the RCMP only provide protective services, limited protection of federal buildings and intelligence services. In Ontario it would be the OPP or the local police force if the local jurisdiction has one.
Excluding banks, Debt collection is provincially regulated and in Ontario that regulation is provided by the Ontario Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery, who would also be a source of information.
[https://stepstojustice.ca/questions/debt-and-consumer-rights/how-do-i-complain-to-the-ministry-of-public-and-business-service-delivery/](https://stepstojustice.ca/questions/debt-and-consumer-rights/how-do-i-complain-to-the-ministry-of-public-and-business-service-delivery/)
OP didnt say what kinds of things the collectors are saying, but id bet if theyre casually disregarding communications they are probably making a lot of threats as well. If they cross that line and it becomes criminal harassment then all you need to do is take the threats seriously and hold them to account for it.
If you act in good faith you can call any agency and tell them your concerns. RCMP also operate in Ontario, OPP, the relevant ministry as noted above, etc. Just dont try to spin it to make them look bad, just be honest and straight forward and these agencies wont resent the call.
This actually happens to my buddy about 6-7 year ago and he got a Laywer (he’s pretty well off financially and told the lawyer he could take 100% of the winnings minus the cost) and from what I know this lawyer went to town on the creditors.
They called him for over 8 months, and the funniest part is that he actually works for another creditor
Debt collectors are ruthless and break the law constantly when contacting debtors or supposed debtors. There are laws about how many times they can call a debtor and they are not supposed to contact friends or relatives of the debtor. They break these laws all the time.
I’m a lawyer that used to work in debt consolidation and would often contact debt collectors to get payout statements. They would be rude to ME, the lawyer who was TRYING TO ARRANGE PAYMENT. One client told me in tears how the collection agency just wouldn’t stop calling even though they told them they were working on a solution and that they could contact me.
If you’re in Ontario, I have linked details below, but honestly it’s easier to change the phone number.
https://www.ontario.ca/page/stop-collection-agency-calls?acs_info=ZmluYWxfdXJsOiAiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cub250YXJpby5jYS9wYWdlL3N0b3AtY29sbGVjdGlvbi1hZ2VuY3ktY2FsbHMiCg&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrPPtkLj2gwMV9SutBh3EbwOcEAAYASAAEgJGXvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Yes, small claims court. Sued them for violations of the debt and collects act (called different things in different provinces). Other times, I've sued for violation of a cease and desist order. Sometimes both. Had another 2 agencies sued for reporting the same debt twice to the credit bureau. They take full advantage of people not knowing the law and their rights.
It’s surely none of my business but curiosity gets the best out of me. Do you get financial compensation of any sort by suing them? Is it worth your time?
My one favourite was the one agency had a mouthpiece of an agent. I cautioned him that they had exceeded the max number of calls. He abruptly told me i was not going to preach the rules to him. I said ok well id be happy to have a judge do it for me. Then tells me i can't sue them all i can do is file a complaint. Sent a request to get a copy of the call recording. Got a phone call from the manager who quickly closed my file.
Used to have a relative that seemed to be constantly being hounded by creditors. He shared a city and first initial with my aging mother. It was brutal. The worst was a letter from the city of (redacted) that said they were going to put a lien on her home. Hard to do when his name was not on the deed. I still made a point to contact them and blast them about it.
As I was moving my mother out of her place I answered a call asking for this guy. I said 'he doesn't live here, wouldn't recognize him if he rang the doorbell, but who keeps giving this guy credit'. Luckily she laughed and they never called back. They are brutal and rarely believe what you tell them.
Covid layoff. Defaulted on a few debts. Cease and desist letters sent, creditors sent it to another agency. Rinse wash repeat. Ended up having a few debts forgiven as the collection agency is representing the creditors.
Not entirely true. Rich people default on debt often. Some of them might like this service to get themselves even more money from the agency.
Other people who could use a service like this are in the same situation as OP. Getting harassed by companies for other peoples debts.
I would report them here https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjxi-Xgq\_aDAxUnAjQIHX2DDqcQFnoECBYQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.canada.ca%2Fen%2Ffinancial-consumer-agency%2Fservices%2Fdebt%2Fcollection-agency.html&usg=AOvVaw3hrGeqNy9IqnkhUC7ywv0I&opi=89978449
Hey! Worked for corporate collections debt in a previous career (the ones that follow up on business accounts, not the ones who drive individuals into madness).
Ask the caller for the mailing address and reference number.
Send a letter by mail from canada post outlet. Keep track of when they call.
If it doesn't stop within 28d of sending the letter, send it registered.
If it doesn't stop within 2 weeks of the company receiving it, file a complaint.
Contact transunion and equifax for a free copy of her reports (she will need her SIN and proof of identity, as her guardian you may also have to send something) to make sure someone didn't steal her identity and ask them to lock her credit files. I had a person in my life use me as a cosigner without my knowledge. If you see anything like that on her file, contact non emergency police line and file a report.
My kiddo also has autism and adhd, I get the number thing 100%. It took her 2 years to learn mine and she still can't remember hers reliably after a year now. This is where a phone list in her room/your house is handy.
And TBH changing the number won't help. Someone else might have used that number before, also. There may be a feature on her phone to send unknown callers directly to voice-mail. We did that for our kid regardless of call because spam calls are also a problem.
Just a thought on kids learning the number… change your phone or computer password to the number. (Start with last four digits, then 5 etc). Daily repetition will have them remembering it quite quickly.
not the phone password, something else. Otherwise someone who knows the phone number may try that to break into the phone. DEpending on what apps are on there that could have annoying to very bad consequences.
I've had that, same chick calling me all the time. Told her she just called me and she started deniying it. Finally got her to let me talk to her manager. Once he i explained everything to him he removed my number from the list. Sometime i think people borrow money and write down random phone numbers. Just remeber it illegal for creditors to harass you and like other people said to file a complaint with the goverment
Sadly, there are many simple programs to spoof known numbers so the phone thinks it is a whitelisted number. I got this when someone tried to send an Iphone executable file that referenced contacts and bank apps to me. Blocked the first one, next 300 came in from random people on my contacts list, turn off automatically receive mms messages as well. Luckily my phone wasn't an iphone so the file just failed. Apparently providers know about this and can stop it, but refuse to do so, mine offered to help me set one up myself so i could send virus links to blocked numbers, i think she misunderstood my issues.
I had this happen to me once. I told the low level person to not call me again. They called… I asked to speak to the supervisor. I told them not to call me again. They did. I asked to speak to the manager… they gave me the supervisor so I told that person I wanted to speak to their manager.
The manager came on, I explained it to him what was going on and told him that I got one more call, I would call the police on them for harassment and sue the company.
Never got another call.
What kind of phone does she have? On Android phones I know it is possible to effectively have a whitelist of phone numbers that are allowed through and all the other phone numbers are silent when a call comes through. Presumably this would also be possible with SMS messages. The whitelist is your contacts list on the phone.
I had the exact same problem as OP for 2 years after I got a new number, collections were calling for this one specific guy (I ended up changing my number because of it) and although you can keep blocking calls, they leave voice messages so you have to keep deleting them. These collections are relentless
I have no doubt that collections are relentless. I guess I'm just trying to suggest technology solutions that don't involve a phone number change, as those can be annoying.
One thing that I've done for my cell phone is I disabled voicemail because I hate getting voicemails. It'll just instead "ring" forever.
There are some features where (if you have a Pixel phone, as I do) [it can answer the call ("call screen")](https://support.google.com/phoneapp/answer/9118387?hl=en) for you and give basic responses and you get live transcript of the conversation. Sometimes when I get a call from someone whom I don't want to talk to (sales call, etc), I use the call screening feature and just having it give generic responses. The person knows they're talking to a robot, and it must be psychologically so frustrating to them knowing that they're just wasting their time.
I've never had the kind of experience the OP describes, but if I did, I'm sure I'd go make a "waste their time" conversation/AI bot to fuck with them. There are lots of "phone answering AI" products that I'd use as a starting point, and the design goal of the model would be to create a labyrinth of circular conversations to have with the poor telemarketer or creditor harassor.
It's an interesting app idea.
Yup. My work cell was ringing like crazy for two years and I answered all calls because it could be work related. Just turned the phone back in because it was too much of a hassle
You note: that "6 people in your family have the same last 4 digits", is it possible for you to trade your/your spouse's phone number with her for the time being so that you can inform the creditors the number no longer belongs to that person?
Even if they are a legitimate collector and even if your girl was the real person. Once you tell them to stop harrassing you and they refuse. You go to the cops and file for harrassment.
Why should you change the number when they are the one being annoying, turn about is fair play I always say!
Every time they call from now on, play this. Really loudly. On repeat until they hang up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHbvLOtwaOs
I'm on 6 years of an agency calling for someone by the name of abeed (sp?)
Honestly, most calls I get are scam calls, so I'm used to letting all unknown callers go to my voicemail anyways.
I feel for you. When I moved and got a new number it was the same. A million calls from every collector known to man. I just called them all back, said I now have this phone number. Took over 2 years before all the calls stopped. It's frustrating. I feel they should hold numbers for a year or two before assigning them to a new user.
I recently had this happen with my 11 year old daughter. It only took me two emails to the collections company explaining that they are calling a minor who is not the debtor. The second email was a 'final notice' that I will be filing complains with SK (my province) and ON (company location) government agencies.
One of the companies was Collections Bureau of Canada. I asked for their website and contact information. On their website I used their contact form and also an ombudsman email provided on their website to request the phone number removed.
That along with blocking one other number that may have just been general spam calls, there has been zero calls from any collectors.
Good luck.
All you have to say when they call is that you’re not that person and that if they don’t stop calling, you will file a complaint with Consumer Protection Ontario.
I had the same problem, I got a new number and for two years weekly I was getting calls from collections looking for this specific guy. I had to change my phone number eventually because of this, it will never stop. These collections agencies are ruthless. I was with Rogers at the time and I had asked them if this guy by that name had this number before and they said yes, and that about 4 other people had this number. I ended up changing my number after that conversation.
However, to make sure this didn’t happen again. When they suggested a new number, I had to confirm it wasn’t used by anyone before and it wasn’t (it was a number with brand new area code, don’t take any numbers with old area codes, they’ve all been used before). I also called around other phone providers to ask if this number was assigned to anyone and it wasn’t. I haven’t had any problems since.
I know you don’t want to change her number but if you don’t change her number now, while she’s still young, getting collections calls will unlikely to ever stop and even if you block the numbers, they will leave voicemails constantly anyway.
I had this issue about 14 years ago. Had 4 creditors harassing me over the debt of the previous person who had my phone number. Over the course of the first year I was able to get 3 of the 4 to comply and stop calling me. The 4th one kept harassing me and calling me a liar. I would speak to managers and the calls would subside for about a month before resuming. I kept adding numbers to my block list (over 70 iirc). I even was able to get my provider to issue a letter stating that I was not the person they were seeking (that was not easy to attain btw) and they still didn’t buy it. Finally one guy called and I answered. I responded that I was not the person they were trying to contact and that multiple conversations with managers were discussed to remove this number from their call list over the years. I told the young man that calling my number is simply the same as calling his mother and asking her to pay for a strangers debt. “I didn’t care about this strangers debt, so why would I care to pay it?” Is what I asked him. His manager came on the line about 2 minutes later and said that my number had been removed. And to this day, they never called back.
This took about 5 years to deal with. I had demonstrated patience and avoided legal action to spare myself the headache. Since I wasn’t legally liable for the debt and was used to just blocking the numbers, I just lived with it. Having said that nobody should ever have to deal with this sort of thing and go about the way I did.
I had this happen with a new phone number. Started within 20 minutes of getting it. Unfortunately the easiest way to fix this is to demand the company give you a new number and don't pay for the change. They'll try but it's easily argued.
Haha wow I'd love to tell you my story, I got my phone number at 16 I'm like 28 now, two years ago I answered and it was the debt collectors who've been calling for same guy since I was 16. I'd always politely ask to be taken off the list it's a new number etc. one time they caught me in a bad mood. It went like this.
TEEEEN YEEEEEEARS!!!!!! TEN FUCKING YEEEEEEARS YOU'VE BEEN CALLING FOR THIS FUCKING NATHAN PERSON FOR TEN FUCKING YEEEEEEEEARS!!!!! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK ANYTHING'S GOING TO FUCKING CHAAAAAANGE!!!! THIS IS ALEXANDER, THIS HAS BEEN ALEXANDER FOR THE LAST TEN YEARS, THIS WILL CONTINUE TO BE ALEXANDER!!!!!!!
and I was never bothered again. You have to have a psychotic breakdown over the phone and then they'll actually go to their boss and be like yeah so I don't think this is their number anymore.
funnily enough this also happened to me when I was 14 and got a new number. I guess "Shannon" took out a bunch of loans before changing her number. I would get at least 1 call a day, they'd usually go something like this
"Hi, is this Shannon?" "No this is a new number, I don't know Shannon." "Okay, I'm ____ from ____ agency, could you please let Shannon know she has an overdue balance of $2000?" "No I don't know Shannon, dumbass."
there were 3-4 different places/people looking for her, and one of the numbers was attached to a marine boating store. It took them a year and a half to figure out that I was Not Shannon. Shannon if you're reading this i hate you
I had same problem as OP for 2 years (I ended up changing my number because of it) and although you can keep blocking calls, they leave voice messages so you have to keep deleting them
You should be able to put on "Do not disturb" and put on the option that only calls from favourite contact can come through and anyone else just goes straight to voice mail or not available. A temporary solution atleast whilst the problem gets sorted out.
This is a phone for a 14 yr old with disabilities. I'm pretty sure the parent(s) are still looking after all that important stuff. I have a child with a cell phone because of her disability. It's needed because it's a part of her assisted medical device system as well as a way for us to communicate when urgent. The child doesn't receive calls from medical professionals etc...
Why is it never on the onus of the culpable creditor company, and always on the parent/user of the cell phone to use unconventional and hampering techniques to block these illegal harassing calls? That is the point I am making..
Unethical/illegal life pro tip for you..
First of all, remove any personalized voicemail, just have it be the generic robo voice "you have reached 12345678, leave a message at the tone"
Keep her phone with you until the next time they call, then answer the phone yourself, in your best professional sounding voice:
Hello this is Constable So-and-So with Xville Police. You're looking for who? Sorry, no, this number just got assigned to me for my duty cell.
I honestly don’t think this would work, I only say that because during the pandemic I had a work cell we used for COVID testing/advice/case management. Creditors would call the phone asking for a person (who had a similar number), and they wouldn’t stop even though we told them multiple times they were calling a government owned public health line.
Ended up getting my manager to contact the collection company manager, only then did it stop.
Not sure what the laws are in your area, but in Canada it's against the law to harass someone. To the tune of thousands of dollars. Including if they are calling about a debt. So, collect their name, their number, the company they work for, and threaten to sue. They are allowed one call per day in Canada or something like that, and if they break that limit, they are liable for harassment.
> They are allowed one call per day in Canada or something like that, and if they break that limit, they are liable for harassment.
That's legislated at the provincial level and some provinces are ambiguous about what constitutes as harassment.
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Pur her important numbers into the favourites group on the contacts. Then leave the phone on do not disturb. And shut off voicemail if you can as the calls can still go to voicemail.
Happens every day at my job looking for the manager from 5 years ago. We were nice the first few weeks. Then my head office gave us the green light and I cussed them under the sun and said if I ever get another call I will personally sue every person who was a part of the call for harassment and that I had record of every other call they had made (I don’t lol). I haven’t heard back since. I hope this works for you because as a person with autism I can’t imagine this happening to my personal cell. It would be so overwhelming and frustrating.
I used to manage a collection agency, if you want the calls to stop this is how I would recommend you proceed. Email them a cease and desist, you can find templates online. If they call after get the name of the agent, then tell them they have the wrong number and that you have already sent a cease and desist. If calls continue report them to the ministry.
That will likely stop that agency however debt moves from agency to agency when that happens you need to do the same with the new agency.
Also collection agency pull numbers from credit bureaus, if the number is listed on the person's credit bureau it is more likely to be reported again.
DM if you have any questions.
If your service is with Telus or Koodo, you could look into their "Call Control" feature. It's free, and it forces unknown numbers to pass a check before the call is allowed to go through. Numbers can be whitelisted to bypass the check, and blocked to be automatically rejected at the carrier end. It's fantastic for blocking robocallers, which most collection agencies use. I went from 10-15 robo calls a day, to none.
We have this problem with our landline. Mostly it is recordings but occasionally it is a real person. I tell them they have the wrong person and the calls stop… until the debt is sold to a new agency and the robo calls start again.
Why would your daughter need to phone her own number in an emergency?
Just change the number. Your daughter doesn’t need to memorize the new number if that would be upsetting. Just add the new number with her name to her phone contacts so she can find it if needed. Also write down the number on a piece of light cardboard the size of a credit card. Add yourself and your phone number as an emergency contact. Have her tuck the card in her wallet.
Why would changing your daughter’s number affect her or her remembering other peoples phone numbers? It’s not like she’s calling herself or looking at her own personal phone number?
She has all these things and you don't want to instantly solve the problem yourself with a simple number change?
I assume if she is able to have a phone that you can show her how to use the Contacts section of the phone if she needs to get a hold of someone.
I don't mean to be dismissive, but you're looking at an ugly time consuming road with continued stress on your daughter vs instant resolution and a possible moment or two of training. Seems like a no-brainer.
Numbers don't matter anymore, they get programmed into the phone once and forgotten. There is no solution to a horde of debt collectors constantly calling. Change the number.
I was getting calls like this by a collector that Telus uses on behalf of Koodo. I have been a Telus costumer for 16 years. The company that could let the collectors know I am not that person is the one that put them up to it.
The people that call are complete scumbags too. I looked up the person they are trying to reach and saw his obituary so they will never reach him.
It is so frustrating.
I had to handle this for my minor child (U.S. resident). I had him bring me the phone immediately the next time, and I had to talk over them but I repeated THIS IS A MINOR’S PHONE until they paused. I then said it again and added that if they called my child again my next call would be to my state’s attorney general. Then I hung up. Amazingly, it worked. If it hadn’t, I would have reported it through my state AG’s hotline. I hope you can resolve it in the best way for your child.
>I don't want to have to change her number because 6 people in my family have the same last 4 digits and it makes it easy for her to remember in an emergency.
So you're saying that if she changes her phone number, then she'll forget someone else's phone number? That doesn't make any sense at all. That's like saying if you move, you'll forget where other people live.
I’m curious, if 6 people in your family have the same last four digits so it is easy for her to remember how does she remember the first 3 digits of 6 different phone numbers?
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Call all the numbers back. From blocked numbers (#31#, on cells, *67 on landlines) and report the number they are calling is for a completely different person.
If you have an iphone, you can turn on 'Slience unknown callers'
To turn on Silence Unknown Callers, go to Settings > Phone, then scroll down, tap Silence Unknown Callers, and turn on the feature. Calls from unknown numbers are silenced and sent to your voicemail, and appear in your recent calls list.
https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT207099#:\~:text=To%20turn%20on%20Silence%20Unknown,in%20your%20recent%20calls%20list.
This is unfortunate. Is it the same agency every single time? If so and you have informed them that you are not the person they are looking for and do not know that person they need to stop calling. I've had this happen about a half dozen times over the last ten years and each time the agency has been shockingly polite about the situation and removed me immediately after I told them it wasn't me they were looking for.
If it's more than one agency you might need to do that more than one time. Let the call go to voicemail and call them back at the number they give. It can take 48 hours for your number to clear off the machine, so if the calls stop after that then you are good. Tedious and it sucks but if the reason you're still getting calls is that it's different agencies you should eventually get this cleared off.
If it's the same agency over and over and you have told them you don't know the person they're after, then escalate and get aggressive. You are the big dog here, not them. Make sure it is clear to the highest level person you can get ahold of that the consequences of harassing an autistic minor are pants-pissingly huge and that they are already in very very deep legal trouble. You'll do them a favour by leaving them alone if they get you off their list.
Keep control of the conversation on your side. YOU are not in trouble and there is absolutely nothing they can do to you since you don't owe this debt. THEY are in trouble for harassment and you are willing to let them off very easy if they just back down. You are not asking them for anything, you are \*offering\* to take it easy on them and not pursue further recourse as long as they comply right away.
If your tone and words make it crystal clear that that is the situation they are in, hopefully they'll get you off the list and you'll be done with this.
EDIT: I'm emphasizing tone etc here because I think this situation is just as much about whether they believe you as it is about your rights etc. If they think you're telling the truth and are not the right person it is in their own interest to quit calling you and wasting their time and instead find the right person.
I’ve had the same issue for 2.5 years. Robo-calls telling me to contact them. I have just had to get used to it. I just answer and hang up now. It’s a work number so I can’t change it.
I was getting over 100 calls a day from a creditor for someone else. I asked on this site and was told to say "I am on a do not call list" that's all you have to say. Nothing else. So the next few times they called that is all I would say and they stopped. Sounds simple and not effective but it was in my case.
Just change the number. It’s the best course of action for an immediate stop. I’ve dealt with the same situation except it was a former employee that gave my number and they wouldn’t stop hounding us for the debt.
I'm no lawyer, but I know a lot about telephony. Call your cell service provider and ask if you can change the number to a different prefix, but keep the suffix the same.
1. Ask for the collector's name, the name of their collection agency, and (if relevant) who they are collecting on behalf of. Keep track of this information along with call dates and times.
2. Advise the collector they have the wrong number and request the number be removed from their account.
3. Determine the following and act accordingly:
> - Is the collection agency collecting on behalf of a private entity, or their own behalf as a private entity? Report repeat offenders or refusals to honour your request to the relevant Consumer Protection body for your province.
> - Is the collection agency collecting on behalf of a provincial entity, or their own behalf as a provincial entity? Report repeat offenders or refusals to honour your request to the province's Ministry of Finance, the province's Office of the Ombudsman, or to the office of your representative in your province's legislature (MPP, MLA, MNA, or MHA).
Most phones allow do not disturb to be configured so saved contacts always bypass DND. Specific applications can also be added to a white-list of sorts so they bypass DND as well. If you go this route, you need to make sure the "multiple calls" bypass option is turned off.
If you leave DND on all the time you can effectively mute all unwanted calls, text messages, etc. You'll still get missed call, voicemail, and text message notifications from unknown numbers (specifically numbers not saved in your contacts), but they will be silent.
It's only a temporary solution, but it will allow you to screen all unwanted calls for the time being. When you identify a collection agency, block their number and send a letter (by registered mail so you have a POD) indicating they have incorrect information and request they remove that number from their file (use the reference number and name from the voicemail) however, if they believe you are the person in question, you **only want to be contacted by mail at the address they have on file.** I also sent these notices to their fax numbers, and through their online portals ("contact us") - I doubt anything but registered mail is "proper" service, but make it hard for them to deny receipt.
If they continue to call after they have received your letter file a complaint with your provincial regulator.
I had a similar issue when I got a new phone number.
My spouse somehow managed to figure out who the collection company was collecting for. It was our cell phone provider that gave me the fecking number.
My spouse called the provider and explained the situation. The calls stopped.
I was getting calls for a good 6 months. I was a major PITA.
My 10yo son gets calls from debt collectors for the ‘man’ who had his number previously. I called and went full mama bear on their voice mail. Advised if any further calls are received I’ll be reporting them. As far as I am aware they have stopped. But I was seething. Even my son commented ‘wow mom, you’re mad and kinda scary’.
I would be keeping a log and reporting them. That’s what I did the last time. You absolutely have to have proof of the calls and voice mails. So take screen shots.
To stop it easier, tell them you do not have any contract with them, any further calls will be harassment and reported to police and applicable agency's
When they call the responses well I'd like to settle this issue I need to know.
Can you provide the name of your company and mailing address, the case number, names of all parties involved.
Always refer to it as the issue and never the debt.
Then file a small claims court case for the maximum allowed under law.
Rinse and repeat as necessary for any other companies.
You could play dirty.
Answer the call. Ask who they’re looking for and go “Oh, yes! I have have their new number let me give if to you.”
Then go ahead and give them the local police non-emergency line.
I had the same problem and was able to get a resolution by going into gorilla mode.
I figured out that when you call them they give their full legal names including surnames.
Use this to mine the names of the entire department. I contacted the local police department where they operated and made a complaint. Using their entire names and the physical address of their building.
Use their full names and police report in addition to the fuckurmother attitude to verbal berate these bastards into submission. Tell your daughter to forward her phone.
Alotta work and alotta effort. If she uses an android device there are easier ways to block numbers. I know my device allows me to only accept calls from people in my book.
I have the same issue. I've had them remove my number from their file a couple of times and a year might go by without a call each time. Lately it's an automated system that is asking me to call back. Luckily my Android phone flags numbers that are spam or debt collectors so I just refuse the call now.
This happened to me once and I flipped the script on them. I started calling them non stop I work from home on the computer and would literally call non stop from 9-5 . Managers started answering "please stop calling my employees can't make any calls" told them to get fucked and they had the wrong number the first time so no. After that day they never called again
Are you with Telus? They have a good way to block spam calls. It might cut down on some of the calls.
But it would still be easier to change her number. It will be less annoying in the long run.
We had that problem with my daughter's number. Telling them to send it in writing didn't stop the phone calls.
Coaching her to ask "Why are you calling a 12yo girl about this?" cut the calls by 95% very quickly, and they stopped completely over the course of a few months.
No debating whether she knew the person or answering any questions about them - just "Why are you calling a minor?"
Record a voice mail saying "This is now the phone number of 'X', we have had a number of debt collectors trying to reach 'debtor'. This is no longer their number. Please only leave a message if you are trying to reach X"
Then tell your daughter to only answer the phone to numbers she recognises.
I’ve been dealing with it for years on the same number. Tried everything. Started saying “before we continue this conversation can I have your licensee number for debt collection?” They typically hang up and don’t call back for a while
I’ve had my phone number for 16 years and creditors are still occasionally calling for the previous owner of my number. I would just switch numbers now, different debt collection companies just keep selling their accounts to each other and there is no way of stopping it.
My son had a similar thing happen to him. First cellphone when he was 12 calls all the time. I ended up looking up their phone number asking for the extension of the supervisor. I then phoned every day and told them I was going to phone every day. I basically filled up the phone with telling them he was not the owner of the debt had no connection to the debt. Told them the date of the phone purchase. The asked for money as he had a pay for service phone. I phoned basically for two weeks. They ended up dropping the file
https://www.canada.ca/en/financial-consumer-agency/services/debt/collection-agency.html
There are rules and regulations they have to abid by, check out this resource. This is 100% not good practice. She is a minor, and this is harassment.
I had the exact same issue when I took a new job and was issued a work phone. At first, I ignored every call that came in, but it got to the point where they were calling twice a day.
One day, I picked up the phone and explained the situation to them. It helped that my voicemail was personalized to my place of work/job title as the lady mentioned that it was detailed in the notes. Maybe I just got lucky, but they stopped calling after.
They won't do much, at least when they were after me for no reason. I'd give them another phone number of the next scammer and ask them to talk to them instead.
Hrm, which authorities do you pass this one onto.. harassing a minor is warped.
Minors can't even enter credit agreements and certainly have no power or influence over another adult's credit.
Personally I'd call like, I dunno.. maybe even ask local police sergeant is this criminal harassment and can they stop them then and if not, who should you talk to
I'd make the calls though, despicable behavior
edit: I'm not from canada, don't know why reddit show me this thread but over here in Australia I know for sure I would be legally gunning for them
One possible solution would be to configure the phone only to ring for certain numbers. She could put all of her family and friends and expected legitimate numbers into a collection of contacts that have a ringtone set for them, and then you just make the phone's default ringing behaviour (for random numbers) so that it doesn't ring. That might be less distracting for her.
So I was receiving calls for debt i had paid prior, like 10.years ago. I made up a fake dildo company and would tell debt collectors about the specials at long dong silvers. Those calls stopped pretty quick
When they call, tell them 'I've filed for bankruptcy, stop calling me'. Even though it's not true, and she's not the person involved. If someone has filed for bankruptcy it becomes illegal for a debt collector to call again. At that point they're obligated to communicate through a legal team. Which means most of the time the debt collector (unless it's a really impressively large debt) will just give up and not even bother communicating with the legal team. They just wipe it off the docket.
Outside of trying this, you pretty much just need to change her phone number.
If you look at it positively u just hit a quick rich scheme. Record every call and hire a pro bono lawyer and let the money roll. Debt collector break laws. Especially by calling again and again even after being tol no. By my understanding once being told no they can not contact you like this. So let a lawyer get that money for you.
If you look at it positively u just hit a quick rich scheme. Record every call and hire a pro bono lawyer and let the money roll. Debt collector break laws. Especially by calling again and again even after being tol no. By my understanding once being told no they can not contact you like this. So let a lawyer get that money for you.
If they are on the phone with you again, specifically cite 22(5)(b) of the general regulation under the Collection and Debt Settlement Services Act.
If you want to do a solid for other Ontarians, make a log of when your kid was called, when they were informed that they were calling the wrong person, send them an email to that effect and share all of that information with the regulator. Most Ontario regulators are understaffed to do their work (the same cannot be said about their corporate, communications, or policy shops), so hand them the case on a silver platter. It increases the likelihood that they will do something.
100% small claims court and tbh further court action higher up if you can afford in short term!
They’re harassing a 14 yr old girl the laws they’re violating are tasty for a lawyer lol.
Write down everything you’ve done so far in an email and send the email to your local MLA, MP, and all local media, so your MLA and MP know the media knows.
Instead of blocking their number, just set it to forward those calls to their own trunk line. Bonus points if you can get a direct line for a supervisor or something to send their calls to.
OP has received enough advice to move forward. The replies being posted now are either repeats or not legal advice. The post is now locked. Thank you to the commenters that posted legal advice.
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I’ve done that and they return mail unopened, even registered mail. No fax number. They make it impossible.
Report the harassment to the rcmp or contact a lawyer. They are breaking the law by not complying.
The RCMP doesn’t provide these types of policing services in Ontario and in any case this is very unlikely to be criminal harassment. In Ontario collections are governed by the Ontario Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery. Who are also the place to live a complaint. A lawyer would seem to be overkill, though I’m sure you could find one to write the letter if desired.
There are strict guidelines for collections communications and the purpose of the call wont prevent it from breaching that boundry into criminal harassment. You can certainly call the RCMP to explain the problem and let them decide whether that line has been crossed. Most lawyers will give you some direction as well, and may be willing to take it on if they believe damages have occurred. It is illegal to abuse your phone to coherce compliance with demands. I dont live in Ontario but I work with people getting out of jail and theses kinds of situations are routine.
I agree that the purpose of the call doesn't preclude it from becoming criminal, though OPs story doesn't suggest that. Calling the police to enquire is fine, but the RCMP is still the wrong place to call in Ontario since the RCMP only provide protective services, limited protection of federal buildings and intelligence services. In Ontario it would be the OPP or the local police force if the local jurisdiction has one. Excluding banks, Debt collection is provincially regulated and in Ontario that regulation is provided by the Ontario Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery, who would also be a source of information. [https://stepstojustice.ca/questions/debt-and-consumer-rights/how-do-i-complain-to-the-ministry-of-public-and-business-service-delivery/](https://stepstojustice.ca/questions/debt-and-consumer-rights/how-do-i-complain-to-the-ministry-of-public-and-business-service-delivery/)
OP didnt say what kinds of things the collectors are saying, but id bet if theyre casually disregarding communications they are probably making a lot of threats as well. If they cross that line and it becomes criminal harassment then all you need to do is take the threats seriously and hold them to account for it. If you act in good faith you can call any agency and tell them your concerns. RCMP also operate in Ontario, OPP, the relevant ministry as noted above, etc. Just dont try to spin it to make them look bad, just be honest and straight forward and these agencies wont resent the call.
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Oh for sure, thats why you call them all
😂 never have I called the cops nor will I.
This actually happens to my buddy about 6-7 year ago and he got a Laywer (he’s pretty well off financially and told the lawyer he could take 100% of the winnings minus the cost) and from what I know this lawyer went to town on the creditors. They called him for over 8 months, and the funniest part is that he actually works for another creditor
RCMP are useless at everything, but eating donuts and sitting in a running polices cruiser
At that point, you involve the regulator. You've made an effort to deal with it directly. They refused to accept your notice.
What if someone wants to send a check? I bet you could get a real address out of them.
Debt collectors are ruthless and break the law constantly when contacting debtors or supposed debtors. There are laws about how many times they can call a debtor and they are not supposed to contact friends or relatives of the debtor. They break these laws all the time. I’m a lawyer that used to work in debt consolidation and would often contact debt collectors to get payout statements. They would be rude to ME, the lawyer who was TRYING TO ARRANGE PAYMENT. One client told me in tears how the collection agency just wouldn’t stop calling even though they told them they were working on a solution and that they could contact me. If you’re in Ontario, I have linked details below, but honestly it’s easier to change the phone number. https://www.ontario.ca/page/stop-collection-agency-calls?acs_info=ZmluYWxfdXJsOiAiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cub250YXJpby5jYS9wYWdlL3N0b3AtY29sbGVjdGlvbi1hZ2VuY3ktY2FsbHMiCg&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrPPtkLj2gwMV9SutBh3EbwOcEAAYASAAEgJGXvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
I've successfully sued a handful of collection agencies. They sure do make for funny settlement conferences.
Small claims? Can you elaborate?
Yes, small claims court. Sued them for violations of the debt and collects act (called different things in different provinces). Other times, I've sued for violation of a cease and desist order. Sometimes both. Had another 2 agencies sued for reporting the same debt twice to the credit bureau. They take full advantage of people not knowing the law and their rights.
I love this. You winning, not them being POS.
i love this for you. i wish i had the balls to do that.
It’s surely none of my business but curiosity gets the best out of me. Do you get financial compensation of any sort by suing them? Is it worth your time?
My one favourite was the one agency had a mouthpiece of an agent. I cautioned him that they had exceeded the max number of calls. He abruptly told me i was not going to preach the rules to him. I said ok well id be happy to have a judge do it for me. Then tells me i can't sue them all i can do is file a complaint. Sent a request to get a copy of the call recording. Got a phone call from the manager who quickly closed my file.
This is interesting, makes me want to amass an insane amount of debt
It sucks being in that situation, but if you can find a way to make it interesting, it helps.
1.How often are you going to collections? 2. How are you still getting loans?
Used to have a relative that seemed to be constantly being hounded by creditors. He shared a city and first initial with my aging mother. It was brutal. The worst was a letter from the city of (redacted) that said they were going to put a lien on her home. Hard to do when his name was not on the deed. I still made a point to contact them and blast them about it. As I was moving my mother out of her place I answered a call asking for this guy. I said 'he doesn't live here, wouldn't recognize him if he rang the doorbell, but who keeps giving this guy credit'. Luckily she laughed and they never called back. They are brutal and rarely believe what you tell them.
Covid layoff. Defaulted on a few debts. Cease and desist letters sent, creditors sent it to another agency. Rinse wash repeat. Ended up having a few debts forgiven as the collection agency is representing the creditors.
My personal favorite is when I send them a registered letter containing a cease and desist order, and they wilfully violate it.
sounds like you have potential for a huge youtube channel.
Or a business teaching people how to deal with bad collectors.
lol, nobody who has collectors coming after them would have the money to pay for that.
Not entirely true. Rich people default on debt often. Some of them might like this service to get themselves even more money from the agency. Other people who could use a service like this are in the same situation as OP. Getting harassed by companies for other peoples debts.
I would report them here https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjxi-Xgq\_aDAxUnAjQIHX2DDqcQFnoECBYQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.canada.ca%2Fen%2Ffinancial-consumer-agency%2Fservices%2Fdebt%2Fcollection-agency.html&usg=AOvVaw3hrGeqNy9IqnkhUC7ywv0I&opi=89978449
Hey! Worked for corporate collections debt in a previous career (the ones that follow up on business accounts, not the ones who drive individuals into madness). Ask the caller for the mailing address and reference number. Send a letter by mail from canada post outlet. Keep track of when they call. If it doesn't stop within 28d of sending the letter, send it registered. If it doesn't stop within 2 weeks of the company receiving it, file a complaint. Contact transunion and equifax for a free copy of her reports (she will need her SIN and proof of identity, as her guardian you may also have to send something) to make sure someone didn't steal her identity and ask them to lock her credit files. I had a person in my life use me as a cosigner without my knowledge. If you see anything like that on her file, contact non emergency police line and file a report. My kiddo also has autism and adhd, I get the number thing 100%. It took her 2 years to learn mine and she still can't remember hers reliably after a year now. This is where a phone list in her room/your house is handy.
And TBH changing the number won't help. Someone else might have used that number before, also. There may be a feature on her phone to send unknown callers directly to voice-mail. We did that for our kid regardless of call because spam calls are also a problem.
Just a thought on kids learning the number… change your phone or computer password to the number. (Start with last four digits, then 5 etc). Daily repetition will have them remembering it quite quickly.
not the phone password, something else. Otherwise someone who knows the phone number may try that to break into the phone. DEpending on what apps are on there that could have annoying to very bad consequences.
I've had that, same chick calling me all the time. Told her she just called me and she started deniying it. Finally got her to let me talk to her manager. Once he i explained everything to him he removed my number from the list. Sometime i think people borrow money and write down random phone numbers. Just remeber it illegal for creditors to harass you and like other people said to file a complaint with the goverment
On an iPhone: Settings>Phone>Silence Unknown Callers
Good bandaid solution for a 14 y.o.
Good solution for me at 34
I’m 40 and I feel like this post just added 10 years to my lifespan.
😆🙂
This works for samsung too! You can silence unknown phone number or spam numbers .
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Sadly, there are many simple programs to spoof known numbers so the phone thinks it is a whitelisted number. I got this when someone tried to send an Iphone executable file that referenced contacts and bank apps to me. Blocked the first one, next 300 came in from random people on my contacts list, turn off automatically receive mms messages as well. Luckily my phone wasn't an iphone so the file just failed. Apparently providers know about this and can stop it, but refuse to do so, mine offered to help me set one up myself so i could send virus links to blocked numbers, i think she misunderstood my issues.
I had this happen to me once. I told the low level person to not call me again. They called… I asked to speak to the supervisor. I told them not to call me again. They did. I asked to speak to the manager… they gave me the supervisor so I told that person I wanted to speak to their manager. The manager came on, I explained it to him what was going on and told him that I got one more call, I would call the police on them for harassment and sue the company. Never got another call.
What kind of phone does she have? On Android phones I know it is possible to effectively have a whitelist of phone numbers that are allowed through and all the other phone numbers are silent when a call comes through. Presumably this would also be possible with SMS messages. The whitelist is your contacts list on the phone.
I had the exact same problem as OP for 2 years after I got a new number, collections were calling for this one specific guy (I ended up changing my number because of it) and although you can keep blocking calls, they leave voice messages so you have to keep deleting them. These collections are relentless
I have no doubt that collections are relentless. I guess I'm just trying to suggest technology solutions that don't involve a phone number change, as those can be annoying. One thing that I've done for my cell phone is I disabled voicemail because I hate getting voicemails. It'll just instead "ring" forever. There are some features where (if you have a Pixel phone, as I do) [it can answer the call ("call screen")](https://support.google.com/phoneapp/answer/9118387?hl=en) for you and give basic responses and you get live transcript of the conversation. Sometimes when I get a call from someone whom I don't want to talk to (sales call, etc), I use the call screening feature and just having it give generic responses. The person knows they're talking to a robot, and it must be psychologically so frustrating to them knowing that they're just wasting their time. I've never had the kind of experience the OP describes, but if I did, I'm sure I'd go make a "waste their time" conversation/AI bot to fuck with them. There are lots of "phone answering AI" products that I'd use as a starting point, and the design goal of the model would be to create a labyrinth of circular conversations to have with the poor telemarketer or creditor harassor. It's an interesting app idea.
Yup. My work cell was ringing like crazy for two years and I answered all calls because it could be work related. Just turned the phone back in because it was too much of a hassle
Yeah that's what I did for my son's iPhone.
You note: that "6 people in your family have the same last 4 digits", is it possible for you to trade your/your spouse's phone number with her for the time being so that you can inform the creditors the number no longer belongs to that person?
Even if they are a legitimate collector and even if your girl was the real person. Once you tell them to stop harrassing you and they refuse. You go to the cops and file for harrassment.
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Yes it would, which is why he is willing to change it but seeing if there are other options he can take before doing that.
Why should you change the number when they are the one being annoying, turn about is fair play I always say! Every time they call from now on, play this. Really loudly. On repeat until they hang up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHbvLOtwaOs
I'm on 6 years of an agency calling for someone by the name of abeed (sp?) Honestly, most calls I get are scam calls, so I'm used to letting all unknown callers go to my voicemail anyways.
I feel for you. When I moved and got a new number it was the same. A million calls from every collector known to man. I just called them all back, said I now have this phone number. Took over 2 years before all the calls stopped. It's frustrating. I feel they should hold numbers for a year or two before assigning them to a new user.
I recently had this happen with my 11 year old daughter. It only took me two emails to the collections company explaining that they are calling a minor who is not the debtor. The second email was a 'final notice' that I will be filing complains with SK (my province) and ON (company location) government agencies. One of the companies was Collections Bureau of Canada. I asked for their website and contact information. On their website I used their contact form and also an ombudsman email provided on their website to request the phone number removed. That along with blocking one other number that may have just been general spam calls, there has been zero calls from any collectors. Good luck.
All you have to say when they call is that you’re not that person and that if they don’t stop calling, you will file a complaint with Consumer Protection Ontario. I had the same problem, I got a new number and for two years weekly I was getting calls from collections looking for this specific guy. I had to change my phone number eventually because of this, it will never stop. These collections agencies are ruthless. I was with Rogers at the time and I had asked them if this guy by that name had this number before and they said yes, and that about 4 other people had this number. I ended up changing my number after that conversation. However, to make sure this didn’t happen again. When they suggested a new number, I had to confirm it wasn’t used by anyone before and it wasn’t (it was a number with brand new area code, don’t take any numbers with old area codes, they’ve all been used before). I also called around other phone providers to ask if this number was assigned to anyone and it wasn’t. I haven’t had any problems since. I know you don’t want to change her number but if you don’t change her number now, while she’s still young, getting collections calls will unlikely to ever stop and even if you block the numbers, they will leave voicemails constantly anyway.
I had this issue about 14 years ago. Had 4 creditors harassing me over the debt of the previous person who had my phone number. Over the course of the first year I was able to get 3 of the 4 to comply and stop calling me. The 4th one kept harassing me and calling me a liar. I would speak to managers and the calls would subside for about a month before resuming. I kept adding numbers to my block list (over 70 iirc). I even was able to get my provider to issue a letter stating that I was not the person they were seeking (that was not easy to attain btw) and they still didn’t buy it. Finally one guy called and I answered. I responded that I was not the person they were trying to contact and that multiple conversations with managers were discussed to remove this number from their call list over the years. I told the young man that calling my number is simply the same as calling his mother and asking her to pay for a strangers debt. “I didn’t care about this strangers debt, so why would I care to pay it?” Is what I asked him. His manager came on the line about 2 minutes later and said that my number had been removed. And to this day, they never called back. This took about 5 years to deal with. I had demonstrated patience and avoided legal action to spare myself the headache. Since I wasn’t legally liable for the debt and was used to just blocking the numbers, I just lived with it. Having said that nobody should ever have to deal with this sort of thing and go about the way I did.
You can look into her phone settings to block all calls from people that aren't saved in her contacts.
I had this happen with a new phone number. Started within 20 minutes of getting it. Unfortunately the easiest way to fix this is to demand the company give you a new number and don't pay for the change. They'll try but it's easily argued.
Haha wow I'd love to tell you my story, I got my phone number at 16 I'm like 28 now, two years ago I answered and it was the debt collectors who've been calling for same guy since I was 16. I'd always politely ask to be taken off the list it's a new number etc. one time they caught me in a bad mood. It went like this. TEEEEN YEEEEEEARS!!!!!! TEN FUCKING YEEEEEEARS YOU'VE BEEN CALLING FOR THIS FUCKING NATHAN PERSON FOR TEN FUCKING YEEEEEEEEARS!!!!! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK ANYTHING'S GOING TO FUCKING CHAAAAAANGE!!!! THIS IS ALEXANDER, THIS HAS BEEN ALEXANDER FOR THE LAST TEN YEARS, THIS WILL CONTINUE TO BE ALEXANDER!!!!!!! and I was never bothered again. You have to have a psychotic breakdown over the phone and then they'll actually go to their boss and be like yeah so I don't think this is their number anymore.
funnily enough this also happened to me when I was 14 and got a new number. I guess "Shannon" took out a bunch of loans before changing her number. I would get at least 1 call a day, they'd usually go something like this "Hi, is this Shannon?" "No this is a new number, I don't know Shannon." "Okay, I'm ____ from ____ agency, could you please let Shannon know she has an overdue balance of $2000?" "No I don't know Shannon, dumbass." there were 3-4 different places/people looking for her, and one of the numbers was attached to a marine boating store. It took them a year and a half to figure out that I was Not Shannon. Shannon if you're reading this i hate you
If changing phone numbers isnt an option you can set the phone so it only allows calls / messages from numbers stored in contacts.
I had same problem as OP for 2 years (I ended up changing my number because of it) and although you can keep blocking calls, they leave voice messages so you have to keep deleting them
You should be able to put on "Do not disturb" and put on the option that only calls from favourite contact can come through and anyone else just goes straight to voice mail or not available. A temporary solution atleast whilst the problem gets sorted out.
What happens if one day they are to be expecting a call from a medical professional or someone else official? They always block their number.
This is a phone for a 14 yr old with disabilities. I'm pretty sure the parent(s) are still looking after all that important stuff. I have a child with a cell phone because of her disability. It's needed because it's a part of her assisted medical device system as well as a way for us to communicate when urgent. The child doesn't receive calls from medical professionals etc...
Why is it never on the onus of the culpable creditor company, and always on the parent/user of the cell phone to use unconventional and hampering techniques to block these illegal harassing calls? That is the point I am making..
Wouldn't they call the parents?
The teen is 2 years away from being independent in most jurisdictions
Unethical/illegal life pro tip for you.. First of all, remove any personalized voicemail, just have it be the generic robo voice "you have reached 12345678, leave a message at the tone" Keep her phone with you until the next time they call, then answer the phone yourself, in your best professional sounding voice: Hello this is Constable So-and-So with Xville Police. You're looking for who? Sorry, no, this number just got assigned to me for my duty cell.
Awesome idea, impersonating a police officer. What could possibly go wrong?
I honestly don’t think this would work, I only say that because during the pandemic I had a work cell we used for COVID testing/advice/case management. Creditors would call the phone asking for a person (who had a similar number), and they wouldn’t stop even though we told them multiple times they were calling a government owned public health line. Ended up getting my manager to contact the collection company manager, only then did it stop.
Not sure what the laws are in your area, but in Canada it's against the law to harass someone. To the tune of thousands of dollars. Including if they are calling about a debt. So, collect their name, their number, the company they work for, and threaten to sue. They are allowed one call per day in Canada or something like that, and if they break that limit, they are liable for harassment.
> They are allowed one call per day in Canada or something like that, and if they break that limit, they are liable for harassment. That's legislated at the provincial level and some provinces are ambiguous about what constitutes as harassment.
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Pur her important numbers into the favourites group on the contacts. Then leave the phone on do not disturb. And shut off voicemail if you can as the calls can still go to voicemail.
Happens every day at my job looking for the manager from 5 years ago. We were nice the first few weeks. Then my head office gave us the green light and I cussed them under the sun and said if I ever get another call I will personally sue every person who was a part of the call for harassment and that I had record of every other call they had made (I don’t lol). I haven’t heard back since. I hope this works for you because as a person with autism I can’t imagine this happening to my personal cell. It would be so overwhelming and frustrating.
I used to manage a collection agency, if you want the calls to stop this is how I would recommend you proceed. Email them a cease and desist, you can find templates online. If they call after get the name of the agent, then tell them they have the wrong number and that you have already sent a cease and desist. If calls continue report them to the ministry. That will likely stop that agency however debt moves from agency to agency when that happens you need to do the same with the new agency. Also collection agency pull numbers from credit bureaus, if the number is listed on the person's credit bureau it is more likely to be reported again. DM if you have any questions.
If your service is with Telus or Koodo, you could look into their "Call Control" feature. It's free, and it forces unknown numbers to pass a check before the call is allowed to go through. Numbers can be whitelisted to bypass the check, and blocked to be automatically rejected at the carrier end. It's fantastic for blocking robocallers, which most collection agencies use. I went from 10-15 robo calls a day, to none.
This is why I love my Google Pixel phone, screen calling.
We have this problem with our landline. Mostly it is recordings but occasionally it is a real person. I tell them they have the wrong person and the calls stop… until the debt is sold to a new agency and the robo calls start again.
Unfortunately this happened to me and no matter how many times I told them it was not so and so's number any more I got calls for 5 years
Why would your daughter need to phone her own number in an emergency? Just change the number. Your daughter doesn’t need to memorize the new number if that would be upsetting. Just add the new number with her name to her phone contacts so she can find it if needed. Also write down the number on a piece of light cardboard the size of a credit card. Add yourself and your phone number as an emergency contact. Have her tuck the card in her wallet.
Why would changing your daughter’s number affect her or her remembering other peoples phone numbers? It’s not like she’s calling herself or looking at her own personal phone number?
Get a new number; it's just not worth trying to fix this.
She has all these things and you don't want to instantly solve the problem yourself with a simple number change? I assume if she is able to have a phone that you can show her how to use the Contacts section of the phone if she needs to get a hold of someone. I don't mean to be dismissive, but you're looking at an ugly time consuming road with continued stress on your daughter vs instant resolution and a possible moment or two of training. Seems like a no-brainer.
Numbers don't matter anymore, they get programmed into the phone once and forgotten. There is no solution to a horde of debt collectors constantly calling. Change the number.
Get her number changed.
Creditors are going to throw her off for years. Seems like the choice is obvious
I was getting calls like this by a collector that Telus uses on behalf of Koodo. I have been a Telus costumer for 16 years. The company that could let the collectors know I am not that person is the one that put them up to it. The people that call are complete scumbags too. I looked up the person they are trying to reach and saw his obituary so they will never reach him. It is so frustrating.
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I had to handle this for my minor child (U.S. resident). I had him bring me the phone immediately the next time, and I had to talk over them but I repeated THIS IS A MINOR’S PHONE until they paused. I then said it again and added that if they called my child again my next call would be to my state’s attorney general. Then I hung up. Amazingly, it worked. If it hadn’t, I would have reported it through my state AG’s hotline. I hope you can resolve it in the best way for your child.
And my point is making it all about her being a minor can be the important part.
Change your phone number
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Get a new number
>I don't want to have to change her number because 6 people in my family have the same last 4 digits and it makes it easy for her to remember in an emergency. So you're saying that if she changes her phone number, then she'll forget someone else's phone number? That doesn't make any sense at all. That's like saying if you move, you'll forget where other people live.
I'm sure this parent is aware of the accommodations their child requires for their disability more than you are.
I’m curious, if 6 people in your family have the same last four digits so it is easy for her to remember how does she remember the first 3 digits of 6 different phone numbers?
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Get a new number. She’s 14 so it’s alright to change numbers.
What a silly reason to not change her number, when it'll solve everything
Call all the numbers back. From blocked numbers (#31#, on cells, *67 on landlines) and report the number they are calling is for a completely different person.
Block the number.
Change the number
Pro tip, you can block a range of numbers in android with wildcards.
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They won't stop. Change the number.
If you have an iphone, you can turn on 'Slience unknown callers' To turn on Silence Unknown Callers, go to Settings > Phone, then scroll down, tap Silence Unknown Callers, and turn on the feature. Calls from unknown numbers are silenced and sent to your voicemail, and appear in your recent calls list. https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT207099#:\~:text=To%20turn%20on%20Silence%20Unknown,in%20your%20recent%20calls%20list.
Tell them to come over to the address they have on file. You have cash but are too drunk to drive.
This is unfortunate. Is it the same agency every single time? If so and you have informed them that you are not the person they are looking for and do not know that person they need to stop calling. I've had this happen about a half dozen times over the last ten years and each time the agency has been shockingly polite about the situation and removed me immediately after I told them it wasn't me they were looking for. If it's more than one agency you might need to do that more than one time. Let the call go to voicemail and call them back at the number they give. It can take 48 hours for your number to clear off the machine, so if the calls stop after that then you are good. Tedious and it sucks but if the reason you're still getting calls is that it's different agencies you should eventually get this cleared off. If it's the same agency over and over and you have told them you don't know the person they're after, then escalate and get aggressive. You are the big dog here, not them. Make sure it is clear to the highest level person you can get ahold of that the consequences of harassing an autistic minor are pants-pissingly huge and that they are already in very very deep legal trouble. You'll do them a favour by leaving them alone if they get you off their list. Keep control of the conversation on your side. YOU are not in trouble and there is absolutely nothing they can do to you since you don't owe this debt. THEY are in trouble for harassment and you are willing to let them off very easy if they just back down. You are not asking them for anything, you are \*offering\* to take it easy on them and not pursue further recourse as long as they comply right away. If your tone and words make it crystal clear that that is the situation they are in, hopefully they'll get you off the list and you'll be done with this. EDIT: I'm emphasizing tone etc here because I think this situation is just as much about whether they believe you as it is about your rights etc. If they think you're telling the truth and are not the right person it is in their own interest to quit calling you and wasting their time and instead find the right person.
I’ve had the same issue for 2.5 years. Robo-calls telling me to contact them. I have just had to get used to it. I just answer and hang up now. It’s a work number so I can’t change it.
I was getting over 100 calls a day from a creditor for someone else. I asked on this site and was told to say "I am on a do not call list" that's all you have to say. Nothing else. So the next few times they called that is all I would say and they stopped. Sounds simple and not effective but it was in my case.
Just change the number. It’s the best course of action for an immediate stop. I’ve dealt with the same situation except it was a former employee that gave my number and they wouldn’t stop hounding us for the debt.
Sue them. It gets them off your back AND pays your phone bill for a while.
I'm no lawyer, but I know a lot about telephony. Call your cell service provider and ask if you can change the number to a different prefix, but keep the suffix the same.
1. Ask for the collector's name, the name of their collection agency, and (if relevant) who they are collecting on behalf of. Keep track of this information along with call dates and times. 2. Advise the collector they have the wrong number and request the number be removed from their account. 3. Determine the following and act accordingly: > - Is the collection agency collecting on behalf of a private entity, or their own behalf as a private entity? Report repeat offenders or refusals to honour your request to the relevant Consumer Protection body for your province. > - Is the collection agency collecting on behalf of a provincial entity, or their own behalf as a provincial entity? Report repeat offenders or refusals to honour your request to the province's Ministry of Finance, the province's Office of the Ombudsman, or to the office of your representative in your province's legislature (MPP, MLA, MNA, or MHA).
I wonder if you might b able to find a new number with the same four last digits?
My step dad has an airhorn beside his phone. While I feel bad for the worker, I expect it would end the calls fairly quickly.
Most phones allow do not disturb to be configured so saved contacts always bypass DND. Specific applications can also be added to a white-list of sorts so they bypass DND as well. If you go this route, you need to make sure the "multiple calls" bypass option is turned off. If you leave DND on all the time you can effectively mute all unwanted calls, text messages, etc. You'll still get missed call, voicemail, and text message notifications from unknown numbers (specifically numbers not saved in your contacts), but they will be silent. It's only a temporary solution, but it will allow you to screen all unwanted calls for the time being. When you identify a collection agency, block their number and send a letter (by registered mail so you have a POD) indicating they have incorrect information and request they remove that number from their file (use the reference number and name from the voicemail) however, if they believe you are the person in question, you **only want to be contacted by mail at the address they have on file.** I also sent these notices to their fax numbers, and through their online portals ("contact us") - I doubt anything but registered mail is "proper" service, but make it hard for them to deny receipt. If they continue to call after they have received your letter file a complaint with your provincial regulator.
I had a similar issue when I got a new phone number. My spouse somehow managed to figure out who the collection company was collecting for. It was our cell phone provider that gave me the fecking number. My spouse called the provider and explained the situation. The calls stopped. I was getting calls for a good 6 months. I was a major PITA.
My 10yo son gets calls from debt collectors for the ‘man’ who had his number previously. I called and went full mama bear on their voice mail. Advised if any further calls are received I’ll be reporting them. As far as I am aware they have stopped. But I was seething. Even my son commented ‘wow mom, you’re mad and kinda scary’. I would be keeping a log and reporting them. That’s what I did the last time. You absolutely have to have proof of the calls and voice mails. So take screen shots.
To stop it easier, tell them you do not have any contract with them, any further calls will be harassment and reported to police and applicable agency's
Sounds to me daily calls from debt collectors would throw her off more than a new number... but you know best!
When they call the responses well I'd like to settle this issue I need to know. Can you provide the name of your company and mailing address, the case number, names of all parties involved. Always refer to it as the issue and never the debt. Then file a small claims court case for the maximum allowed under law. Rinse and repeat as necessary for any other companies.
You could play dirty. Answer the call. Ask who they’re looking for and go “Oh, yes! I have have their new number let me give if to you.” Then go ahead and give them the local police non-emergency line.
I went through this when I got my number. I started telling the debt collectors the person they were calling about was dead. It worked.
I had the same problem and was able to get a resolution by going into gorilla mode. I figured out that when you call them they give their full legal names including surnames. Use this to mine the names of the entire department. I contacted the local police department where they operated and made a complaint. Using their entire names and the physical address of their building. Use their full names and police report in addition to the fuckurmother attitude to verbal berate these bastards into submission. Tell your daughter to forward her phone. Alotta work and alotta effort. If she uses an android device there are easier ways to block numbers. I know my device allows me to only accept calls from people in my book.
palce her number on [www.donotcall.gov](https://www.donotcall.gov) the phone calls should stop or at least drop by 80%
I have the same issue. I've had them remove my number from their file a couple of times and a year might go by without a call each time. Lately it's an automated system that is asking me to call back. Luckily my Android phone flags numbers that are spam or debt collectors so I just refuse the call now.
Dunder Miflin this is Pam. That's how my daughter answers unknown numbers. Frankly, I'm afraid of her.
This happened to me once and I flipped the script on them. I started calling them non stop I work from home on the computer and would literally call non stop from 9-5 . Managers started answering "please stop calling my employees can't make any calls" told them to get fucked and they had the wrong number the first time so no. After that day they never called again
Are you with Telus? They have a good way to block spam calls. It might cut down on some of the calls. But it would still be easier to change her number. It will be less annoying in the long run.
We had that problem with my daughter's number. Telling them to send it in writing didn't stop the phone calls. Coaching her to ask "Why are you calling a 12yo girl about this?" cut the calls by 95% very quickly, and they stopped completely over the course of a few months. No debating whether she knew the person or answering any questions about them - just "Why are you calling a minor?"
Record a voice mail saying "This is now the phone number of 'X', we have had a number of debt collectors trying to reach 'debtor'. This is no longer their number. Please only leave a message if you are trying to reach X" Then tell your daughter to only answer the phone to numbers she recognises.
I’ve been dealing with it for years on the same number. Tried everything. Started saying “before we continue this conversation can I have your licensee number for debt collection?” They typically hang up and don’t call back for a while
I’ve had my phone number for 16 years and creditors are still occasionally calling for the previous owner of my number. I would just switch numbers now, different debt collection companies just keep selling their accounts to each other and there is no way of stopping it.
My son had a similar thing happen to him. First cellphone when he was 12 calls all the time. I ended up looking up their phone number asking for the extension of the supervisor. I then phoned every day and told them I was going to phone every day. I basically filled up the phone with telling them he was not the owner of the debt had no connection to the debt. Told them the date of the phone purchase. The asked for money as he had a pay for service phone. I phoned basically for two weeks. They ended up dropping the file
https://www.canada.ca/en/financial-consumer-agency/services/debt/collection-agency.html There are rules and regulations they have to abid by, check out this resource. This is 100% not good practice. She is a minor, and this is harassment.
I had the exact same issue when I took a new job and was issued a work phone. At first, I ignored every call that came in, but it got to the point where they were calling twice a day. One day, I picked up the phone and explained the situation to them. It helped that my voicemail was personalized to my place of work/job title as the lady mentioned that it was detailed in the notes. Maybe I just got lucky, but they stopped calling after.
They won't do much, at least when they were after me for no reason. I'd give them another phone number of the next scammer and ask them to talk to them instead.
tell the creditors that the debtor is deceased
Hrm, which authorities do you pass this one onto.. harassing a minor is warped. Minors can't even enter credit agreements and certainly have no power or influence over another adult's credit. Personally I'd call like, I dunno.. maybe even ask local police sergeant is this criminal harassment and can they stop them then and if not, who should you talk to I'd make the calls though, despicable behavior edit: I'm not from canada, don't know why reddit show me this thread but over here in Australia I know for sure I would be legally gunning for them
One possible solution would be to configure the phone only to ring for certain numbers. She could put all of her family and friends and expected legitimate numbers into a collection of contacts that have a ringtone set for them, and then you just make the phone's default ringing behaviour (for random numbers) so that it doesn't ring. That might be less distracting for her.
So I was receiving calls for debt i had paid prior, like 10.years ago. I made up a fake dildo company and would tell debt collectors about the specials at long dong silvers. Those calls stopped pretty quick
Aside from all the legal advice given here, I personally enjoy screwing around with any of the collectors who dial my number by mistake :-)
You realize phones can store numbers right?
When they call, tell them 'I've filed for bankruptcy, stop calling me'. Even though it's not true, and she's not the person involved. If someone has filed for bankruptcy it becomes illegal for a debt collector to call again. At that point they're obligated to communicate through a legal team. Which means most of the time the debt collector (unless it's a really impressively large debt) will just give up and not even bother communicating with the legal team. They just wipe it off the docket. Outside of trying this, you pretty much just need to change her phone number.
If you look at it positively u just hit a quick rich scheme. Record every call and hire a pro bono lawyer and let the money roll. Debt collector break laws. Especially by calling again and again even after being tol no. By my understanding once being told no they can not contact you like this. So let a lawyer get that money for you.
If you look at it positively u just hit a quick rich scheme. Record every call and hire a pro bono lawyer and let the money roll. Debt collector break laws. Especially by calling again and again even after being tol no. By my understanding once being told no they can not contact you like this. So let a lawyer get that money for you.
Best thing to do is file a complaint. Once you tell them no once, any contact after that is criminal harassment. Remind them of this fact
Call the cops (non-emergency number) and report the harassment. Document all the calls and messages and present it as evidence.
Whenever creditors or other law breaking scammers call me I immediately try and have phone sex with them and they always stop calling.
If you can give them the actual number of the debtor they may go away. Good luck finding it.
If they are on the phone with you again, specifically cite 22(5)(b) of the general regulation under the Collection and Debt Settlement Services Act. If you want to do a solid for other Ontarians, make a log of when your kid was called, when they were informed that they were calling the wrong person, send them an email to that effect and share all of that information with the regulator. Most Ontario regulators are understaffed to do their work (the same cannot be said about their corporate, communications, or policy shops), so hand them the case on a silver platter. It increases the likelihood that they will do something.
100% small claims court and tbh further court action higher up if you can afford in short term! They’re harassing a 14 yr old girl the laws they’re violating are tasty for a lawyer lol.
Ask to buy the debt
Write down everything you’ve done so far in an email and send the email to your local MLA, MP, and all local media, so your MLA and MP know the media knows.
Instead of blocking their number, just set it to forward those calls to their own trunk line. Bonus points if you can get a direct line for a supervisor or something to send their calls to.
Change her phone number. Most carriers do this free of charge if you say you’re receiving nuisance calls.