Odd telephone call from First Credit Limited

tiddles93

As long as you haven't been paying them or been in contact with them since 1995, then it's statute barred.........Ignore them, they won't take you to court!

incubus

So just to allay peoples fears on here, I got a letter from them this morning. I called them and asked where they had obtained my details, they said 'from a trace'. They then tried to confirm a previous address of mine (which was wrong, it had some elements right eg right name but wrong 'type', e.g. blake road instead of blake street), I wouldn't confirm or deny it, and they kept trying to ask in different ways, but I know their game - I work in IT and handle sensitive information, I'm very aware of what I give away over the phone. They didn't have my phone number and I only confirmed the address they'd sent to - nothing else - and when I pressed them for more information they wouldn't even disclose their client and terminated the call on me. They're just fishing.

To rest my mind I logged in and got an updated creditexpert report, its all green and my rating is 999 "excellent", so to me that sounds like theyve harvested my details from somewhere. Getting paranoid, I also updated my report with equifax - my rating is excellent there as well. I did have some bad debts back when I was a student (circa 1998-2001) and I paid off all the ones that appeared on my credit report back then. Since then, got a mortgage, maintain credit cards and loans perfectly. If they have gone gravedigging some ancient debts, more fool them. They'll not be getting anything out of me

Bunch of amateurs.

Can only echo what everyone else above has said - if the debt is older than 6 years, they're just fishing and can't affect your credit rating.

Mike.

jackywhizz

I would strongly recommend getting in touch withhttp://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/

I have spoken to them when i was chased by some debt collection agency for a debt owed by my SIL who doesn't even live here. They were very helpful & will take the case to Trading Standards for you if necessary.

Legolam

I received a letter from these annoying people a few weeks ago. They suggested I might be the person they were looking for about a "personal matter" and if I didn't contact them, they'd assume it was me and send me all the relevant info. I phoned them but they would not tell me anything until I gave them some personal info about myself. I gave my date of birth and was told that it didn't match their records (well duh!). They asked for my address but I first demanded to know what this was all about. They wouldn't tell me so we agreed to end the call. I don't see why I should give them any of my personal details.

A few weeks later I got a letter from Barclaycard claiming that I owed a lot of money (over £1,000), which now had to be paid to 1st Credit. Odd that because I have never owned a Barclaycard

Then I got another letter from 1st Credit. This time there was an SAE with the letter so I took the time to write and tell them they had the wrong person and that they should stop annoying me with other people's debts. That didn't seem to work because I now have another letter that threatens me with legal proceedings and lists all the nasty things that may happen to me if they win.

* Legal costs
* CCJ
* Deductions from my pay
* Seizure of assets
* A charging order against my property

Fat chance of that, I'm not the person who owes the debt. I just have the same name!

The letter ends: "PLEASE TAKE THIS FINAL OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE CONTACT"

Errr.. No. Not a chance! I don't work for them. I'm not their gopher and I object to their fishing methods that use threats and demands to worry people into doing their donkey work by helping them narrow their search. There should be a law against this behaviour. Perhaps there is! I hope that if it does go to court I can use the event to gain publicity against these bullies and make them pay for my time and trouble.

I've never had a Barclaycard (and never will now) but their nasty tactics made me doubt even that. I actually went through my history of credit cards just in case I'd made some sort of bizarre oversight. How a vulnerable or elderly person might react to these scatter-gun mail-shot threats, I don't know but I'm guessing they'll be scared by it.

Anyway, your move 1st Credit!

fatbelly

Legolam wrote: »

There should be a law against this behaviour. Perhaps there is! I hope that if it does go to court I can use the event to gain publicity against these bullies and make them pay for my time and trouble.

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf

Lots of breaches of the OFT guidance here. See:

Deceptive and/or unfair methods

2.7 Dealings with debtors are not to be deceitful and/or unfair.

2.8 Examples of unfair practices are as follows:

a. sending demands for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question, for example, threatening debt recovery action to 'the occupier' or sending a payment demand to all people sharing the same name/date of birth as a debtor in the hope that contact with the correct debtor will be made.

b. disclosing debt details to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question, for example, disclosing details to 'the occupier' of an address.

i. failing to investigate and/or provide details as appropriate, when a debt is queried or disputed, possibly resulting in debtors being wrongly pursued

j. requiring an individual to supply information to prove they are not the
debtor in question, for example, driving licences, passports, full name,
date of birth, signatures

k. not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt.

Also see

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/debt-letters.pdf

Probably best at this time to keep everything in writing and send them a prove-it letter

Legolam

fatbelly wrote: »

Lots of breaches of the OFT guidance here. See:

...sending demands for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question, for example, threatening debt recovery action to 'the occupier' or sending a payment demand to all people sharing the same name/date of birth as a debtor in the hope that contact with the correct debtor will be made....

Thanks for your reply. The OFT guidance you gave me, which I have quoted above, seems to sum up their entire business strategy! I'm not sure I like the idea of sending them a "prove it" letter. This would be great for people who just want these clowns off their backs but I fear it would make them just drop me and continue harassing people and I'm wound up enough to hope I can put a spoke in their wheel by making them pursue their impossible claim. I certainly will keep all the relevant paperwork.

Thanks again for your information and advice.

fatbelly

Legolam wrote: »

Thanks for your reply. The OFT guidance you gave me, which I have quoted above, seems to sum up their entire business strategy! I'm not sure I like the idea of sending them a "prove it" letter. This would be great for people who just want these clowns off their backs but I fear it would make them just drop me and continue harassing people and I'm wound up enough to hope I can put a spoke in their wheel by making them pursue their impossible claim. I certainly will keep all the relevant paperwork.

Thanks again for your information and advice.

With that attitude, you could build up quite a case against them...

Zbd268

Hi I have just received a letter off these people asking me to call them... However, I know for a fact that I have no debt outstanding at my previous address. When I sold my property I paid everything off, and on my credit score it is all showing as settled! I have a couple of debts at my new address which I am paying ok every month, and either way they are registered at this address, not the previous one. I judge by their letter that it is in relation to my old address, although they give me no details. I intend to ignore this until they can provide evidence of what they are chasing me for.

It is so scary when you read what people have gone through with this company. I have struggled with debt in the past and am finally getting my credit rating where I want it, I can't believe these people could come along and mess it up for something that I can only imagine is not a real debt!
Am I doing the right thing ingnoring them?

aidnolan

They're phishing through texts now as well. They haven't got my address (as far as I know) but I've fallen foul of their text messaging scams thanks to the wonderful features on my iPhone :mad:

Here's a copy of what I've just emailed to the OFT about these criminals:

Dear Sir/Madam,

I have received a number of generic spam texts from 1st Credit phishing for unsuspecting people to fall into their traps and pay debts that have nothing to do with them.

Unfortunately my 'helpful' iPhone highlights everything in a text message that looks like a phone number so that you can just touch the number and it instantly calls it.

This feature is not very helpful when you are getting frustrated with the phone and tapping it repeatedly to make it work. Then all of a sudden the screen has changed and you have dialled a number that you had no intention of dialling. I scrambled around in a panic trying to stop it calling, but only managed to disconnect the call a second after it had gone through. Now the scumbags at 1st Credit know my number is active so have been calling me repeatedly. I have ignored every number that is not familiar to me, but they've left voicemails. I have checked every unfamiliar number that calls me and, from searching forums on the internet, identified two numbers that are definitely 1st Credit. The numbers are 0843 320 0050 and 0173 723 5201 (now listed in my phone as A***holes and A***holes2 respectively).

I'm sick of this lazy debt collection agency preying on random people to steal their money. How is this legal? It's disgraceful that they are allowed to get away with it. Who knows how many unsuspecting victims they have harrassed into submission.

I would just like to make it crystal clear that I have no debt with this company, I have no debts with anybody. I have a good credit rating. There is no justifiable reason for these parasites to be calling me.

Please take action agasinst this company as they are well beyond the boundaries of common decency

Legolam

I joined this forum to get help with this company who was plaguing me with threatening letters just because I had the same name as somebody with a debt. I have no debts but these clowns demand that you prove your innocence to them. I won't be bullied and eventually they went away.

Well now they're back with another bogus claim but this time they've got my phone number from the BT directory. Now they call every day but I won't play ball with them. I don't work for them and don't see why I should be forced to do their dirty work for them.

But I worry about the elderly and vulnerable people who will be frightened into helping these rogues run their business. As I said before on this thread, intimidation seems to be key to their business strategy. I have written to the OFT but also set up an e-petition asking the Ministry of Justice to sort these clowns out. It's petition number 22973

I invite you to have a look and sign it. As a newbie I'm not allowed to post a direct link to the e-petitions website but maybe one of you regulars will.

Thanks. :beer: