No debt, but repeated calls from Cabot Financial

Fnaar

I've been totally debt-free for 5 years, no mortgage, all cards and loans legitimately paid off. For as long as I can remember, I've been getting calls from (I think) Cabot Financial - it's a recorded message, and the speaker who recorded it was a mumbler, so it's not totally clear.

The number is blocked, but somehow or other gets through to my voicemail to leave a daily message.

I have never had any dealings with the company, and was never behind with payments for any of the debts I used to have.

I just delete the message, but it's getting on my nerves. I'm loth to contact them; a friend years ago had awful trouble when she answered such a call for a debt that wasn't hers.

Can anyone shed any light on what their calls are about, or how I can stop them?

Thanks 😀

fatbelly

Unless they write, there's not a lot you can do apart from keep trying to block the calls.

MEM62

Or answer a call and let them know that you are not the person they are looking for. May save you some frustration.

sourcrates

Somehow your number has become associated with a debt Cabot has purchased, and now they are going through their standard fishing trip, hoping someone bites, as calls/emails/texts etc are a cheap way of going about it.

As my learned colleague (above) has already mentioned, if they want to get serious, they must write to you.

And you only need respond to a letter, that`s all that legally counts as contact, so unless, or until they write to you, just continue to ignore.

Fnaar

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81944746#Comment_81944746

I would, but I don't get the chance. The phone doesn't even ring, I just get a notification that I have a voicemail message. Every day, around 3.30pm. And it's not even a live person, it's a recording (badly timed, as the first part of the msg is obviously playing while my "can't answer the phone right now" bit is playing. So it's basically part of a message, telling me who's calling.

sourcrates

Yea its common for them to use auto dialler, the software calls about 10 numbers at once, normally with perhaps one call handler available, which is why when you answer, all you get is a recorded, or part recorded, message.

Its all part of Lowell`s "numbers" strategy, they tend to concentrate on those who engage with them first, the ones that don`t get put on the back burner for a rainy day, most debt purchasing companies operate in this way.

When they buy portfolios of debt for say 10/20% of its face value, they only need 40% of debtors to respond and set up payments, and they are laughing.

Rob5342

I got this with PRA, at first I got an answerphone message every other day but after about a year it reduced to just an occasional one. It didn't bother me really, I just got into the habit of deleting them without thinking like I do with spam emails.

in_need_of_direction

send a recorded delivery letter to the Data Protection Officer (DPO) at: 1 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, Kent ME19 4UA or alternatively by email on: dataprotection@cabotfinancial.com stating you wish to exercise the GDPR right to rectification, as it would appear there is a debt inaccurately linked to your ID. Request that they confirm action taken to address in writing and give them 28 days to respond. Also specify that there should only communicate with you in writing - that should stop the calls.

If they fail to respond or keep calling you can go to the ICO with a complaint.