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Sent to Collections by Sprint but the Debt isn't Mine

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Sent to Collections by Sprint but the Debt isn't Mine

Post by macd42389 » Tue Feb 09, 2021 9:18 pm

So this has been causing me lots of stress lately and I wanted to reach out for advice to make sure I'm taking the right steps here.

My credit score has always been excellent. >800 for as long as I can remember (been lurking here for more than 10 years learning a lot). All of a sudden email alerts start going off and I find out I've received major derogatory marks from all 3 credit reporting agencies for an unpaid debt by Allied Collection Services. With no other information on the debt I called them to find out more. They told me the debt is a $3,900 bill from Sprint for an account opened in September 2020. I haven't had a Sprint account in years. I called Sprint and they were clueless, they looked my info up and confirmed that my last account with them many years ago was closed with no balance and I was in good standing. They said they would open up a fraud case and would contact me back in a couple days. They never called me back, and every time I call them back I get nowhere. It's been a good month with no update from them.

What I did next was dispute the mark on my credit report through Experian. Then I sent a debt validation letter to Allied Collection Services by Certified Mail with return receipt. The letter I got back from Allied Collection today shows the original Sprint contract. Wrong name, wrong address, and wrong phone number. Literally none of the contact info matches mine. I can see how there could be a mistake though since the name is very close to mine and the phone number is off from mine by one digit (last two digits are transposed).

However then I get the results from the Experian dispute and it's verified / upheld. I'm confused where to go from here.

-Do I dispute the debt with the two other credit reporting agencies, even though the Experian one was upheld?

-I'm thinking I need to send a Debt Dispute letter next to Allied? I've never been contacted from them ever to pay this debt, since they have all the wrong contact info. Our first contact was when I reached out to them after my credit report got hit. The only reason they have my address now is because I sent them the request to verify the debt. The letter they sent back to me was still addressed to the wrong name, even though I gave them my right one.

-Do I even bother contacting Sprint? I've spent hours on the phone leading basically nowhere.

-Is my identity compromised? None of the info on the Sprint contract matches mine but did he have my SSN in order to open the account? There was never a credit pull done to my knowledge.

-Should I start working with a credit repair company or continue to fight this myself? I'm worried I will make a "mistake" that will make clearing my record impossible.

Sorry for the essay but my head has been spinning and I could use some good advice. Thanks everyone

Re: Sent to Collections by Sprint but the Debt isn't Mine

Post by JoMoney » Tue Feb 09, 2021 9:30 pm

Several years back, I had my identity stolen and was used to fraudulently open an account with AT&T to sign up for a 'family plan' with several smart phones. I only found out about it after I started getting harassed by a collections agency, I ignored there calls initially because I thought it was a scam, I never had an AT&T account and the collections people were pretty rude.
At some point I checked my credit reports and saw the entries, which is when I realized there was something going on beyond just rude callers trying to get money from me for an account I didn't have. What eventually happened is I had to file a police report and get a copy of the report/file# and fax it to the collection agency (and to a couple other places the ID thief had opened accounts with), and the credit bureaus. I was able to use that filed "ID theft victim" report to get an "extended credit alert" place on my profile, and a follow up credit report after they cleaned up/removed the fraudulent items from the report. It was a cumbersome and annoying process - I remember feeling pretty disgusted by the fact that if the credit companies had required as much ID documents before they issued the credit to begin with as they did to get things cleared up, it never would have happened to begin with.

I don't think a "credit repair company" will be of much help. You need to call the collections company and tell them it's a fraudulent account and confirm what they need to get it removed (likely police report).

"To achieve satisfactory investment results is easier than most people realize; to achieve superior results is harder than it looks." - Benjamin Graham

Re: Sent to Collections by Sprint but the Debt isn't Mine

Post by BillWalters » Tue Feb 09, 2021 9:34 pm

This happened to me.

Disputed the debt, followed all the usual advice. Response: we’ve determined the debt is valid because the creditor says so. It is still on my credit report.

The system is a complete joke and the only real way out of the nonsense (good luck if you ever have an extended illness) is to have enough money to not need credit.

Re: Sent to Collections by Sprint but the Debt isn't Mine

Post by Big Dog » Tue Feb 09, 2021 9:52 pm

I'd file a complaint with the Feds and perhaps your state consumer agencies. FTC has some sample letters that might be of help. send return receipt.

send one to the collection agency demanding back up of the application with your signature:

Re: Sent to Collections by Sprint but the Debt isn't Mine

Post by macd42389 » Tue Feb 09, 2021 10:11 pm

The system really is messed up. The "evidence" in this case is the original Sprint contract, and not a single thing on it matches my personal info. Despite that my credit has been wrecked and now it's up to me to prove otherwise. Somehow Experian decided that everything looked valid.

Tomorrow I think I'll call back Allied Collections and try to explain the situation further. It's just I'm reluctant to talk to them, thinking I may slip and say something wrong that makes it harder for me to fight this. I've read that it's not a good idea give them any of my personal info / correct the wrong info that they have.

I've been building my credit diligently for 10+ years and of course this happens right before I want to buy my first house

Still confused as to whether there is actually a person with this name similar to mine, with a phone number similar to mine, and Sprint or Allied is accidentally associating them with me. Or if this is fraud, and they are impersonating me.

Re: Sent to Collections by Sprint but the Debt isn't Mine

Post by Iridium » Tue Feb 09, 2021 10:44 pm

macd42389 wrote: ↑ Tue Feb 09, 2021 10:11 pm The system really is messed up. The "evidence" in this case is the original Sprint contract, and not a single thing on it matches my personal info. Despite that my credit has been wrecked and now it's up to me to prove otherwise. Somehow Experian decided that everything looked valid.

Tomorrow I think I'll call back Allied Collections and try to explain the situation further. It's just I'm reluctant to talk to them, thinking I may slip and say something wrong that makes it harder for me to fight this. I've read that it's not a good idea give them any of my personal info / correct the wrong info that they have.

I've been building my credit diligently for 10+ years and of course this happens right before I want to buy my first house

Still confused as to whether there is actually a person with this name similar to mine, with a phone number similar to mine, and Sprint or Allied is accidentally associating them with me. Or if this is fraud, and they are impersonating me.

Well, it doesn't sound like they are really impersonating you, given that they didn't even try to get your info correct. It isn't at all clear to me that your info was stolen at all, so much as the thieves just pulled random valid sounding SSNs until they found one that worked. Whether that is the real name of the thieves, or if they just made that up on the spot as well isn't clear.

Regardless, I would look into whether you have any identify theft resolution resources to fall back on. A lot of large employers include EAP (Employee Assistant Program) among their benefits; identify theft resolution assistance is a common part of those plans. My homeowners/auto insurance includes it. The credit monitoring I get from AAA (So. Cal) includes it. I think one of my credit unions or credit cards comes with it as well. Even though I don't think your identity has been stolen, per se, they would still be quite useful in providing the right templates for letters to send to Expedia saying: "I'm not disputing that the debt is valid, but whoever incurred the debt isn't me, just look at the name on the contract!".

Edit: It looks like Mastercard offers identity theft resolution to all card holders. If you really don't have any free identity theft resolution options, you could try to buy your way in; Experian includes identity theft resolution with their $10/month credit monitoring plan. While their identity theft insurance won't cover you, I see no reason their resolution service wouldn't. Nothing like having one part of Experian arguing with a different part Also, since you asked for more specific advice, I wouldn't bother with Sprint at all. Chances are, they have sold your debt to the collector at this point, so it is completely out of their hands. Finally, credit repair is not the same as identity theft resolution. Do not go to credit repair. They don't have the right skills and there are a lot of fraudsters in that field.

Re: Sent to Collections by Sprint but the Debt isn't Mine

Post by macd42389 » Tue Feb 09, 2021 11:23 pm

macd42389 wrote: ↑ Tue Feb 09, 2021 10:11 pm The system really is messed up. The "evidence" in this case is the original Sprint contract, and not a single thing on it matches my personal info. Despite that my credit has been wrecked and now it's up to me to prove otherwise. Somehow Experian decided that everything looked valid.

Tomorrow I think I'll call back Allied Collections and try to explain the situation further. It's just I'm reluctant to talk to them, thinking I may slip and say something wrong that makes it harder for me to fight this. I've read that it's not a good idea give them any of my personal info / correct the wrong info that they have.

I've been building my credit diligently for 10+ years and of course this happens right before I want to buy my first house

Still confused as to whether there is actually a person with this name similar to mine, with a phone number similar to mine, and Sprint or Allied is accidentally associating them with me. Or if this is fraud, and they are impersonating me.

Well, it doesn't sound like they are really impersonating you, given that they didn't even try to get your info correct. It isn't at all clear to me that your info was stolen at all, so much as the thieves just pulled random valid sounding SSNs until they found one that worked. Whether that is the real name of the thieves, or if they just made that up on the spot as well isn't clear.

Regardless, I would look into whether you have any identify theft resolution resources to fall back on. A lot of large employers include EAP (Employee Assistant Program) among their benefits; identify theft resolution assistance is a common part of those plans. My homeowners/auto insurance includes it. The credit monitoring I get from AAA (So. Cal) includes it. I think one of my credit unions or credit cards comes with it as well. Even though I don't think your identity has been stolen, per se, they would still be quite useful in providing the right templates for letters to send to Expedia saying: "I'm not disputing that the debt is valid, but whoever incurred the debt isn't me, just look at the name on the contract!".

Edit: It looks like Mastercard offers identity theft resolution to all card holders. If you really don't have any free identity theft resolution options, you could try to buy your way in; Experian includes identity theft resolution with their $10/month credit monitoring plan. While their identity theft insurance won't cover you, I see no reason their resolution service wouldn't. Nothing like having one part of Experian arguing with a different part Also, since you asked for more specific advice, I wouldn't bother with Sprint at all. Chances are, they have sold your debt to the collector at this point, so it is completely out of their hands. Finally, credit repair is not the same as identity theft resolution. Do not go to credit repair. They don't have the right skills and there are a lot of fraudsters in that field.

Appreciate all the responses so far. Good idea with checking EAP through work. I never would have thought of that. I'll check on that tomorrow.

From my discussions with Sprint it sounds like SSN is required to open an account. However the name signed on the contract isn't mine, the address isn't mine, and the phone number isn't mine. My credit report doesn't show any hard pulls by Sprint or even any revolving lines of credit with them.

I've got credit cards with all the major banks so I'll look into activating some of the identify theft resolution services if available.