Maybe everybody is aware of this type of scam already, but I just discovered it recently and decided to share it with people in case there are those who don’t know about it.
The scam works as follows. You get an officially looking letter saying that you owe a certain amount of money and it’s been sent to collection. Alternatively, you are told you are being taken to court for this debt. I got two of such letters already. I knew immediately that I didn’t owe anything to anybody, so I just threw the letters into the trash. There are many people nowadays, though, who are drowning in debt, so they might not know whether they really do owe this particular amount.
The sums these letters claimed I owed were quite small. Once it was $78 and the second time I believe it was a smaller amount. A person who is overwhelmed with debt might just pay the amount in order to get this particular piece of debt-related unpleasantness over with. If these letters continue to be sent, it means the scam must be working at least some of the time. So beware, everybody! Con artists abound and are quite inventive.
Clarissa's Blog 
Thanks for letting us know. I’ve been dealing with informing the U.S government that I am, in fact, still in school and don’t need to pay any of my student loans yet, and it is very easy to just grit your teeth and write a cheque without thinking things through when you have a bunch of other financial woes on your mind.
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Careful Clarissa, it can also be the sign of Identity Theft. It started like that for my husband, and it became a nightmare. Just to make sure, order your credit report to verify nobody has stolen your social security number to get a credit card or something.
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OMG. Thank you for telling me. This sounds very scary.
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By law, you are entitled to ask for a free credit report a year (that’s enough, you don’t need your credit score). Look at this government website:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre34.shtm
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How interesting. I really had no idea. Thank you for telling me and leaving the link!
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Good luck.
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