I received a letter from a collection agency about a debt I had with citibank about 20 years ago. I was having a hard time and a lot of my bills I just couldn.'t pay anymore. I know that the amount that I owed citibank was about $1600.00, Now this collectin agency tells me that I owe 10,765.00. And that I should contact them to make arrangements to pay this debt, and if I don't contact them in thirty days they will assume the the debt is valid and they will use what ever means necessary to collect it . What I want to know is can they put this on my credit report? My credit is very good now and my scores are very high, I really don't need anything like this to ruin it. My daughter's phone number is my name and it is listed in the phone book(my number is not listed), they keep leaving messages that I should contact them because it would be to my advantage if I did. I really don't know what to do. I don't want my credit ruined by these people and I refuse to pay thr over 10,000 dollars.
Send the bozos a cease and desist letter. If they keep bothering you or put this on your credit report, sue them. It is a scam, that's all. 20 years???? Incredible!!
The next time they call, laugh at them, and then hang up. They will give up pretty quick. Whatever you do, don't pay them a bleedin' dime, or the debt *will* come back.