Collection Scam

[jfvanells]

I have two collection agency sending me letters about an alledge PayPal debt of $300.00. IC System from Minnesota and ACI out of Boerne, Texas. I have never used my PayPal account except when it is hooked to my bank account. I tried to email PayPla and they sent me a lengthy email of dispute resolution all of which want a date of purchase and the invoice from them. But they never sent me one and according to their website I owe nothing. You would think they would want to take care of this rater than making their customers jump through hoops.

[purplez512]

I got a letter from there collection agency Client Services a few weeks ago so i figured ill just do it so my credit doesnt get super hurt anymore.

I set it up so every time i get paid it takes money out. Well the money doesnt get taken out that exact day so the second time they ended up making me be negative in my bank account. apparently how they do it is make it look like you wrote a check to them and put it in your bank account.

called the bank and they closed my bank account because they considered it fradulant activity bcause i told them i didnt put those in my account so now they cant take any money from me anymore.

i called paypal 2 times they sent me to the collection agency

called a 3rd time and spoke to paypal collections and the lady told me i have to talk to the collections agency and theres nothing i could do.

so i told her i did research and the company had alot of bad things said about them

i told her i read that someone just paid paypal directly and she said well then try 

so im hoping this will work because im not dealing with that company again.

[purplez512]

Ok so I paid the $3 yesterday straight to PayPal my amount was $151 that I owed I looked just now and it's $148 So I'm paying PayPal directly The collection company took money out 2 times and when I looked at my statement on PayPal it showed the $45 they took out which doesn't make sense because they told me I had to pay them and then it would be sent back to PayPal So it looks as if I paid PayPal directly and not the collection agency

[DMR-PE]

I received a collection letter from Convergent on a $104.95 Paypal debt I never owed. They reference a website www.convergentusa.com but give completely different phone numbers. I have not doubt this is a scam.

[purplez512]

I paid $3 just to see if I will make my owed amount go down so I guess I will know in 3 days or s, then I will also know that it's all a lie and I don't need to pay anyone but PayPal If not I will be talking to them and my bank again.

[purplez512]

It's just so frustrating how many times I explained that because of this company my bank closed my account and explained to that the company won't help me it'll just happen once again

[jamesg68]

I ended up here on this forum after receiving a collection notice from ACI and doing a Google search to see if it was a scam. I was really tempted to just blow it off but figured that I would call PalPal anyway just to see. It was for a fairly large amount ($3150) and I knew that it wasn't mine. After being transferred 3 times (that's really annoying btw) I got through to the collections folks. Their first question was whether or not I wanted to make a payment! So the account was real, it just wasn't mine.

I ended up filing a fraud report and they are going to erase the charges once it's been investigated. The funny thing is that they didn't have my SSN, my real address, or access to my real PayPal account yet they were able to create a new account under my name. I'm going to be checking my credit report just to be sure but the agent told me that this wouldn't end up on my report since they didn't have my SSN.

The TL : DR version is to make that phone call to PayPal if you get one of these collection notices. 

james

[Johnson3]

I also received a letter from American coradius any idea on best way to have this resolved?

[kahogg]

I called the number and bascially called them out saying i knew it wasnt true and havent heard back from them since. Just be sure not to give them any information. 

[Vlee5900 · Accepted solution]

It's not necessarily a scam on the part of the collection agency, it's fraud/ID theft. I received a letter from American Coradius international indicating that I owed PayPal $296. The name on the letter was only partially correct but it was my address. I first contacted PayPal (never call the number listed on a letter you receive if you feel it's a scam, this number can be a scammer with a cell phone waiting for your call who will of course verify that you owe money). PayPal confirmed I had a zero balance, and the account number was not mine. The PayPal rep did confirm that they do use this company for collections so it is a legit collection agency.  I requested PayPal provide me with a telephone number for American Coradius international and it was the same number as was listed on the letter. I then telephone American Coradius international and discovered someone had opened a PayPal account using my address, a bogus email address and no banking information etc, made a purchase and quickly closed the account. The American Coradius international rep immediately recognized this case as ID theft and closed the case. 

[MM52]

They are alive and well. Just received notice from American Coradius International LLC claiming we owe PayPal $1,000.00.

But, they are willing to settle for $750.01. This is all bogus. I am sending them a registered letter and I have filed a complaint with the Postal Service for mail fraud.  I really cannot believe that PayPal isn't all over these people. Let you know how it turns out.