Darleen McClintock (fictitious name) is a senior citizen who survives on her retirement savings under strict budget constraints. She is careful to live within her limited resources, watching free TV using an antenna, and never spending money on cable services or TV channel packaging products. To her complete surprise, she began to receive nonstop harassing notices and threatening phone calls from a collection agency and global multi-billion-dollar internet company, attempting to collect a three-year-old service bill for a cable services contract she knew nothing about. Apparently, an unknown person using a similar name— “Dorleen McClintock”—had used Darleen’s personal information to set up an account and never paid the bill.
A target for false collection scam
Keenly aware that senior citizens are often targets for false collection scams, Darleen attempted for months to notify the companies they had made a mistake, informing them she had never entered a contract for services. She filed a police report for suspected identity theft and sent her passport and other proof of residency documents to convince them there was a mistake. However, to her dismay, her credit rating was downgraded because both companies refused to believe her. They launched into a frightening phone messaging campaign over a period of months, accusing her of being related to “Dorleen McClintock,” insisting that she was ultimately responsible for the entire bill, and threatening that they would pursue her for payment through legal channels.
Seeking help at the senior center
Under considerable anxiety and stress, Darleen came to the Senior Center seeking help from Seniors Unit staff attorney, Katherine Chew. After reviewing the case, Katherine concluded that the evidence showed there was never a genuine effort to thoroughly investigate the case. Instead, the coercive tone of communications clearly showed both companies were more interested in clearing their accounting ledgers than finding who was truly accountable for the debt owed.
A cease-and-desist letter leads to resolution
Katherine wrote both companies a cease-and-desist letter, pointing out that despite having an obligation to fully research the matter, they would rather seek to frighten a senior citizen into paying a fraudulent debt never owed based on tenuous proof, little research, and unsubstantiated arbitrary conclusions. Two weeks after the companies received the letter from Community Legal Aid SoCal, Darleen received notice that they were unable to verify she owed the debt and as a result would notify the credit reporting agencies to clear her credit record.
This project is funded in part through a grant from the California Department of Aging, as allocated by the Orange County Board of Supervisors and administered by the Office on Aging. The conclusions and opinions expressed may not be those of the California Department of Aging and the publication may not be based upon or inclusive of all raw data.
