New Phishing Identity Theft Scam
WIBW in Kansas, warned its viewers about a new phishing scam by identity thieves. Phishing is a common term for scammers who contact someone by phone or email and ask them for their identity information.
In this new scam, a phisher will call a potential victim and claim he is from a collection agency attempting to collect on an unpaid account. When the victim denies ever having the account, the scammer’s trying to collect on, he tells the victim to file a police report and fax it to him. The faxed police report gives the scammer all of the information he needs to steal your identity.
Here’s my question … Shouldn’t it be easy to stop this particular scam when police reports are being filed?
Since the phisher is a "debt collector" under the FDCPA (15 USC 1692a(6) refers to a debt "asserted to be owed or due"), all the rights and weapons available against real collectors are available in this case.