said by CylonRed:Unless Clark Howard is being paranoid but the collection agency will have you recorded identifying yourself, the debit and then your admissions that you owe it. Clark has said for the last couple of years that simply saying you owe the debit is enough to reset it (it could be a state by state thing as well).
might be a state by state thing, but i can't see this being legit in any case. i can be the evil twin answering the phone and giving the answers you seek just for the hell of it. collection agencies will tell you anything to scare you into forking over money. not everyone knows the rules and regulations of the fair credit reporting act. I've had my share of dealing with them back in the day and learned plenty from them and their tactics (not everyone that ends up dealing with them are deadbeats)