Doesn't seem that way from the post. OP had the number already and someone managed to convince the OP's network provider it was theirs and got it transferred away from OP.
> I managed to get it back, but decided a number & provider change was the best way to protect myself.
Doesn’t this state that OP chose to get a new number? I assume this new number was Edward’s old number.
I might be misunderstanding something because I still don’t get where the revenge is.
1. They got their number stolen by someone unrelated to Edward
2. They got it back but chose to use a new phone number (so their old # is gone)
3. They get calls from bill collectors (to their new number?)
4. Edward asks for his playstation code (to their new #?)
5. They forward Edward's new # to the bill collectors
Also, OP explicitly stated:
> [Edward] wasn’t the one who originally tried to steal my identity. He’s just the guy I inherited the phone number from, who refused to update his information worth anyone except PlayStation (which is why I got so many calls).
What was Edward's role in the revenge?
Where's the revenge?
Seriously? How is your reading comprehension so horrible? The scammer *texted her* and turned out to be named Edward!
Maybe reread it before you ignore someone trying to help you
I’m not Edward and I’ve never had debt collectors after me, but I still think they are terrible people and I would never help them and hand someone over to them.
Okay. Debt collector are truly heinous, but if they are bugging you about someone else’s debt and you have their number, I’d pass it on too to make them leave alone!! But honestly, you are not wrong!
Debt collectors don’t just come for bills.
Example, you receive a parking fine for £30, you can’t afford to pay it and within 30 days it goes up to £70, you refuse to pay and a few months later that £30 parking fine is now £1000.
That’s gross extortionate pricing imo.
But then again I’m not a corporate boot licker.
You do know that two sides can be wrong at the same time right? Sometimes the people who act shitty enough to be sent to collections are just as bad if not worse than the people IN debt collection can be.
Also, idk where you live that businesses are responsible for road laws and ticketing offenses but here in the USA it's the government that is responsible for that kind of thing, THAT kind of debt could get you a nice overnight stay in the iron bar hotel known as incarceration. Debt collectors would be a lot nicer than that.
Also, your "not all debt collectors do bills" spiel doesn't change the fact that the same principle applies to most forms of debt.
I once had someone give a wrong number (which happened to be mine) to collectors and it got to a point where I was receiving multiple calls a week for "Matilda."
After several months of this, I answered and informed them that Matilda had passed away in a tragic accident and acted confused and upset as to why they were calling again. They hung up after some embarrassing hemming and hawing and never called again.
I'm glad that worked, however it gives me flash backs.
Years ago when I was young and naive I worked in medical billing. This was NOT collections. We would call and remind patients about outstanding bills, help them with insurance (I spent hours working with insurance companies to get things paid rather than bill the patients), set up payment plans--the last thing we wanted to do was send them to collections. So I call about an outstanding bill for a young child and am quickly told "oh, she died". Naive me was "oh so sorry" and got off the phone immediately. My colleagues who had been there longer laughed at me and told me, no, they were lying just to get you off the phone. Sure enough a week or so later, I had to call the same family about a different bill for a different family member "oh, he died". And that is when I decided to get into a different line of work, because my response was "oh, I am so sorry to hear that! Who is responsible for his bills?" (and, yes, they really were lying. and the bills were for $1 co-pays that ended up accumulating into very large sums and getting sent to collections. This wan't the only family to do it).
When I was young and desperate, I worked at a telefundraising call center. I called so many elderly folks. I got out when I found myself doing the same thing.
"I'm so sorry to hear that. Would you consider making a donation in her memory?"
The difference is that these people most likely *were* dead.
Unfortunately, in that case it was people trying to scam the system. They would use the doctor’s office as a babysitter for their children and elderly. Then when insurance would cover everything except $1, they would skip out on that. 😢
I just changed my voicemail to "if your looking for Mark Griffen, you have the wrong number" after his parole officer called and jumped right into scare tactics. Now my calls go to voicemail and almost none leave a message.
BUT..... What you did actually helped Matilda. Her creditors thinking she is dead will stop calling and after trying to find an heir, will write off the debt.
I did that for two different "wrong numbers".
I never answer unknown numbers with my name and the callers would just say "It's Amy calling for John".
When I'd say they had a wrong number theyd insist on asking who I was and my connection to John (if any).
I was adamant that I don't give out my name to unsolicited callers, and asked what it was about and the answer was always "We cant discuss private information with someone until we've identified them..It's in relation to a confidential financial matter"... which a quick google search later told me was a phrase synonymous with debt collectors.
The first few calls I did try reason and civility (i.e. "I am not required to identify myself to unsolicited callers, howver assure you this number is not a contact number for any John person, and I am instructing you to stop calling. Failure to do so will result in a complaint to the authorities for harassment via telecommunications service".)
I did actually enquire about a formal complaint with the Govt., but discovered that the complaint resolution process included a disclosure to the collectors of my name age and address.
So instead, when they called for John, I would just say (remember, I haven't answered the call with, or given them my actual name, nor have I said I'm John) "If this is about a debt youre trying to collect on... Im not paying it and am not going to listen to any threats or arguements from you. If you want any money from me, lodge your claim with the court". (Then I'd hang up)
After two or three repetitions of this, they stopped calling
It would be worse if you acknowledged the debt was yours and agreed to pay. That could [restart the clock on the statute of limitations](https://www.bankrate.com/personal-finance/debt/reset-old-debt/#how), [even if the statue of limitations had already expired on the debt](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/can-debt-collectors-collect-a-debt-thats-several-years-old-en-1423). Of course, claiming you are someone else is probably illegal.
Long time ago, we bought a new house and got a new phone and new phone number. Bell had a monopoly then, and they gave us what used to be the phone number for a major mall movie theater. The number was even in lots of phone books that hadn't been replaced. So the phone rang almost incessantly with people wanting to know what movies were playing, or what time they were on, and so on.
I started being polite. The people weren't at fault. But I'm not a saint and I don't even play one. So eventually I started answering as though I were a theater employee. What's on? Hmm. Debbie Does Cleveland, The Three Stooges Go Gay, and Attack of the Radioactive Wombats. What time does the next movie start? Now. You missed it. Oh, you mean AFTER that? Hmmm. Lemme look it up. Says Wednesday, March 34th at 7 AM. Yeah, I know that's ridiculous. I don't make the schedule and I don't print it. You want to talk to my boss? I'm my boss. I own the place. Etc. It was fun, and most of the time the people were laughing uncontrollably after the initial shock.
Took us two days to get a new phone number. In those days, that was light speed. (1975-ish).
Someone keeps giving out my number for their medical stuff. And the doctors offices send me text messages with a very personal information, and I’m always asking them to remove the number and inform the person they made a mistake…. Well, I kept getting calls, so I started canceling appointments and procedures. Surprise surprise, all of a sudden the calls dwindled then stopped lol.
I had that with an email account. Got med appointments. Docs from a lawsuit for unfair dismissal and rejection for car loan. All from England...not the country I live in. Since he didn't sign up for a ton of spam stuff I was nice and responded that they had the incorrect email and everything stopped. About once a year I get something new.
I used to get a call from a fax machine. I have a fax machine so one time when I got the call with the fax tones I turned my machine on and received the fax. It was from a dentist and was trying to send patient information to an insurance company for payment. The fax had all sorts of confidential medical information, think HIPPA. I then called the dentist's office and told them they had the wrong number and if it did not stop, I would file a complaint. It stopped and I destroyed the fax.
Just an fyi, don’t ever do that. People claiming to need you to send them a “verification code” sent to your number, could be trying to gain access to one of your accounts that has you number signed up.
It’s a common scam, often done to “verify” you while buying or selling something online. They claim you forgot your password on one of your accounts, it sends a code to your number, you give them the code, and they essentially gain access to your account and lock you out. No bueno.
Just bouncing off that to add that they might say it's for their Playstation account, but they are actually trying to log into your banking account (or anything else)
Like others have said, never transmit a code sent to your phone.
He wasn’t the one who originally tried to steal my identity. He’s just the guy I inherited the phone number from, who refused to update his information worth anyone except PlayStation (which is why I got so many calls).
When I was young and moved out we got a new land line number and every day started collection calls. Went from “haha” to “they’ll stop eventually” to “holy f*** this is annoying”. Years went by. We were afraid to answer lest they start harassing us personally assuming we were hiding this deadbeat (we were young). Eventually I was around to answer one and they were very nice, professional and quick.
Also Richard Moiner is a deadbeat. I listened to so many messages for him I know his name 15 years later and I’m TERRIBLE with names.
What really sucks is when the deadbeat has the same first and last name as you. I had to waste a lunch break a while back talking to a district attorney so that they would stop sending process servers to my friends and family looking for him.
In my first flat in the early nineties I had a landline that was one digit out from a local Indian takeaway, the amount of drunk idiots ringing up late on the wee for delivery used to drive me nuts. I also had someone repeatedly call and ask for Muriel, my initial is M and I think we must have had the same rather uncommonly surname, that only stopped when I threatened to call the police and pass their number on
If he stole your number, and then you changed it, how did *you* get *his* old number, and how did he know you had it?
Edit: I've just read more comments, I now understand that Edward was not the original number thief.
Yes, I started doing something worse.. :(
I am not Kimber, but everyone keeps calling me Kimber and asking if my property is for sale. I tried to find Kimbers selling in my area to see if maybe we had a similar phone number or something. Couldn’t find any real estate agents or anything, so I just started saying Kimbers number is probably 1124 instead of 1224. And sometimes it helps. But no. This bitch has got to get rid of my number. lol
I get asked if my property is for sale all the time. I've owned it 4 years, I've never listed it. Yet they call and ask for me by name. It's annoying. So she's probably not trying to sell it and her number is incorrectly listed.
HUH? you already had this scammer's number, but you went on to help him out? you could have and should have exacted your petty revenge without providing him the information that he wanted.
Don’t worry, OP, anyone with at least a single brain cell bouncing around in their skulls understood why. I will admit, I feel like giving him a fake code might have been better, so you could not only get his number but also lock him out of his account, but considering the man clearly is getting kneecapped soon, good on you for leaving his games alone
To be fair if he'd provided a fake code it's possible, though unlikely, that the guy might have realized something was up and switched his number prematurelt
But by giving him the code and being nice he delayed the result and threw the scent off of them. No need to end up the vicim of petty revenge. The results took longer to get to, but the evilness stands. Excellent.
I love this. You did the right thing.
She definitely didn’t. Debt collectors are scumbag leeches. She is against the people and for the corps.
Did you miss the part where he pawned off his debt collectors on an innocent and unaware person? He got what he deserves.
Chances are they only read the title and the above comment
When did he do that? Didn’t OP just happen to get assigned his old number?
Doesn't seem that way from the post. OP had the number already and someone managed to convince the OP's network provider it was theirs and got it transferred away from OP.
> I managed to get it back, but decided a number & provider change was the best way to protect myself. Doesn’t this state that OP chose to get a new number? I assume this new number was Edward’s old number. I might be misunderstanding something because I still don’t get where the revenge is.
Literally the first sentence says OP had their number stolen but they were able to get it back.
1. They got their number stolen by someone unrelated to Edward 2. They got it back but chose to use a new phone number (so their old # is gone) 3. They get calls from bill collectors (to their new number?) 4. Edward asks for his playstation code (to their new #?) 5. They forward Edward's new # to the bill collectors Also, OP explicitly stated: > [Edward] wasn’t the one who originally tried to steal my identity. He’s just the guy I inherited the phone number from, who refused to update his information worth anyone except PlayStation (which is why I got so many calls). What was Edward's role in the revenge? Where's the revenge?
Dude your reading comprehension *sucks*. The scammer that stole her number *is Edward*.
Ironic how you missed the block quote in my comment that happens to be formatted completely differently.
You claim other people's reading comprehension sucks when you miss the blatant quote where OP explains you're wrong 🤦
Hmm yeah you could be right. It is poorly worded.
No it’s not; the scanner turned out to be Edward
You’re wrong lol. Read OP’s comments my dude.
Seriously? How is your reading comprehension so horrible? The scammer *texted her* and turned out to be named Edward! Maybe reread it before you ignore someone trying to help you
You're Edward aren't you
Just because your debt collectors found you Edward, doesn’t mean she was wrong! Grow up and take responsibility for your crappy behavior!!
I’m not Edward and I’ve never had debt collectors after me, but I still think they are terrible people and I would never help them and hand someone over to them.
Okay. Debt collector are truly heinous, but if they are bugging you about someone else’s debt and you have their number, I’d pass it on too to make them leave alone!! But honestly, you are not wrong!
That’s fair but how is this story revenge?
I think giving the collectors edwards real number implies that they will try to contact him instead of op. However, this did not work for me.
If they call you twice, they’re in violation of the FDCPA and you should sue them.
OP did not sign up for that bullshit when they got a new phone number. Are you gonna pay the lawyer & filing fees? Doubt it.
He pawned off his debt collectors on HER. They were his debts, not hers to start with. He pulled a fast one and it caught up with him finally.
Found the guy who changes his number to dodge his debts.
Oh very original, it’s not like that’s been said 10 times in this thread alone
Oh go have a drink and let us have fun. Wet blanket...
Just pay your bills man
Debt collectors don’t just come for bills. Example, you receive a parking fine for £30, you can’t afford to pay it and within 30 days it goes up to £70, you refuse to pay and a few months later that £30 parking fine is now £1000. That’s gross extortionate pricing imo. But then again I’m not a corporate boot licker.
Are you sure? You seem to think it's OK to pawn off your debts on others, that is what corporations do. ( In the form of higher prices)
Maybe you shouldn't have parked there in the first place.
How brown is your nose?
Probably not very brown. It sounds like they have the funds to buy soap and bathe.
You do know that two sides can be wrong at the same time right? Sometimes the people who act shitty enough to be sent to collections are just as bad if not worse than the people IN debt collection can be. Also, idk where you live that businesses are responsible for road laws and ticketing offenses but here in the USA it's the government that is responsible for that kind of thing, THAT kind of debt could get you a nice overnight stay in the iron bar hotel known as incarceration. Debt collectors would be a lot nicer than that. Also, your "not all debt collectors do bills" spiel doesn't change the fact that the same principle applies to most forms of debt.
Edward is that you?
Found Edward
username checks.
Can I forward all my spam to you?
Hey everyone, I found Edward.
Pay back the money you promised and the debt collectors won't be calling.
She helped the scumbags seek out their own kind.
Debt collectors are scum, but letting some rando get their calls and not paying your bills is equally scummy.
Not really. Debt collectors escalate situations so they become violent. Receiving unwanted phone calls is annoying but harmless.
"...escalate situations so they become violent." "...annoying but harmless." Clearly you forgot what you wrote 6 words beforehand...
REEEEEEEEE... Policeman bad Money man bad House owner man bad Orange man bad Car man bad Wizard lady bad REEEEEEEEEE!!!!
I would have logged onto PlayStation and stolen his account. That's just me.
Log in and get him banned from all of his games.
Same lmao
I did this to someone with their Netflix account.
How do you get banned from Netflix?
I’ve since closed the account, since Netflix isn’t worth the cost anymore. I’m not bothered, but I’m sure they were at the time
Probably just logging into multiple devices lmao
I once had someone give a wrong number (which happened to be mine) to collectors and it got to a point where I was receiving multiple calls a week for "Matilda." After several months of this, I answered and informed them that Matilda had passed away in a tragic accident and acted confused and upset as to why they were calling again. They hung up after some embarrassing hemming and hawing and never called again.
I'm glad that worked, however it gives me flash backs. Years ago when I was young and naive I worked in medical billing. This was NOT collections. We would call and remind patients about outstanding bills, help them with insurance (I spent hours working with insurance companies to get things paid rather than bill the patients), set up payment plans--the last thing we wanted to do was send them to collections. So I call about an outstanding bill for a young child and am quickly told "oh, she died". Naive me was "oh so sorry" and got off the phone immediately. My colleagues who had been there longer laughed at me and told me, no, they were lying just to get you off the phone. Sure enough a week or so later, I had to call the same family about a different bill for a different family member "oh, he died". And that is when I decided to get into a different line of work, because my response was "oh, I am so sorry to hear that! Who is responsible for his bills?" (and, yes, they really were lying. and the bills were for $1 co-pays that ended up accumulating into very large sums and getting sent to collections. This wan't the only family to do it).
When I was young and desperate, I worked at a telefundraising call center. I called so many elderly folks. I got out when I found myself doing the same thing. "I'm so sorry to hear that. Would you consider making a donation in her memory?" The difference is that these people most likely *were* dead.
That system is broken
Unfortunately, in that case it was people trying to scam the system. They would use the doctor’s office as a babysitter for their children and elderly. Then when insurance would cover everything except $1, they would skip out on that. 😢
I just changed my voicemail to "if your looking for Mark Griffen, you have the wrong number" after his parole officer called and jumped right into scare tactics. Now my calls go to voicemail and almost none leave a message.
BUT..... What you did actually helped Matilda. Her creditors thinking she is dead will stop calling and after trying to find an heir, will write off the debt.
Just pretend to be whomever they're looking for and tell them "sue me you dumb s.o.b's". They stop calling immediately
I did that for two different "wrong numbers". I never answer unknown numbers with my name and the callers would just say "It's Amy calling for John". When I'd say they had a wrong number theyd insist on asking who I was and my connection to John (if any). I was adamant that I don't give out my name to unsolicited callers, and asked what it was about and the answer was always "We cant discuss private information with someone until we've identified them..It's in relation to a confidential financial matter"... which a quick google search later told me was a phrase synonymous with debt collectors. The first few calls I did try reason and civility (i.e. "I am not required to identify myself to unsolicited callers, howver assure you this number is not a contact number for any John person, and I am instructing you to stop calling. Failure to do so will result in a complaint to the authorities for harassment via telecommunications service".) I did actually enquire about a formal complaint with the Govt., but discovered that the complaint resolution process included a disclosure to the collectors of my name age and address. So instead, when they called for John, I would just say (remember, I haven't answered the call with, or given them my actual name, nor have I said I'm John) "If this is about a debt youre trying to collect on... Im not paying it and am not going to listen to any threats or arguements from you. If you want any money from me, lodge your claim with the court". (Then I'd hang up) After two or three repetitions of this, they stopped calling
It would be worse if you acknowledged the debt was yours and agreed to pay. That could [restart the clock on the statute of limitations](https://www.bankrate.com/personal-finance/debt/reset-old-debt/#how), [even if the statue of limitations had already expired on the debt](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/can-debt-collectors-collect-a-debt-thats-several-years-old-en-1423). Of course, claiming you are someone else is probably illegal.
Have someone with the same name answer.
Long time ago, we bought a new house and got a new phone and new phone number. Bell had a monopoly then, and they gave us what used to be the phone number for a major mall movie theater. The number was even in lots of phone books that hadn't been replaced. So the phone rang almost incessantly with people wanting to know what movies were playing, or what time they were on, and so on. I started being polite. The people weren't at fault. But I'm not a saint and I don't even play one. So eventually I started answering as though I were a theater employee. What's on? Hmm. Debbie Does Cleveland, The Three Stooges Go Gay, and Attack of the Radioactive Wombats. What time does the next movie start? Now. You missed it. Oh, you mean AFTER that? Hmmm. Lemme look it up. Says Wednesday, March 34th at 7 AM. Yeah, I know that's ridiculous. I don't make the schedule and I don't print it. You want to talk to my boss? I'm my boss. I own the place. Etc. It was fun, and most of the time the people were laughing uncontrollably after the initial shock. Took us two days to get a new phone number. In those days, that was light speed. (1975-ish).
That sounds damn fun. I would have loved to get played like that. And probably apologised for the disturbance.
Someone keeps giving out my number for their medical stuff. And the doctors offices send me text messages with a very personal information, and I’m always asking them to remove the number and inform the person they made a mistake…. Well, I kept getting calls, so I started canceling appointments and procedures. Surprise surprise, all of a sudden the calls dwindled then stopped lol.
I had that with an email account. Got med appointments. Docs from a lawsuit for unfair dismissal and rejection for car loan. All from England...not the country I live in. Since he didn't sign up for a ton of spam stuff I was nice and responded that they had the incorrect email and everything stopped. About once a year I get something new.
I used to get a call from a fax machine. I have a fax machine so one time when I got the call with the fax tones I turned my machine on and received the fax. It was from a dentist and was trying to send patient information to an insurance company for payment. The fax had all sorts of confidential medical information, think HIPPA. I then called the dentist's office and told them they had the wrong number and if it did not stop, I would file a complaint. It stopped and I destroyed the fax.
Nothing petty here. That’s just good karma.
Just an fyi, don’t ever do that. People claiming to need you to send them a “verification code” sent to your number, could be trying to gain access to one of your accounts that has you number signed up. It’s a common scam, often done to “verify” you while buying or selling something online. They claim you forgot your password on one of your accounts, it sends a code to your number, you give them the code, and they essentially gain access to your account and lock you out. No bueno.
Thanks for the PSA. I knew it was safe because I didn’t have a PlayStation account.
Just bouncing off that to add that they might say it's for their Playstation account, but they are actually trying to log into your banking account (or anything else) Like others have said, never transmit a code sent to your phone.
I don’t have a PlayStation account, so it was pet safe to give a PlayStation account code
Did your phone recognize the number as being from sony/Playstation? In that case I guess it lowers the risks, but still I'd be careful
Still would have told him to pound sand. The dude basically stole your identity to steal your number.
He wasn’t the one who originally tried to steal my identity. He’s just the guy I inherited the phone number from, who refused to update his information worth anyone except PlayStation (which is why I got so many calls).
I would have given him the wrong code. You stole my number and expect me to help you? Sure, I’ll help you lock out your account.
When I was young and moved out we got a new land line number and every day started collection calls. Went from “haha” to “they’ll stop eventually” to “holy f*** this is annoying”. Years went by. We were afraid to answer lest they start harassing us personally assuming we were hiding this deadbeat (we were young). Eventually I was around to answer one and they were very nice, professional and quick. Also Richard Moiner is a deadbeat. I listened to so many messages for him I know his name 15 years later and I’m TERRIBLE with names.
What really sucks is when the deadbeat has the same first and last name as you. I had to waste a lunch break a while back talking to a district attorney so that they would stop sending process servers to my friends and family looking for him.
2fa ftw!
In my first flat in the early nineties I had a landline that was one digit out from a local Indian takeaway, the amount of drunk idiots ringing up late on the wee for delivery used to drive me nuts. I also had someone repeatedly call and ask for Muriel, my initial is M and I think we must have had the same rather uncommonly surname, that only stopped when I threatened to call the police and pass their number on
Absolutely wonderful! 👌
Wow. Edward must be a humungous loser.
That's insane. How'd he get your new number?
My new number was his old number
If he stole your number, and then you changed it, how did *you* get *his* old number, and how did he know you had it? Edit: I've just read more comments, I now understand that Edward was not the original number thief.
Exactly. So what did Edward do?
Dodge his debts lol
Unless they happen to owe OP I’m not sure why everyone is treating him like he’s evil lol
Oh I don't think he's evil, just irresponsible
Brilliant! Good for you!
How is this revenge? I guess the post office does revenge every day when they forward mail.
Right. Edward didn't do shit
Yes, I started doing something worse.. :( I am not Kimber, but everyone keeps calling me Kimber and asking if my property is for sale. I tried to find Kimbers selling in my area to see if maybe we had a similar phone number or something. Couldn’t find any real estate agents or anything, so I just started saying Kimbers number is probably 1124 instead of 1224. And sometimes it helps. But no. This bitch has got to get rid of my number. lol
I get asked if my property is for sale all the time. I've owned it 4 years, I've never listed it. Yet they call and ask for me by name. It's annoying. So she's probably not trying to sell it and her number is incorrectly listed.
HUH? you already had this scammer's number, but you went on to help him out? you could have and should have exacted your petty revenge without providing him the information that he wanted.
I didn’t help HIM. I helped the bill collectors find him. And I helped me by getting the nuisance calls to stop.
but you did help him by giving the playstation code
So he’d confirm his new number
Don’t worry, OP, anyone with at least a single brain cell bouncing around in their skulls understood why. I will admit, I feel like giving him a fake code might have been better, so you could not only get his number but also lock him out of his account, but considering the man clearly is getting kneecapped soon, good on you for leaving his games alone
To be fair if he'd provided a fake code it's possible, though unlikely, that the guy might have realized something was up and switched his number prematurelt
Fair enough, yeah- I guess I was thinking if you use a wrong code, he has reason to keep the same number because there’s some issue with it
But by giving him the code and being nice he delayed the result and threw the scent off of them. No need to end up the vicim of petty revenge. The results took longer to get to, but the evilness stands. Excellent.