Who hasn’t been called by a debt collector? Even if your credit is good and you don’t have any outstanding debts, chances are you’ve had a collection company call your number looking for someone else. While there are a few companies whose collectors are professional and easy to deal with, there is a reason collection agents have gotten a bad rep. Those debt collection calls are almost never fun.

Even more irritating than the first contact with a debt collector is trying to tell the person on the other end of the phone that a) that the person they are trying to reach is not you, b) you do not owe the debt that they say you owe, c) that you are trying to pay the debt you owe but cannot finish paying it right now. Here is a tip: opt for option d) tell them nothing.

There are a lot of scammers out there trying to mask themselves as debt collection companies because they are trying make a quick buck. They will call you, tell you that you owe them “x” amount of money and that you need to pay the money immediately or they will take you to court to collect it. They want to scare you into giving them your bank information over the phone. If you get one of these calls, do not give them any information but instead ask them for their company’s information. If they won’t give you the company information, hang up!

Here is how to deal with the legitimate debt collection companies (and to get the scammers to stop calling you). Ask the caller for his name and the name and address of his company. Then tell the caller that you are ending the call and that any further communication needs to be in writing. You don’t have to be rude when you do this, simply state that you prefer to correspond through the mail and hang up.

Unfortunately telling the company to stop calling you is not going to make them stop calling. What you need to do is send a letter to the collection company. In this letter state that you were contacted by [agent's name] regarding your account with [company] and that you want to verify that their claim is legitimate. This letter is called a debt validation letter and you can find samples of them all over the internet. Just make sure that you include a clause in your letter that states the company is to conduct all further dealings with you in writing.

Here is a tip: When you send this letter make sure that you send it via signature confirmation. This is important because the signature card will confirm that they have received your letter. If the company calls you again they will be in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Unfortunately, this letter is company specific. Should the collection company sell your account to another company, the calls could start again, so make sure you keep a copy of the letter saved in your computer.