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SSN Overlap With Micronesia Causes Trouble For Woman
stevel writes "Holly Ramer, who lives in Concord, NH, has never been to the Federated States of Micronesia, but debt collectors dun her mercilessly for unpaid loans taken out by a small business owner in that Pacific island nation. Why? Micronesia and other countries in the region have their own Social Security Administrations which gave out numbers to residents applying for US disaster relief loans. The catch is that the Micronesian SSNs have fewer digits than the nine-digit US version, and when credit bureaus entered these into their database, they padded them out with zeros on the front. These numbers then matched innocent US citizens with SSNs beginning with zeroes, as many in northern New England do. The credit bureaus say to call the Social Security Administration, the SSA says call the credit bureaus, the FTC says they can't help, and nobody is taking responsibility for the confusion."
In Micronesia, they gave out short SSNs. In Polynesia, they would have looked like x^2+4x-3.
Eventually someone is going to revolt against someone somewhere.
Thanks, Nostradamus.
"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
The Hitchhiker's Guide defines Collection Agencies as "a bunch of mindless jerks who'll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes."
No sig for the moment.
When I get an unwanted call I say, "Hold on 1 minute, I'll be right back". Then you leave your phone on and continue to do your work. I never get a second call.
Love many, trust a few, do harm to none.
pull my finger
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
I had one do that after threatening to kill me on the phone. I called the cops and they got there as he was trying to break in. The cop jumped a low brick wall which is around the apartment complex ran to my door and beat the shit out of him.
I'd been playing "Fuck the scammer/telemarketer" by giving bogus CC's, check routing numbers, etc.
Points:
1 point per minute you keep them from calling other people
10 points per fake CC given (enough fake numbers causes red flags)
10 points per fake bank routing +account number (ditto)
100 points for a valid call back number
500 points for a traceable company name from the call back number.
1000 points for death threats
FTW for actual physical encounters.
You have to record the call. You should duplicated the recording BEFORE giving it to the prosecutors office as the asshats passed it around and claim to have lost it.
1 point per minute you keep them from calling other people.
How many points for forwarding them to the last guy that called you?
Someone with the same last name but not a member of my family claimed our address and phone number as hers. We got her collection calls and repo men looking for the car she didn't pay for. The repo men showed up in person.
They refused to believe she didn't live here. They were quite stunned when I told them to shut up and start suing.
...if they make the mistake of calling me they are going to hear every four letter word in the English language.
There are some words one just can't justify spewing at even the lowest scum. Words like GOTO.
With private people, you can do even funnier things.
Assume you have two different men calling you in anger, thinking you're someone else. (May happen when someone banged what they think is their girl, and they also think you're the one.)
Then make each one as angry as you can, offer him to meet in the local gay neighborhood, and beat the shit out of him. At this point, you must have him thinking that he will actually beat the shit out of you.
Tell them both where to meet, and that your identification is a flower in a button hole, or something as camp as possible.
Now you just have to go to a café nearby, watch them beat each other, and call the cops, saying that there is a gay couple fighting on the other side of the street.
(But of course do not let the police find out that you're the caller, or who you are.)
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
Forceful? Terrible idea. When it goes to court they get to say that you were the belligerent party and their side was "only defending itself". You're better off calling the cops to have them escorted off. First rule of dealing with debt collectors is to let them make the mistakes.
In my state you are allowed to use physical force to remove a trespasser from your property. They'd have a tough time claiming that you were the belligerent party on your own property.
I know someone who manhandled a cable company employee out of his house and onto the street after the employee refused to leave when asked to do so. The cable guy called the cops to report this "assault" and was eventually arrested by them when they determined that he had been asked to leave the residence and declined to do so.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
when you get a automated call just play this over the phone... http://www.payphone-directory.org/sounds/wav/verizon/disconnect.wav