Debt collectors after me but it's not my debt!

[edam]

Anyone heard of or had any dealings with a company called Telogram? Looks suspiciously like debt collectors. They've got my initial and surname right but I've never lived at the address they give (they wrote to my current address and want to confirm I'm the person who used to live at X address).

I'm reluctant to call them as they'll probably start harassing me, even though I've never lived at the address they give. Equally since they now have my address, I don't want them sticking a note on my own credit reference file...

WWYD?

Sounds like identity theft/fraud.

Are they chasing a debt, or just confirming details like name, date of birth etc?

They want me to contact them to verify my address or 'this record will more forward to our investigations unit'...

They are debt collectors. Write back recorded delivery (don't call whatever you do) saying that you have never lived at that address and request that they don't contact you again as you are not the person they are looking for. That should be enough to make them go away. If not and they write again, write back saying exactly the same thing and that you will consider further correspondence or other contact from them to be harrassment.

Having quickly checked the consumer forums, they also say never to put your signature on a letter you send to any debt collector (don't know why) and to always do everything in writing.

From my personal experience, debt collectors tend to find people with the same initials at their debtor and then assume that the debtor and the person who happens to share a name are one and the same. It happened to my husband - we eventually made a data protection request to remove the erroneous information from their records and threatened to sue for the harassment. They then left us alone.

Looks like they are fishing. There is quite a bit about them on Consumer Forum. Works like this: you write back and say, 'am not xxx, but am xxx at such and such an address...'

I meant that they are hoping you write back and correct the details for them...

Ok, so I write back recorded delivery but don't sign the letter and do (or do not) give my own details ie. full first name and middle name? As in, that would show I'm not the person they are looking for, but might risk them chasing me even harder?

They can check the electrol roll if you have been at your current address for the time they are investigating.

The signature thing is never use your real signature just a squiggle, then they can't transfer that onto a document like a loan agreement etc.

I would write back sending the letter recorded delivery, stating you are not the person they are after and maybe suggest the electrol roll for clarification.

thanks. Mind you, my 'real' signature is a squiggle, anyway!