A. Absolutely not. Debt collectors often ask for Social Security numbers, birth dates or other personal information to ensure they have reached the correct debtor. Verify the debt by asking for the full name, address and at least the last four digits of the Social Security number on the account.

What rules do collection agencies have to follow?

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is the main federal law that governs debt collection practices. The FDCPA prohibits debt collection companies from using abusive, unfair or deceptive practices to collect debts from you.

Do debt collectors have to verify identity?

Generally, legitimate debt collectors will ask questions to verify your identity. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) It is always your choice whether to provide any information to a debt collector, even a legitimate one, including whether to verify your identity.

How does a collection agency get Your Social Security number?

As long as a collection agency knows an individual’s address, it may investigate any public records that exist about the debtor in that county in an effort to obtain his Social Security number. Collection agencies occasionally have the Social Security numbers of consumers who do not legitimately owe a debt due to identity theft.

Is it legal for organisations to request your date of birth?

Financial organisations such as PayPal are required to collect comprehensive details about its users, and communications companies such as Google and Skype need to collect birthdates to comply with the COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule) and other child protection laws.

What are the requirements for collecting personal information?

When collecting personal information, agencies must not: mislead people about who is collecting personal information, or why the information is being collected obtain information by trickery, misrepresentation, deception or under duress. Health agencies must not collect personal information in a way that is unreasonably intrusive.

Do you have to give personal information to a debt collector?

Furthermore, there is no law at all that requires a consumer to provide personal information to debt collector or anyone for that matter over the phone.