San Diego, CA - "There is a new twist for those delinquent, but still credit hungry, consumers from the collections industry, in particular the “past due debt” buyers. Be careful, if you are one of those eager, but already delinquent, credit seekers, because some of those offers for pre approved credit cards you have been getting in the mail may be from someone who is trying to collect a past due debt.

That's right! A collection agent sending out an offer for a pre approved credit line, often in the $5,000-$10,000 range, a very alluring figure for those want-to-be spenders. All that is required to get that pre approved card is a signature and verification of the address/phone number shown on the offer. A business reply envelope is included and on the surface, it appears to be a legitimate offer of credit. It also conveniently has all the current contact information verified that a collection agent needs, when the application is returned.

Instead of getting a credit card the applicant instead will become the focus of a renewed and intensified effort to collect a past due debt. Sometimes the debt is really past due, like 10 or 15 years old and it has been purchased in bulk with thousands of other accounts, for pennies on the dollar amount due, by companies known as the “past due debt” buyers. These debt buyers employ lots of collectors and attorneys to sniff out the recoverable assets and pursue collection of the original amount owed to the original creditor plus thousands of dollars in interest charges added to the account by the debt buyer.

ICFE has spoken with several consumers who have called about the legitimacy of debt buyers and those companies who try to collect the debt. A couple of them have mentioned the pre approved credit offers they received and one consumer in particular indicated he was tipped off about the offer coming from a collection agency, when, by chance, he noticed the address on a return envelope from the collection agency was identical to the one for the pre approved credit offer.
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