First thing first, check your credit report. If it is satisfactory then don't even call these guys.

Sometimes some companies call you and leave the message. When you call them back you will directed to a voice mail. You will spend two to five minutes and what you will get in the end is a charge on your telephone bill for $100+.

Check your credit report .. pay $14+ to Equifax and down load a report. Take it from there.

Please call them back and talk to them. I am still trying to solve my problem.

I would like to give more details about my issue. I got in touch with them and they told me that they are calling me as there is a pending invoice against my name from a very large courier company. I asked them about details and told them that I had never received any invoice from the said courier company, then they told me to contact the courier company (Given me some reference no.).

I called back courier company and they told me that there is a pending custom clearance charges for a package that I had received a year ago (I argued with them that I had not received anything during that time and I was not even living at the mentioned address during that time). I told them that as far as I know they never give receiver the package without paying all the associated fees (unless somebody had a/c with them), which they avoided to answer.

Then they told me that they are cancelling the invoice, as they also don't have any details. I called back collection company and they say they need something in writing (courier company say that they will send information directly to collection company). I had talked to both of them couple of times, but still not able to solve the problem.

I will be calling back the courier company again this week. My question is how this will affect my credit rating (The amount in question is $50, which I can pay also, but if I pay today, I may receive another such invoice tomorrow, then what?). Collection company was saying me to pay them while courier co. was saying that I should pay them (before telling me that they are cancelling the invoice). So, whom should I pay, if I want to pay (I have no idea about this invoice charges).

Hi Candy1,
This seems clearly a scam.
You have to find out where to lodge a complaint and do it.

It is quite strange to receive a call from a collection agency directly, without any calls or correspondence from the creditor in question beforehand. This seems pretty irregular.

You normally receive one or two reminders ( By mail) from the creditor and another 2-3 reminders (by mail) from the collection agency before you receive any telephone call.

Though this seems to be a scam but it is a better idea to get your credit reports ( at least once a year.. it is free) from the credit reporting agencies of your area.

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I have also received a letter saying I owe some money to a company i n New Jersy. It was for the tolls for a trip we took a year ago. I donot have issues with paying the toll and it is less than $1 but there is admin fees of $ 25. i was under impression that this will be charged to my Rental car and Rent a car company will charge me.

Can these US companies ruin your credit report?

Yes, ofcourse it is strange and I had never ever received any invoice. I receive many-many packages due to my work from various courier services and they always ask me to pay upfront for any charges before releasing the packages and I always do it.

Regarding affect on credit rating, I was told by one of my friend usually for these petty charges, they don't report to credit agencies. But I am not so sure. Also, I am not sure, how can they report to credit agency, when they even don't know my current address (yes, I understand address can be found by phone no. etc.), but they must know some of the personal info. like DOB, SIN no., etc.