Two separate instances. 2005, I opened a 0% card in Feb, paid it off and asked them in writing to close account in Nov. Called in Dec to confirm paid off and closed - they confirmed. Never heard from card co again except mass-mailed offers, which I shredded and threw out in separate bags at separate times. Didn't move, didn't change numbers for years (when I changed providers and provider couldn't keep my old number). Card co had my address and my phone number. 2007, parents both receive calls from PRA claiming to be looking for me about a debt with this card, with 4 digit balance. PRA never called me, never wrote to me, at that time. I called the card co to confirm that I had no balance or charge-off. 2009 I moved. 2010 PRA called me, claiming to be collecting on a card with that card company. It's a giant company - almost everyone has had a card with them at some point. I said really, tell me about this account - their info didn't resemble my account - different address, different dates (2004-****). I was dead certain about the dates - I had just moved to the address in Feb 2005 and opened the card after I'd moved. And I remembered mailing the payment with the letter on TG weekend of 2005, and calling during Xmas week, after they'd cashed the check and my bank statement had come showing the payment, to confirm that the account had been closed. But to be sure, I called the card company - which confirmed no balance, no charge-off - all clear. PRA called again - and I said look I checked with the card issuer, they say I don't owe them any money. They asked me to send them proof. I said no, that's not how it works - you send me validation. Almost two weeks later I get validation letter - - with someone else's name that sounds like mine, and all the other info matched the info the lady had said on the call, and didn't match my info. OK so maybe they mixed me up with that guy or maybe they call and/or write to everyone with a similar name? IDK. The charge-off isn't on my CB, and I've never seen it on my CB, and neither has any card opened in 2004 been on my CB. It does say "alternate names used" and it includes the other guy's name that sounds like mine - - I suspect but cannot prove that before PRA figured out their mistake, they reported this as being my debt. I also have friends who have had this happen to them (not with PRA) and I know that it takes months for the CBs to remove data that isn't affecting your score, even if you know what the backstory is and even if it's nefarious. 2011 I open a card with another bank. I'm a little freaked out about cards but I figure I don't want a thin file. I rarely use the card. I decide in 2013 it's not worth having - and I don't like the flood of marketing materials even though I'd opted out. So I call, get a payoff quote, pay by phone, confirm that it went through and that my account would be closed and I'd never hear from them again. And I never heard from them again - except for when they sent me a refund for "credit insurance" for which I'd never actually signed up but for which they had started billing me. They were nice about saying they'd take care of it but they took forever to send the check. I didn't complain because it was like 80 bucks or something. But clearly, if they thought I'd owed them anything, they'd have netted it out of the 80 bucks. 2014 I get a call from PRA saying I owe on THAT card. They get my GF - and tell her I owe the card company 400 and ask if she can pay it. She says you can't do that. I call them back and say you can't do that, it's illegal, and anyway I don't owe the money, please never call here again. BTW I'd never used it for more than 200 ever. I got groceries with it every 3-4 months, just to not have a thin file. 2017 I get a letter from PRA saying I owe 700 on the card. I get a call from them, I say stop calling me. 2018 PRA calls my parents saying they're looking for me. Makes no sense - I have the same address and number they've been using for years. They say nothing to PRA and tell me about it. A few weeks later, I get another letter from PRA, this time saying I owe 600 on the card - which makes no sense since I'd never paid them anything, so how could it go from 700 to 600? The letter DOES say that the debt is time-barred. Yippee - except that it's not mine in the first place. I call the number on the letter and say you look like idiots you can't even decide what number to put in the letter, but I've confirmed that I don't owe this card company money, please never call me, never write to me, never call my parents, or I will sue you. And so far, this time, they haven't called again. None of this seems in any way legit. I know that what they say is "you may have forgotten about an old, small debt," but that makes no sense. Banks and CC companies don't forget - it's not their money so they're not allowed to forget. If they think you owe them, they call you, they write to you, they sue you. Even for small amounts. If you lived at the same place with the same phone number for years after you think you paid in full, and you never hear from the bank or CC, and it's still in business, then it's extremely unlikely that they think you owe them. And if PRA or anyone else buys a file, it comes with your contact info. And they didn't buy it to sit on it for years before calling you. So if PRA or anyone else calls and claims that you have a debt, ask them to validate it- but call the original creditor yourself as well. But I honestly cannot imagine a fact pattern by which this happens. MAYBE in the first instance there's a real debt, just someone else's, they can't find him and so they call anyone and everyone with a similar name? The second one they never gave me any info, just called every few years. But if you get a call saying you owe something from many years ago - and it's the first time you're hearing about it - then especially if you live at the same place you lived at the time they say a debt was incurred, the chances that it's real are small. If there's a debt, you'll get calls, letters, and probably you'll get sued, no matter how small the amount. If that hasn't happened, there's a reason - and if you're living in the same place at the same number, it's not that they can't find you. Someone's calling on someone else's debt or on a phony file, which you can easily confirm with the original creditor, as I did.