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We’re all familiar with phishing emails sent as invoices that look like they are from current vendors. Now we have consumers who are creating fake paid in full receipts that they are presenting to the CRAs as proof of payment for reported accounts. 

It is shocking how real these look. The details in these fake receipts could fool the best investigators, even down to the agency’s logo. A colleague recently shared with me a dispute from a consumer that included an email from the client releasing the consumer from responsibility. During their dispute investigation, they discovered that the email in question had been created by the consumer in an attempt to get out of paying the debt. Unlike poor fakes of years past, it looked just like an email that would have been sent by their client…except for one thing. The name of the person who supposedly sent the email was spelled wrong in the sender’s email address.

Settlement/Paid in full letters and receipts are common in our industry. So, how do we combat this nefarious action?  A thorough dispute investigation is one way. Make sure you have good communication with your clients and that your dispute investigation process includes a review of all the account documentation. A checklist is a good way to make sure you aren’t missing anything. If you receive a document from the consumer directly or through e-Oscar that shows a different balance or that appears to show the account as paid in full, you will need to work with your client in order to prove or disprove the validity of that document.

In our Research Assistant call this week, it was suggested that the Treasury Department and the FBI should be notified of fakes. In looking at the Treasury website, https://oig.treasury.gov/report-fraud-waste-and-abuse, it does appear that you can file a claim of fraud. I’m not sure how much attention they will pay to it since they seem to be focused on fraud against the Treasury Department and its programs rather than fraud against businesses. However, the FBI does seem to look at fraud from both the business and consumer sides. You can go to https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/safety-resources/scams-and-safety and there are multiple links that take you to pages where you can file a fraud claim. It might be worth your time to check this out.

Consumers are getting craftier, and with the use of technology such as ChatGPT and Bard, creating these fake documents is just going to get easier.

Documents and Crowdsourced Materials:

• Member Questions: Visa MCC Rule Change, Fake Receipts, Texts without Consent, and a Credit Reporting Conflict

Top Reads:

• Iowa Becomes Sixth State to Enact Comprehensive Consumer Data Privacy Law

• CRC to DFPI: Drop Personal Liability From Proposal

• Sixth Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment Finding Defendant Not a “Debt Collector” Under the FDCPA Where Account Was Not in Default When Transferred

Upcoming Webinars/ Other Announcements:

• New Research Assistant Webinar Coming May 16th- Details Coming Soon!

• Research Assistant sponsor Provana has a new resource page just for Research Assistant members. Check out the new Provana resources and check in for special offers right here. 

• Reminder: Send any topics or questions that you want to discuss to sara@insidearm.com by Thursday to ensure it makes it on our agenda!