Types of Cases · Highest value
Debt collector calling about a debt that isn’t yours? You may be owed money.
If a collection company keeps auto-dialing or leaving prerecorded messages about a debt you don’t owe, whether for a stranger or for whoever had your number before you, those calls are often illegal, and you can have a claim worth $500 to $1,500 per call, even though you were never their customer.
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A debt collector starts calling your phone about money owed by someone you’ve never heard of. You explain it isn’t you. The automated calls keep coming anyway. Most people never realize they can have a real claim, worth $500 to $1,500 per call, precisely because the debt isn’t yours and you were never their customer.
How wrong-number debt-collection calls happen
You don’t have to owe anyone a cent to get buried in collection calls. It usually happens one of two ways:
- Your phone number used to belong to someone else. Carriers recycle disconnected numbers. If the previous owner owed a debt, the collector’s autodialer can keep hammering your line for the person who had the number before you.
- The collector just has bad data. Debt-collection agencies buy and trade old contact lists that are full of errors. A wrong digit or an outdated record lands their automated campaign on your phone.
Why these calls are illegal, and can break two laws at once
A company is allowed to auto-dial or play recorded messages to your cell phone only if you gave it permission first. The law calls this “prior express consent,” meaning you agreed, in advance, to be called. You never agreed to anything. You’re a stranger to this collector. So every automated call about a debt that isn’t yours can be its own TCPA violation.
Wrong-number debt calls are unusual because they can be illegal twice over. On top of the TCPA, debt collectors also have to follow the FDCPA, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the federal law that governs how debt collectors are allowed to behave. The FDCPA bars collectors from harassing you, calling repeatedly to annoy you, or trying to collect a debt from the wrong person after you’ve told them they have it wrong. When a collector keeps dialing about a debt you don’t owe, the same conduct can violate both laws, which can mean more leverage and more value in your case.
Why you qualify even though you were never a customer
The TCPA protects the person being called, not just a company’s customers. The previous owner of your number may once have given consent, but that permission doesn’t transfer to you, and the moment you tell the collector they have the wrong person, any consent argument collapses. You didn’t owe the debt, you didn’t agree to the calls, and they kept dialing. That’s often a cleaner case than one where you once did business with the caller.
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See if you qualifyWhat it can be worth
The TCPA sets the value of each illegal call by law, so you don’t have to prove you lost money:
- $500 per call or text as a baseline.
- Up to $1,500 per call when the violation was “willful or knowing,” for example, when you told them it wasn’t your debt and they kept calling.
These amounts stack. Collection campaigns are persistent, and many people get called several times a day, so every single call can count as its own violation. A few weeks of wrong-number debt calls can add up to a serious number.
A real result: In Lucas v. Synchrony Bank (N.D. Ind., No. 4:21-cv-00070), a class action over wrong-number prerecorded debt-collection calls settled for $2,600,000.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is different.
What to do right now (it helps your case)
- Don’t delete anything. Your call log, voicemails, and any recordings are exactly the evidence these cases run on. Keep them.
- Write down the details: the collector’s name if you can tell, the number that’s calling, the dates, what the recording says, and roughly how often the calls come.
- Tell them “this isn’t my debt. Stop calling.” Calls that continue after that can push the value from $500 toward $1,500 each, and they help show a willful violation.
- Don’t pay or “settle” a debt that isn’t yours to make the calls stop. You don’t owe it. Keep the records and ask us instead.
How Max helps, and what it costs you
Max Morgan, Esq. is a Pennsylvania-licensed attorney who handles TCPA cases for consumers nationwide. He reviews your situation for free, tells you honestly whether it’s worth pursuing, and if you have a case, takes it on contingency. His fee comes out of the recovery, not your pocket. No recovery, no fee.
You don’t need to be sure it qualifies. That’s the point of the free review: tell us what’s happening and we’ll figure it out with you.
Related: Wrong-number robocalls · Calls after you said stop · Robocall settlements · How to sue a telemarketer
Wrong-number debt-collection FAQs
The debt isn’t even mine. Can I still sue?
Yes, and these are often the strongest cases. The TCPA protects whoever is being called, not just a company’s customers. If a collector is auto-dialing or leaving prerecorded messages about a debt you don’t owe, you can have a claim even though you were never their customer.
What’s the difference between the TCPA and the FDCPA?
The TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act) is the federal law against illegal automated and prerecorded calls to your phone. The FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) is the federal law that governs how debt collectors behave; it bars harassment and trying to collect from the wrong person. Wrong-number debt calls can violate both at once.
Do I need to prove the calls?
You don’t need everything lined up before you reach out. Your phone records, voicemails, and screenshots help, and there are other ways to establish the calls. Keep what you have and we’ll tell you what matters.
How much is each call worth?
Each illegal call is worth $500, rising to $1,500 if the violation was willful, for example when the collector kept calling after you told them it wasn’t your debt. Because the amounts stack per call, a persistent collection campaign can be worth a substantial sum.
Is there a deadline to file?
Yes. The TCPA generally gives you four years from the calls. Acting sooner also protects the evidence. See TCPA statute of limitations.
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