I hate to break away from our usual goofy posts, but I have a question for anyone out there who might know the answer. So here’s my problem; I got this bill in the mail today demanding $8.08 for a collect call from someone in prison. But not only do I not know anyone in prison, I didn’t even have this phone line back in December when they say the call was actually placed.
I know it’s a small amount, but obviously I don’t want to pay a bill for something that I had nothing to do. I also don’t want this to go to collections and risk having it hurt my credit score. But, I’ve also looked this company up and found that they are incredibly shady, so I’m not sure if I should call them because it might require giving them enough personal information for them to try to scam me out of even more money.
What do you guys think is my best option here? I am leaning towards calling them, but I want to make sure I won’t be shooting myself in the foot by talking to them and verifying my name and address.
6 replies on “I Could Use Some Advice Here”
As someone who HAS has calls from an inmate, this sounds like a huge scam. The charges should appear on your usual phone bill, not from some mysterious company. Typically, each jail has a company do the billing, they bill to your phone line and you pay though your usual bill.
Although, it couldn’t hurt to try calling them just to see what they have to say. Let them know its a mistake and you didn’t even have the number at the time. It also couldn’t hurt to mention the Better Business Bureau if they get snappy with you. I can’t think of any reason they couldn’t easily pull the account with information they already have, meaning: don’t tell them anything that is not on the bill so they aren’t acquiring more info about you.
Thanks Nikki1
another option would be to contact the prison to find out if this is how it would normally be billed. if it is normal like this it may be that they’ve been contacted before by someone in a similar situation. you might even get lucky and they’ll be able to cancel it from their end and you won’t need to contact Legacy at all.
while it’s not foolproof, having a google maps search can help sometimes. (a link to the business at the end of the comment.)
it seems legitimate, to me that is. however as it’s dealing with your personal information i dont want to suggest you contact them until you are comfortable personally.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=10833+Valley+View+Street,+Cypress,+CA,+United+States&hl=en&ll=33.803792,-118.029213&spn=0.007498,0.00898&sll=41.890063,12.492549&sspn=0.00475,0.00449&t=h&z=17&iwloc=lyrftr:h,2887466384364804723,33.805219,-118.028848
sorry for the giant maps link.
i also wanted to add that on the bill the web address is http://www.golegacy.com, however google maps displays a link for http://www.legacyinmate.com
it’s common for some sites to have two different addresses. sometimes its due to a company name change. however this would definitely be something you get clarification on.
for example, if you contact the prison first and they say that the *company* is legitimate, it’s not to say that that bit of paper was sent to you by them. the web site address may be dodgy. a fraudulent enterprise could be mirroring the appearance of the site, however the money goes to the dodgy company.
again personal opinion: i dont think this is the case, i would err on the side of a simple name change. the stationary may not have been updated. but i see the link legacyinmate to be more relevant that golegacy.
the part about not having that number in december could just mean that the previous person who had that number accepted the call, and that legacy has access to the phone companies database and it’s shown you as the new owner, hence them having your address and name.
who knows, you could have changed your name and address in order to skip out on their precious $8
again, just speculation. if i was genuinely worried my first point of contact would be to the prison. they’re a known and established business that probably isn’t out for your credit cards. it’s also a way to find out more information and maybe even resolve the issue entirely without ever having to call up this 3rd party company.
pardon my rambling, i went over the top more as a bit of advice in case anyone else has a similar situation or ever does.
sorry for the giant maps link.
just to clarify, in my last paragraph when i said “it seems legitimate” i was referring to it being a physical company, with an office and staff. that wasn’t to say that the way they operate is all above board.
i also wanted to add that on the bill the web address is “golegacy.com”, however google maps displays a link for “legacyinmate.com”
it’s common for some sites to have two different addresses. sometimes its due to a company name change. however this would definitely be something you get clarification on.
for example, if you contact the prison first and they say that the *company* is legitimate, it’s not to say that that bit of paper was sent to you by them. the web site address may be dodgy. a fraudulent enterprise could be mirroring the appearance of the site, however the money goes to the dodgy company.
again personal opinion: i dont think this is the case, i would err on the side of a simple name change. the stationary may not have been updated. but i see the link legacyinmate to be more relevant that golegacy.
the part about not having that number in december could just mean that the previous person who had that number accepted the call, and that legacy has access to the phone companies database and it’s shown you as the new owner, hence them having your address and name.
who knows, you could have changed your name and address in order to skip out on their precious $8
again, just speculation. if i was genuinely worried my first point of contact would be to the prison. they’re a known and established business that probably isn’t out for your credit cards. it’s also a way to find out more information and maybe even resolve the issue entirely without ever having to call up this 3rd party company.
pardon my rambling, those are simply the steps i would have taken if i had have been in your situation.
Unless things have changed a lot since I cut the landline, collect call charge bills will come from the telco.
I would call the provider for the number that supposedly got this call and talk to them about it. Tell them about your concerns that this is a scam- they probably won’t talk to you about activity on a number before you had it otherwise.
There’s nothing about this that looks legit. I’d also see what city/county/state fraud services are available in your area and check the name of the company.
I *wouldn’t* call the company itself without doing this research.