Anyone dealt with lying debt collectors and fixing credit reports?

My friend has an outstanding debt on his credit report, but it is not his. He'd tried disputing it with the debt collector and the reporting agencies and it's still there. The debt collector is accusing him of having some sort of account with CitiBank, but he doesn't recall having any sort of account with them. He has called CitiBank and they've searched their database by his name address and social and can't find anything on him. He can't get through to anyone at the debt collector place because when you call you just get a menu that just goes in circles and the only place you ever end up is a voicemail box that is always full, so you can't leave a message.

Would this be something to report to the Attorney General? I'm not positive what types of things they deal with, but I have found the online complaint form, so we can file a complaint about the debt collector.

Should he send written letters to each reporting agency telling them the debt is invalid? Get the bank to send him a letter saying he's never had an account with them so he can copy it to the reporting agencies and the debt collector? I'm going to suggest he does all of this, but if anyone knows what might actually WORK that would be super!

 Oh and if anyone has used a secured visa card and knows of any good/horrible ones that would be great to know too :]

Follow up with the credit reporting agencies and have the debt removed from his credit history. He will need to follow up repeatedly to get this rectified.

He should have received a letter from the debt collector advising him of his rights and giving him contact information to refute the debt. He will need to write a letter to them (i would send it certified mail) informing them that the debt is disputed.

How to dispute Credit Report errors and some more info from the FTC

There are scam artists out there who use "debt collecting" to scam people out of their money.

I know there are articles that you can Google about it.  But some of the key signs are if they want his Social Security number or part or all of his bank account number.  If they are real debt collectors, they should not need any personal information like that.  And they should be able to produce some kind of documentation. 

Secondly (and here's an important one) He should ask them for some kind of documentation from CitiBank saying that they are authorized to collect this debt.   If he owes nothing, then this should shut them up.  If he forgot and does owe something, the collectors still must prove that they have the proper authority to collect the debt and/or ding his credit record.

Yes he should contact the 3 credit report agencies, his state's Attorney General's office, his state's DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS (if they have one), and the debt collector. He should do EVERYTHING in writing. I got a "zombie" debt (debt that collectors will sell to other collectors and then try to bully people into paying even if it was already paid or does not belong to them) off of my credit report earlier this year by doing this.

Thanks for all the info :] I'll get him started on all of this... he's currently unemployed so he has a lot of time to be writing such letters. and we'll definitely send it all certified!

I had to do one with Citibank where they let an automatic debit go through against a closed account (the agency with the auto debit told me that they'd send me paperwork for the account change once the transaction bounced...don't believe them either).  I paid Citibank when I noticed it on the statement and they tried to collect a bounce fee which I immediately called and told them wasn't happening.

The unpaid bounce fee ($40) later showed up with a collection agency attempting to collect without any follow up paperwork from Citibank.  I had to recontact Citibank, go through several layers of account managers and finally get their agreement to contact the collection agency about it.  Under no circumstances was I going to pay a fee on a transaction that they should not have allowed in the first place.  I used a reference # from them as a fax to the collections agency and they finally stopped trying to collect from me.

Find a lawyer who specializes in the Fair Credit Reporting Act.  Lots of them will work on contingency because these federal statutes usually give you treble damages and attorney fees as part of your reward.  If these guys so much as dot their i's wrong, they can get sued, and it can be costly.

I was involved in a similar mix-up long ago.  A data entry error on somebody else's hospital bill resulted in our entire credit histories (including the originating [delinquent] account) being merged.  I initally submitted a dispute to the credit reporting agencies but it was rejected because the (erroneous) data they received from the creditor matched what their credit reports had reported.  I realized then that I had a better shot by trying to fix the bad information at its source and contacted the hospital that claimed I had been treated by them.  Once I explained the error to them, they fixed their records and updated the info with the credit reporting agencies.

If they had stonewalled me, though, I definitely would have found a lawyer specializing in FCRA, as lysistrata suggests.