800-536-1584 is the phone number for Bank of America / FIA Card Services. The reason they are calling is because their computers believe you owe them money on one of their credit card accounts, and they think your phone number belongs to you.
If you are here trying to decide whether or not you should answer the phone, don't feel like you are alone. Hundreds of thousands of consumers have registered the same number on all major phone complaint websites, describing the same pattern of calling, calling, calling, aggressive messages, and threatening voicemails from Bank of America.
Who is Bank of America / FIA Card Services?
Name: Bank of America, N.A. / FIA Card Services, N.A.
Type: First-party creditor (collecting its own debts) Industry: Credit cards, banking, mortgages, auto loans, personal loans
Headquarters: Charlotte, North Carolina
Parent Company: Bank of America Corporation (publicly traded) Geographic Footprint: National — over 3,700 financial centers across 39 states and Washington, D.C.
BBB Rating: A+ (accredited since 1949); customer review score of 1.14 out of 5 stars
CFPB Complaints: Consistently one of the top 5 most complained-about companies in the CFPB database
They are Calling Your Number Because of a Credit Card Account
This is not the first time that phone number has caused a problem for Bank of America.
In 2014, a federal court approved a $32 million class action settlement against Bank of America and FIA Card Services after the court found that the companies used an automatic telephone dialing system and prerecorded voice to call the cell phones of about 7 million consumers without their consent.
The same year, the OCC imposed a $30 million civil money penalty against FIA Card Services for, among other things, filing false affidavits in collection lawsuits and failing to provide protections required for military service members.
When the same phone number has already generated more than $60 million in penalties for violating collection laws and regulations, you can bet that the calls you are receiving are not coming from an organization with a spotless history.
Why are they calling you? They think you owe them money, or at least, they think that your phone number is attached to someone who owes them money.
Why is Bank of America / FIA Card Services calling me?
Bank of America is one of the largest credit card issuers in the United States, with approximately 39 million credit card accounts and more than $101 billion in outstanding credit card balances. FIA Card Services was the name of the Bank of America subsidiary that handled credit card customer accounts until the subsidiary was merged into Bank of America, NA in October 2014.
Although the FIA subsidiary is gone, the name still appears on many credit reports and collection records. Bank of America is calling your number because its computers indicate that you owe money on a credit card account, or because your number is associated with someone who owes money on a credit card account. They may or may not be right.
We Have Heard From Thousands of Consumers Who Don’t Even Have a Bank of America Credit Card
Over and over again, consumers are complaining about the same calling patterns from the same phone number, and many of them explicitly state that they do not have, and have never had, a credit card with Bank of America. On CallerCenter, one consumer registered the following complaint:
This number calls every day for the last 3 weeks and it’s on my block list. The caller ID shows Bank of America, guess what… I don’t bank with them nor do I have any financial associated with them.
On 800notes, another consumer finally connected with a live representative and was told that the number in the computer was not her number at all — it was someone else’s number entirely. When a system as large as Bank of America’s is this prone to errors, any information it kicks out about the money you owe should be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism.
What are they hoping will happen when they call you?
They are hoping you will panic and pay whatever they tell you that you owe.
Every single time your phone rings, every single voicemail that they leave, every single hang-up, is designed to make you feel like you have no choice and that you need to pay them — right now.
On WhoCallsMe, one consumer described the calling like this: "They call 10 times a day. Won’t leave a message. Refuse to take me off of the call list unless we verify our account information. If I say I’d like to call back later with that information, they give me a bogus number."
This is not the kind of behavior you can expect from a company that is interested in having an honest conversation with you about a debt. They are hoping you will trust the man or woman on the phone.
Collectors know that, as a consumer, you have a tendency to trust people in positions of authority, and when someone calls you on the phone and tells you that they represent the second-largest bank in the United States, you are likely to believe that the call is legitimate and that you owe the money.
On 800notes, one consumer described a caller who claimed to represent Bank of America card services, and immediately asked for her mother’s maiden name, date of birth, last four digits of her Social Security number, and full credit card number.
On ShouldIAnswer, another consumer described the callers as, skilled social engineers who spent 20 minutes trying to get her personal info.
On YouMail, one consumer actually called the number on the back of her credit card after receiving one of these calls, and spoke with an actual Bank of America representative, who checked her accounts to make sure that there were no issues, and there were not. The representative told her do not answer those calls.
Why You Should Not Answer Your Phone
Answering the phone tells them that the number is good.
Every time you answer a call from 800-536-1584, you are telling them that there is a real, live person attached to that phone number. In the collection business, a verified good number is worth more than an unverified number. Answering the phone is not going to make them stop calling you — in fact, it is likely to make them call even more often.
The only phone number you want from a collection call is the one that the collector includes in a written validation notice. That number is there for one reason and one reason only — so you can use it to request that the collector validate the debt that it is trying to collect and verify its right to collect it. The number is not there so you can call to make a payment or discuss settlement options.
Having a credit repair expert in your corner changes everything.
When you deal with a collection call on your own without a credit repair expert, the collector holds all of the cards. The collector dictates when and how often he or she will contact you, the collector decides what information to tell you and what to withhold, and the collector uses the threat of ongoing calls to apply pressure to get you to do what the collector wants.
When you retain the services of a professional credit repair expert, all of that changes.
For collection agencies and creditors, having a professional credit repair expert involved means that the consumer is serious and intends to enforce his or her rights. Represented consumers are less likely to make costly mistakes, more likely to demand the documentation to which they are entitled, and more likely to file complaints when the collector crosses the line.
The real battle is on your credit report.
Did you know that 79% of credit reports contain errors?
Most consumers do not realize just how flawed the credit reporting system really is. In fact, according to some studies, as many as 79% of credit reports contain one or more serious errors. That is not just a minor glitch in a mostly functional system — that is a system in which accuracy is the exception rather than the rule.
When nearly four out of five credit reports contain at least one mistake, every collection account that appears on your credit report is suspect, and you should be challenging it. The question is not whether the system contains errors — the question is whether the particular account that the collector is calling you about is one of them.
Disputing the account is a more effective strategy than answering your phone.
When you dispute a collection account through the credit reporting agencies, you are forcing the collector to verify that the information it is reporting is both accurate and complete — if the collector cannot do so, the agency must delete the account from your report altogether.
In order to verify an account, the collector must be able to produce the original documentation for the account, a complete record of all payments made on the account, and proof that the collector has been assigned the right to collect the debt.
For many accounts, especially accounts involving credit cards and especially accounts that have been part of a gigantic system like the one operated by Bank of America — with 39 million credit card accounts — that documentation simply does not exist.
What Do You Need to Do?
Do not answer the calls from 800-536-1584. Do not call the number back. Do not provide any personal or financial information to anyone who calls you from this number, no matter what they tell you.
Immediately order copies of your credit reports from all three credit reporting agencies and carefully review them to make sure they are error-free. If you see any collection accounts, especially any that you do not recognize, make a copy of the entry and save it.
If you see any other errors or inaccuracies, make a copy and save it. Start gathering any documentation you may have relating to the account that the collector is calling you about, including the original contract, monthly statements, and payment receipts.
Carefully review your documentation to make sure that all of the information that the collector provided to you is accurate. Pay careful attention to the date of last payment, the charge-off date, and the date that the collector acquired the account. If any of the information does not match, make a note of it.
How to Make it Stop
Let us make it stop for you.
At FightCollections.com, we specialize in disputing erroneous collection accounts and challenging documentation. We understand how collectors like Bank of America operate and how to fight them through the credit reporting system.
Bank of America has already been forced to pay more than $60 million in penalties for the way it makes collection calls and treats its customers. If the company is willing to pay tens of millions of dollars for violating the law on a wholesale level, just imagine what its collectors are willing to do on a single phone call.
Contact us today for a free consultation.
