This Tennessee city is one of the most common places for debt collection scams

Jordan Green, Memphis Commercial Appeal
·2 min read

Have you gotten fraudulent debt collection calls? A new study shows you're not alone.

Badcredit.org, a data analytic source, recently released a study called "78% of Millennials and Gen Zers Report Being Targets of Debt Collection Scams." In this study, the organization goes through how debt collection scams affect individual age groups and states.

Data was analyzed from the Federal Trade Commission. It measured cities with over 500,000 people, then surveyed Millennials ages 28 to 43 and Gen Z ages 21 to 27 to get the information.

According to the study, 78% of Gen Z and Millennials say they've received a call or email about debt collection they think was a scam. Twenty eight percent said they were worried about falling victim to a debt scam.

Here's what the analysis shows.

States with the most debt collection scams calls/emails

Per 100,000 people, Georgia had the most debt collection call scams at 77.8. The state with the least amount of debt collection calls was Wyoming with 15.6 per 100,000.

  1. Georgia: 77.8

  2. Delaware: 63.1

  3. Florida: 61.6

  4. Nevada: 59.1

  5. South Carolina: 57.9

  6. Texas: 48.5

  7. Tennessee: 46.7

  8. Alabama: 45.4

  9. Louisiana: 45.4

  10. Maryland: 44.0

Cities with the most debt collection scams

It may not come as a surprise to learn the city with the most debt collection scam calls is inside the state with the most debt collection scams. Atlanta scored a 102.9 per 100,000.

  1. Atlanta, Georgia: 102.9

  2. Columbia, South Carolina: 77.5

  3. Miami, Florida: 76.0

  4. Jacksonville, Florida: 75.4w

  5. Memphis, Tennessee: 74.6

  6. Orlando, Florida: 71.8

  7. Las Vegas, Nevada: 70.3

  8. Tampa, Florida: 67.6

  9. Charlotte, North Carolina: 65.1

  10. Augusta, Georgia: 64.2

How to identify a debt collection scam

The study gives a number of ways to recognize a real debt collector from a scam one.

  • Debt collectors may contact you on social media, call you, or send letters, emails or text messages. However, they have to give you valid information about the debt within the first five days of contact.

  • Debt collectors are not allowed to harass, threaten, use profane language, lie or call you more than seven times in one week.

  • Most common scams against young adults are: phishing, identity theft and mobile payments scam.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: This Tennessee city among most targeted by debt collection scams