Phillip Mlynar of Deadspin offers a sensible guide for dealing with debt collectors. The cardinal rule – never talk to them on the phone.
Next, under no circumstances let yourself become tempted to call the company about the letter. Keep everything in writing. Why? Because the phone conversation is pretty much an interrogation—"Are you working? Do you recall the debt? How about giving over your bank details?"—and it could end up coming down to their word against yours. Instead, start building up a paper trail and keep it on your terms. Also, if you receive unknown-number calls around the time of the letter, block the number.
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