Debt collector contacted me about unknown Ionos account, how should I proceed?

[Cotswoldlife90]

Today I recieved a text message from a debt company on behalf of Ionos Cloud - a website domain company. Not a company ive heard of. I contacted the debt collector and they asked me to confirm my address...my current one ive had for 4 years wasnt correct nor was the one I was at 2 years before that correct. Because of this they were unable to shed any more light on the situation and said to contact Ionos. Well....they were fun 🫠 seeing as you can only really get help if you have account details. Managed to get through and he said I cant help without your login. I said i can provide email...well my email (which ive had for 18 years) showed no account. So what do I do? And how can I sort this mess out ?! The guy on the phone was so unhelpful.

It must be a scam I'm afraid
It's not your account
It's not your email
It's not your address
It's clearly not you
Don't engage with them again
They want money. Do not engage with them

Tell the debt collector that their instructions are an error, that you have never had an IONOS account, and that they sound like a scammer.

If they want a further conversation, they should produce an account number and more details or the conversation is over.

Do not call a help line number if they provide one. It could be a premium charge number.

scam. There was also a REALLY scarey thing on TV recently about being able to generate AI voice by sampling voices harvested by phonecalls, and pairing that with harvested details about the person. Advice was to keep unexpected phone calls REALLY short or not speaking at all. Apparently its true. https://www.nationaltradingstandards.uk/news/phone-scams-take-sinister-twist-as-victims-voices-cloned/ I have had a couple of calls recently where the first thing the caller has said is "can you hear me clearly" which apparently is designed to trigger the answer "yes"

Even though they had my correct name - i dont have a common first or surname ?

getting hold of a correct name paired to your phone number is sadly not difficult.

They may have harvested it from hacking somewhere
It's not your account
Do not engage

Also..never answer your phone to an unknown number or respond to an unknown text. In a genuine emergency either the emergency services or someone you know will get through to you. The rest you can ignore.

Tell debt collector it is a case of mistaken identity, you’ve never had any such account.
Get a copy of all your credit reports from all the credit agencies
If no debt from IONOS or other unknown debt is on your credit reports, then rest easy the debt collector is scammer
If a debt from IONOS or any other unknown debt is showing then you are probably a victim of identity theft and will need to file a report with the police and tell the credit agencies and your bank to put an alert in your accounts.

Scammers dream you are OP.

If it doesn't sound like you then it's not you. Dont give any details out to check.

And definitely don't answer yes to any yes questions.

I’ve had this a couple of times when I lived in a flat with easy access post boxes. The person was ordering stuff in my name but getting it delivered to a collection point, and paying via catalogue or Klarna. I randomly received a paper bill for one and bank statements saying I had received a loan from a bank too, they had got a credit card via my post box too as you could stick your hand inside and they were located outside the main entrance door. I panicked and called the companies directly by googling their numbers. They removed the debt and we all reported this to the relevant authorities. I then had the next fun process of trying to get them removed from my credit report with the credit companies. Just be mindful it might be scammers ordering stuff in your name, this person was very clever as they didn’t even have a connected address as they kept getting it delivered to a pick up place. In your case if they can’t confirm your details are correct it is very obvious you and they have been scammed, so I would do as the other poster suggested and refuse to engage with it.

Tell them you've never heard of IONOS and not to contact you again. Then block.

The company itself could also be scamming you… don’t engage unless they provide all details which they obviously can’t as it’s not actually been done by you or at all.

The company used to be called 1&1, could it be an older debt from there?

Don't believe so as never had anything to do with websites or domains in my career or personal life

Usually fairly savvy but thanks to baby brain im pretty forgetful 😅

Thanks all. Will ignore !

Sounds like a scam.
I would check your credit rating though as a precaution

Send them packing with the sentence “this debt is disputed in full - refer back to your client”. That’s all you need to do, Ionos will then have to send you a proper letter, and follow the correct protocol.

Stop giving your information out! You've given them two addresses and your email.

Be really alert to the possibility of more scams now, including by post and email. Might be more from "Ionos", might be something completely different.

Yes. Even if they have your name.

Someone got my card details and they phoned me up and asked for me by name, using the information they had harvested. It was genuinely a a bad line and my hearing isn't amazing so I played the deaf old lady and said I would call back. They got annoyed with me and hung up. I phoned the fraud line for my card provider and found that apple pay and a car parking account had been set up with it, that day. I don't drive or use apple.

Ask for proof of the loan with your signature. Don't reply to anything until they've done that. Chances are it's someone else with your name and they don't care who it is that pays the debt!

I would never have responded to a text message in the first place; thats not how reputable companies contact you about any debts. And now you've given out previous addresses and email addresses to random people on the phone!

Next time just ignore it and dont phone or click on any links in the message

I’m with IONOS and often get emails “from” them which are scams. So they are clearly a name used by scammers. Don’t engage whatever you do.

Quite. They always use snail mail, with letterheads and mention of your legal rights, IME (not my own debts but I've helped other people navigate theirs).

Oh mate.

they had your name and phone number.

now you’ve given them your current and previous address, and your email.

it’s a phishing scam for your personal details and you’ve fallen right for it.

i suggest you sign up to Experian asap and keep an eye on your credit and new accounts.