PAGELAND, S.C. — A Pageland woman turned to Action 9 for help after she received a letter from a debt collector, and she wasn’t sure if it was legitimate or a scam.
Felicia Miller gave birth to her son in September 2020 at Atrium Health Union. She thought she had paid all her related medical bills until she received a notice from Medical Data Systems that stated she still owed the hospital more than $1,800.
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“I was just trying to figure out if the money is going to go to an actual bill or whether it’s a scam,” she told Action 9 investigator Jason Stoogenke. “To be on the safe side, I just wanted you all to investigate.”
Action 9 often receives complaints about debt collectors. Some are real businesses while others are scammers trying to trick people out of money.
Here’s advice on how to know whether it’s legit:
First, contact the provider or company that it states you owe instead of the debt collector in case the collector turns out to be a scammer trying to get personal information or money.
Ask the provider two things:
1) If you owe any money.
2) If the provider uses the debt collection agency that’s contacting you.
Through their investigation, Stoogenke and Miller discovered that Medical Data Systems, which also uses the name Medical Revenue Service, is a legitimate company that Atrium Health uses for its debt collection. However, Miller found out that she doesn’t owe the hospital any money.
According to Miller, after Action 9 got involved, someone from Atrium called her and told her that her account balance is zero.
“$1,800 is a big wad of money that I don’t just have just to give out,” she said.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, debt collectors generate more fraud reports than any other industry. Click here to see the list of debt collectors the FTC has banned.
(WATCH: New rules: Debt collectors can contact you using social media)
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