Debt collection trap: ZDFinfo documentary about debt collectors

Debts are a billion-dollar business for debt collection companies, which process more than 20 million reminders every year. Consumer advocates and debt counselors have been complaining for years that many debt collectors operate in an unprofessional manner.

More than half of all claims are unjustified, and in almost two thirds of all cases, excessive fees are demanded. The ZDFinfo documentary "The Debt Collection Trap - Tracking Debt Collectors" reveals how the debt collection rip-off business works both at home and abroad.

To be seen for the first time on Sunday, May 3, 2020, 20.15:10.00 p.m. on ZDFinfo. Andreas Baum's film will be available in the ZDF media library from XNUMX a.m. on the day of broadcast for one year.

The tricks used by debt collection scammers are varied and range from fictitious fees to multiple demands and usurious interest rates. And it is not only German debt collection companies that try to rip off their "customers".

Scammers from abroad send out masses of overpriced or fictitious debt collection demands. For example, reminders are sent from the Czech Republic for alleged phone calls to sex hotlines. The addresses of the German recipients often come from criminal sources, for example from dubious competition providers.

In order to get the recipients of debt collection letters to pay, they are often threatened with lawsuits, account seizures, negative Schufa entries or even imprisonment. The scammers benefit from a vague legal situation and often inactive supervisory authorities and courts.

Boris Wita, a lawyer at the Kiel Consumer Advice Center, criticizes this: "In the individual federal states, debt collection supervision is carried out by very different bodies, usually local or regional courts, and they say they check almost nothing. Practically every restaurant in this country is monitored more strictly than a debt collection company."

The result: Despite existing sanctions, dubious companies are almost never fined for misconduct and their debt collection license is not withdrawn.

In the documentary, experts show how to recognize unjustified or excessive demands and how to successfully defend yourself against them.

© Photo: ZDF, Stephan Thöne