Made it look like they called from work

Sounds like they spoofed the caller ID. See the FTC's website for info:

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/callerid.html

Yeah but I wonder how they got my work number. I guess it's possible that at some point I could have called from that number and they saved it. How else could they have done it? I never gave it on anything I ever filled out.

They have access to databases that has everyones information including the name of your neighbors dog...

something similar happened to me. I had a company call me 12 times in one day but NONE of the calls show up on my cell phone bill....very odd!!!!!

Did you answer the calls? I don't think unanswered calls will show up on your detailed billing statement.

Hello, I am an officer of DETEX Agency & Assoc. I can assure you that any phone calls from office that may appear on a recipient's caller ID will be numbers, that if you call in return, will reach our office as this is law. Spoofing is illegal for third party collection agency. If your number or your employer's number appeared on caller ID, I would question two things: One, are you sure the incoming call was from our agency and not a different entity? Two, perhaps there is something internal at your place of work manipulating caller ID with incoming calls? At any rate, I can assure you DETEX Agency is well within strict compliance standards that govern our industry, but please understand, there are always sour apples in every industry that taint the best of us. You may contact our office with additonal concerns by emailing: [email]Operations@DetexAgency.com[/email]

Well, that may or may not be so in the case of DETEX (I honestly cannot say as I've had no dealings with them); however, I know I have received at least one call from a different CA spoofing their phone number. I think it showed up as "00", or something to that effect, with no name showing.

If any CA does this to you, I would recommend following the link NascarDevil posted above and filing a complaint with the FTC. If a CA operates above the board and honestly, while adhering to the fdcpa, there should be no reason that I can think of for them to hide their phone number in the caller ID.

I have had the same thing happen several times, sometimes only all zeros show on my ID, but it is a CA.

Jeremy_Detex is incorrect, the number for Detex does NOT come up on the caller ID as an 800 number!

Oh and he's an "Officer"....that makes me, the least sophisticated consumer, make me think he's in law enforcement. Tsk tsk tsk....violator!

Jeremy_DETEX, or Jeremy_DETOX?

Funny how I just read this and Cash Call just did this to me! My phone was ringing at it was my desk number and I didn't answer it. They left a message and it was Cash Call.

I received a phone call on my cell phone at 1:33 AM on Tuesday, January 13, 2009 from Detex Agency (caller ID 563-379-4682). This is in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act:
"A debt collector may not communicate with a consumer in connection with the collection of any debt at any unusual time or place or a time or place known or which should be known to be inconvenient to the consumer. In the absence of knowledge of circumstances to the contrary, a debt collector shall assume that the convenient time for communicating with a consumer is after 8 o'clock (AM) and before 9 o'clock (PM), local time at the consumer's location."

In the past, they have also contacted third-parties (not employers, not friends, but a company I've worked with doing independent contractor work) and they disclosed all the private details.