Our company is not closing completely
They have merged with the collections department and brought in a new g.m. (she's a b*tch) Positions are getting changed up....mine was distinguished completely
I was thrown in front of a computer and told I was going to be their new skip tracer I've done it a little bit way back when....so I'm familiar with it...just wondering if any one has ever done it or knows any tricks ?

I did skip tracing before the computer age. Had to pretend I was all sorts of other people than a collector. Yep, sometimes I had to lie or create a drama to get folks to cough up info on their beloved deadbeat relatives.... And, I got kudos for listening, writing everything down, even background noises, vocal pauses and pitch from relatives/friends. But, too, with the right tools afforded in this day and age, it MUST be easier than in my day.
Best wishes! You WILL do just fine!!!

Awww, I know you hated your job before. Think of this as an opportunity....

Yeah...We use a great internet program and we just go after current phone numbers & addy's. ..but in this age of cell phones it's not so easy.....they're not listed anywhere.

Yeah Lilith I do, I thought it was hopeless for awhile there and even though the new g.m. is a meanie she IS straightening out the place.

....and at least I don't have to sit on the phone all day ( I hated that! )....now I'm in front of a computer all day instead!

Oh oh oh! This is the perfect time for you to use my "poll" technique! It served me well when I had to track down lawsuit defendants who did not want to be found:

Call the contact number you have for the person, be it mother, brother, cat's cousin, and tell them you are conducting a poll regarding the presidential election. Have a couple of valid standard questions ready. After the standards, ask their "opinion" on a hot-button issue. Then let them talk. As their rant unfolds you'll be able to pick up on personal matters. Feed into those, and before you know it you'll know what size undies the skipper wears, not to mention where he/she resides, a recent phone number, etc.

When people think someone really values their opinion, their lips get really loose and their guard drops.

This method worked so well for me that all the attorneys in the firm came directly to me when they needed to find someone. Good luck and have fun with it!

Watch "Dog the bounty hunter"

That sounds like it would work! But,the phone work goes to our collectors I was already told not to use up to many phone calls.I'm strickly using the internet to track down numbers. Actually kind of boring.

Get skype and you can make really cheap and even free phone calls over the computer. Don't they know that?

JB

I used to do skip tracing but it was local stuff and I used footwork. I have not done much of that lately on the computer but I was a member of several investigator sites that do background checks and some of them even gave out social security numbers. You can locate know associates, neighbors, family, and all their phone numbers.

To only be limited to a computer seems strange. You can call people with skype if you have a mic on your computer, and I think the program is free and very cheap to use.

oh yeahhh ...I've used Skype with another company . ...We're using Acurint right now and I've been confirming the #'s by phone even though they don't normally. Just seems stupid not to.

Well I'm here to tell ya that maybe they should check SS# before they bother folk.I have had 2 calls for a woman in Ohio with the same name and different ss#.ohio has a totally different area code also.please.

I wish people who have to find those dodgeing their bills would realize that JUST because you have a common name doesn't make you the person they are looking for. I am so tired of having my meals ect. interrrupted. I am also tired of having some jerk call and be absolutely certain that I know where a previous tenant is just because I live in their old place or old number. Yesh!

I had a major credit card company call me about 4 yrs ago trying to collect on someone who had the same last name. This rep from the company kept insisting I was this other person even though my first name was different, we had different ss# and the person they were actually looking for lived in Kentucky. sheesh!!

We do check ss#'s first...sometimes we don't have that info... but, I won't put nothin through to collections until I see a certainty that I have the right person.

From what I know , most collection agencies will go after any lead they can get. My company does in house collections on our own customers and our means of collecting are limited. Neighbors are obsolete...and I make a pre call first before turning it over.This way we know we got the right person.

OMFG!!!!

OHHHHH Shizzle!! Here I am thinking I'm hot sh*t skip tracing and pulling up numbers left & right for our collectors and the bill comes in at $3000!! I thought I was gonna get fired right there on the spot! My boss was fumming!.... I explained I had no idea we were being charged per search...he asked who trained me?
Errrrr...ummmmmm....They never trained me ,they just put me on a web site and told me to start tracking down numbers.