Calls about debt collectors are all too common at the National Debt Helpline.
People are often both stressed and distressed by their interaction with debt collectors, who are perceived as bullying and aggressive in their strategies to collect money.
Making these experiences worse is the fact that these upsetting interactions often relate to old, long-forgotten debts.
One lady I spoke to had just returned to Australia from a stint working overseas and was shocked to receive a call about an old electricity bill she thought had been paid years earlier.
Such stories are not unusual. As more and more of us regularly change our energy and phone providers, move houses and jobs and travel, bills naturally get missed.
And as companies increasingly pass on the task of collecting unpaid bills to debt collectors, this is an unpleasant interaction that many of us will unfortunately experience.
So, what should you do if a debt collector comes calling?