Collection calls are illegal before 8am local time. Tell them you are recording the call, and that they are warned that they are in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. That should at least stop the illegal calls.
Get the address of the company, and send a certified letter notifying them in writing that you are not the individual they are looking for, and that they should cease contact at your number.
But, debt collectors are just about the lowest form of bottom feeders on this planet. They very well may not stop. Or, they’ll sell the debt, and the next guy will start contacting you again.
SnakeDoc
At one point in my career I worked as a debt collector for a business.
Being polite and working with people resulted in nearly 98% of past due amounts being paid up. And I telephoned only betwee the hours of 10am and 4pm.
So, not all debt collectors are ‘bottom feeders’.
I have a similar experience. I got a new number 4 years ago and have been getting calls every so often for some woman I do not know. Most of the time I don’t answer calls from numbers I don’t recognize, but the robocaller leaves an often truncated voicemail. (Their trick is to have you call back and stay in a queue to wait for an agent to come on thereby wasting your time instead of theirs.) This will go on for a while and then the’ll stop for 6 to 12 months. On 3 or more occasions I actually did talk to a human and told them I am not the person they are looking for. This just got the case sold to another company which eventually sells it back to the original company.
Lately I’ve been keeping track of the calls to present to the FTC and/or the attorney generals of PA and MI (where the ‘agencies’ are).
They try all kinds of stupid gimmicks. i.e. messages like ‘Staying on the line is legal admission that you are the person we are seeking’ or some such rot. (wonder what jurisdiction allows callers to dictate how a person answers their phone)
I don’t trust these sleazy firms enough to give them my real name and address via a certified letter.