Hi all, I think this information will be useful for people dealing with arl. I have been a debt collector for another company for years, I recently had a dispute with PayPal due to a charge back that I refused to pay, these PayPal account cannot be listed as a default (mark against your credit file) if this were to happen ARL would have to send you what is a called a section 6Q and then wait 30 days and issue you with a section 21D you then have 14 days before the account can be listed on your credit file. (As I said this cannot happen) if your balance is under 1K they will not commence legal action because they will spend more money trying to recoup the debt than the debts worth itself. Literally all they can do is call you twice a week in QLD and 3 times a week in all other states, these are what you call “unsolicited contacts”, a collection agency cannot go above there contact count, if they are caught doing so the best thing to do would be taking it to “FOS” (financial ombudsman service) or he ACCC, do not make payment towards these accounts or acknowledge the debt in writing (every time you make payment it resets the statue barred period (6 years) if you make a payment of $1 on the 5th year it would them reset the statue Barr period for another 6 Year’s allowing the collection agency to actively collect on the account for that 6 year period. ARL is a fully legit company, all though they do not own these accounts they collect on behalf of PayPal. Happy collecting ARL :)

legit company called Australian receivables limited.
collection on behalf of PayPal.
completely useless staff that need to be fired from a cannon into a brick wall.

Watch out for these people as they are not who they say they are ..........and it is a SCAM AND THEY ARE VERY DODGY !!!!!!!!!!!!!
They ring claiming they are debt collectors for a certain company you have been associated with. In fact it is a SCAM but at first looks legitimate.........until you did further and realise.
We too have been hassled about owing money to a certain company. Only thing is we have already paid this amount. This company has obviously hacked in to the companies website that we are associated with and got all our details. Be very aware of a company called "Australian Receivables Ltd" as they are not who they say they are and are SCAMMERS and very DODGY !!!!!!!!

I got this text message below:

ARL; We tried calling you but could not get through. Please call 1300 303 849 OR reply CALLME and we will attempt to call you back today.Quote Ref DN105200137

I had no missed calls, so no one tried to call me. I didn’t know who this company is, so I didn’t call them. I have no debts.

Caller: ARL

I initially starting receiving texts and missed phone calls from unrecognised numbers in QLD starting around November 2018. The text messages revealed it was a collection company ARL and that I had an outstanding utility debt with a provider in Brisbane. That was this scam's first mistake. Firstly I don't live in Brisbane, more do I live in QLD. Never have. Nor do I own any property in this State. I contacted the utility company directly to find out why they would pass on my details to a debt collection agency. They did say they use ARL for debt collection but had no record of me as a customer since I didn't live in the Brisbane area and therefore no way I could be a customer of theirs. I then visited the ARL website and for a 'national' company, the website is questionable. Even when you read through the complaints process its riddled with contradictions. I phone the company after hours to listen to their office closed message. Guess what? Didn't even exist. Again, for a national company you'd expect such a thing. I should also point out the 1300 number listed on their website isn't the same number on the texts I keep receiving. Since January 2019, the texts were coming in once a week and each time I block the phone number. I'd then call that mobile number from a silent number but of course you always get disconnected. The messages slowed down and after a month of silence, I received one today from a new mobile number. It claimed they called but couldn't reach me...no missed calls on my phone??? Blocked number again. I'll likely change my phone number just to stop it as I can assure everyone, it is a total scam. In reading other people's accounts dealing with this scam company - I've never had a PayPal account. I've never had anything to do with CentreLink. And I was able to clarify that I have nothing to do with the utility company they were initially claiming I had a debt with. Don't ever take their calls - and if so by accident, just hang up and block them. Don't bother responding to texts. Just block them and move on. It's almost like they are attempting to gaslight people in this scam by using techniques to make you even question yourself as to the possibility you own money. Feel free to call the mobile number than texted me only today: 0484 268 558. Harass them if anyone dares answer. Call them out. Shame them. Just don't EVER pay them a dime. It's all a scam. So much so even those few that claim it isn't...it's most likely the scammers posting those messages to confuse people into questioning whether they really own money or not. You DON'T owe any money. It's a TOTAL SCAM!

Got 3 voice messages on a land line for "urgent business matters" for some random person with an Asian name (not my name). I googled them and found "interesting" threads about them. This is how I dealt with them. I checked my paypal. There is no amount owing. I called the 1300 303 849 gave the reference number they left on the voice message and said (word for word) "here is the reference number ###, and I got voice message on my phone number 87xxxxxx. I've checked and I do not owe any money on PayPal. I am asking you to take my number down. If you are calling me again, I am reporting you to Australian Consumer watchdog." They took down my number and no questions about my identity was asked. So I suggest everyone deal with them this way.

Got a text message from this number , supplied the number in the text to use as a reference number . They then asked to have me verify my details I would not told them I had phoned and given them the details .
They claimed there a legit company and they could not provide any details until I told them who I was even though I phoned them and supplied the details they provided.
Very dodgy I will be taking legal action against PayPal the Maurice Blackburn lawyers regarding this if anyone would like to jump on board as a class action lawsuit .
They are scam artist and not to be trusted .

haha, no tin foil hats. I got this exact same text message and I've checked my VERY legitimate PayPal account and I have absolutely ZERO money owing, nor have I recently had any money owing.

I suspect maybe you work for one of these dodgy companies setting up the scam and you're in forums like this to try and convince people they 'really do have a debt'. If you're not, it's really poor form to do so. Scams can be hard enough to detect even for the most intelligent and clear minded people and people who are elderly, with disabilities or even who are just in too much of a rush to assess if this is legit or not could get scammed.

Caller: ARL

Received an official looking letter from ARL regarding an unpaid Paypal account. First mistake. My Paypal account has always been in the black and I use paypal daily. Most of the comments here were from 4-5 years ago and its now 2022 so these scammers must've reactivated their activities. I feel sorry for the number of people who fall prey to this sophisticated scam. I'm going to make it my mission to call the number 1300 303 849) from every single Telstra public payphone (it's a free call) just to annoy the crap out of these people.

Scam saying I owe PayPal. Compared the contact number 1300 303 849 on the letter which is total different to the real ARL contact number on the website.

Caller: Australian Receivables Ltd

NOT a scam. They are debt collectors - it may be that your PayPal account is negative for some reason (chargebacks or similar), or it may be that you're overdue on an energy or phone bill. They have many clients they collect for - not just PayPal. Receiving a random text to call a company you never heard of does seem fishy! But make the call, get it sorted before it gets escalated.

Definitely a scam. Don't know how they do it but they obviously know I have a paypal account and are demanding payment for an apparent outstanding debt? My paypal
was overdrawn for around 3 days ages ago. SCAMMERS!!!!!!!!!

Caller: ARL

It's a legit company. Someone had used my details to ring up a debt via Paypal. If the debt is not yours, you've likely had your identity stolen.

I called PayPal because I'd received one of the messages, and my paypal account was fine. Paypal told me it's a scammer and to ignore the text.

Caller: ARL

There are a lot of tin foil hats in here... This is a legitimate debt collection agency who work with a few major companies for collection. Yes, their call centre is based offshore, but no, it's not a scam. If you think it's a scam, there's a fair chance your finances are on par with your logic.

Just one big scam

I used to receive 2-3 calls per day from this excuse for a company and as with all the other annoyed people refused to give any personal information.
Then I received a letter in the post demanding $470.00 or they would escalate the matter through the courts. 2 days later I received an email with the same demand. Their client is PayPal and I have only ever used PayPal to pay for items purchased and have never had any monies held in the PayPal account so always a zero balance. I rang them and quoted their reference number and advised them that if I received any further nuisance contact I would involve the Federal Police via my local CIB.
I rang the local CIB to lodge a complaint anyway and have not heard back from them.
Great country we live in!

txt says: "Please contact Australian Receivables Ltd regarding an urgent business matter on 1300 303 849 or replay CALLME. Quote ref: xxxxxxxxxxxx"

Considering i have no debts my immediate response to them via txt was " i have no debts, piss of and scam someone else"
I do have a Paypal account however not in debt so definitely something fishy going on.

If this is Paypal, they have stooped to another new low. This is not how to do business. They can easy call me themselves. I know they would have in the "old days". They used to tell me I was special and send me presents. They were once a very good company! Then they sold out.

I am treating this as a scam as I cannot verify this is a legitimate company, and NO way will I give my details to a unknown entity on a cold call. The website doesn't have a contact number either.

All the calls where they have your partial details and say,"Hello is this...?" Don't even say the word "Yes" or anything like an affirmation! (e.g. Some phone company scams were recording people saying yes and using that to switch their provider.) Ask them to identify themselves, who they are, who they work for , what is the purpose of their call and for a return number to call THEM on. Then hang up, and thouroughly verify the information.

Sometimes they will say, "we cant tell you what it is about until we verify your details."
TELL THEM, " Sorry I cant help you until I verify your details."
Fair enough right? Remember it is your phone, your details and your privacy.

If you feel like it isn't right, hang up, tell someone and get some advice.

Also, I believe if they(a scammer) call three times you can report them as a "nuisance caller" to Telstra. Telstra then monitors if they call you again and if they keep calling, they will be prosecuted. Not sure of the current laws but I did this years ago, it worked.

Also, you could tell them that you are recording the call and if they don't wish to be recorded they should hang up. Most scammers will, but not all.

It is your phone. It's up to you wether you want to answer it.
They are your personal details, vigilantly protect them!

I had a text message sent to my mobile asking me to call them. ARL Ltd.
Once I called, they asked me to identify myself, I gave my first name only. The response was that they obviously had the wrong number and that they'd remove it from that account. Dodgy as hell.