So I get a letter from a debt collection agency that says I owe $$$ from a bill that wasn’t paid in 1996. How the hell can I remember a debt that wasn’t paid in 1996? Is this a scam?

“Uh, you owe us money from, like, 7 years ago, and we’d, uh, like you to pay it (snicker, snicker).

Even if it turns out that I paid the bill and due to a bookkeeping or a computer error I got screwed, how do I prove it? I have written a letter to my bank to see if they keep transactions back to 1996, 1997 and 1998.

It still seems fishy to me. Maybe I’m just a deadbeat.