While collection agents aren’t allowed to swear at you or be verbally abusive, they’re also not paid to be nice. Investigative journalist Fred Williams went undercover as a debt collector at a big, well-known collection agency, and his book, Fight Back Against Unfair Debt Collection Practices, is pretty eye-opening. If you’re on the receiving end of those collection calls, you could be called a deadbeat, told that your family should be ashamed of you, or urged to plunder your 401(k) or other retirement funds. It’s all part of their strategy. And if you’re trying to scrape up enough for a lump sum settlement, you could be in for months of such conversations. Don’t take it personally.