<prompt> Human: First time poster here--my husband has a debt of 500 from Directv because he was a dumbass 19-year-old who was easily convinced to use his credit for a family members subscription. The debt is now 7 years old, and hes just now remembering it he is new to the personal finance game. He just got a letter from a creditor I.C. Systems, Inc. offering to slash the debt in half for a payment of 250. This seems the way to go for a debt he had forgotten about, but how do I know the debt is really with this company and its not a scam? It would suck to pay the 250 and still owe 500 to the real collector. Halp.  <response>: To prevent yourself from getting scammed, look at your credit report and look to see who owns the account theyre calling about. Make sure the name matches up, and then go to their website to find their phone number. Dont use the phone number on the form they gave you.Debts fall off of your credit report after 7.5 years Fair Debt Report Act, so ... no, he shouldnt accept. After 7.5 years, the collections report disappears and no one knows it ever happened except you and DirecTV.What state are you in? Depending on your states statute of limitations, hubby can be sued for the 500 - but only if the SoL hasnt elapsed yet. If it has, he still owes the debt, but no one can make him pay it.If you do pay it, argue for a pay-for-delete, where they pay the 250 and the debt disappears off the report six months early. Make sure to keep that receipt.In another six months, it will never even have happened, whether you pay it or not. 