A young doctor says a private debt collection agency chasing her Centrelink debt misleadingly claimed to be the Australian Government.

It's the latest allegation that debt collectors appointed by the Government are using aggressive tactics to get money from Australians targeted by robo-debts.

Eliza told Hack that Probe Group, an Australian company which runs a call centre out of the Philippines, called her on a Sunday evening, earlier this year.

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"I picked it up and a male voice said, 'This is the Department of Human Services'.

"Something about this sounded a bit off to me, so I said, 'Oh are you the Department of Human Services or are you Probe Group?'."

"He said 'Oh actually I'm Probe Group on behalf of the Department of Human Services. I challenged him about that and said, 'I don't think you can call me and say you're working for the Australian Government if you're actually a debt collector'."

Hack has contacted Probe Group multiple times. At the time of publication, Probe has not returned our calls.

Minister for Human Services Alan Tudge told Hack he would look into Eliza's story.

"It's quite disturbing one of the debt collectors would portray themselves as from the Department of Human Services," he said.

"I don't know whether it's fraud or not."

'Centrelink never told me about the debt'

There are also questions over how Centrelink went about notifying Eliza of her potential debt.

She said she first heard about it through Probe Group.

Probe Group and Dun and Bradstreet are the two debt collection companies the Department of Human Services is using to chase up Centrelink debts generated by a controversial new automated system. It matches tax office records with Centrelink income records, and when there's a discrepancy it sends a letter asking for clarification.

At least 20 per cent of the time, that letter is being sent to someone who doesn't actually owe any money, according to the Government. If a person doesn't respond to the letter the debt may be handed over to a collection agency such as Probe Group.

In Eliza's case, Centrelink claims it overpaid $800 of rental assistance five years ago, when she was studying medicine. The department said Eliza's debt was not issued as part of the automated system.

Eliza told Hack she had the same phone number and MyGov account but she did not receive any notice of the debt from Centrelink.

She said she first received a barrage of text messages from Probe Group.

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Whatsapp Text messages to Eliza from Probe Group.

"At first they were sending me text messages. They said, 'Please contact Probe Group with reference to an urgent matter'. They sent four of those."

"I tried to call the number in the text message.

"I was put on hold for 40 minutes and eventually got through and they wanted me to give them a lot of personal information - full name and address and date of birth - before they discussed what they wanted to discuss."

"I just said to him, 'I don't want to deal with Probe Group directly, I don't want to give you my personal information'."

Eventually someone told her the call was to do with Centrelink.

Eliza then phoned Centrelink. She said she waited on hold for 45 minutes, and then they hung up on her. She then lodged an online complaint against Probe.

"Someone from the complaints department of Centrelink did get back to me, they said they would forward on the feedback about Probe Group and they would send me the letter in which they outline how they realise I possibly owe them money."

"I'm still waiting for the letter. There's been no formal documentation."

Minister Tudge said it was possible Centrelink had sent the initial "request for information" letter to one of Eliza's former addresses that was still on file. To avoid letters going astray, since Christmas Centrelink has been sending their first correspondence by registered post.

"That way we know if a person hasn't picked up that letter," Minister Tudge said.

Asked how the debt collector was able to contact Eliza, but Centrelink wasn't, he answered: "Debt collectors are pretty good at tracking people down."

'Centrelink told me to submit FOI for my own case'

Eliza says Centrelink told her she had to submit a Freedom of Information request to access the rent certificate it said proved she had been overpaid rental assistance. She has now submitted the request with the assistance of GetUp!.

She also plans to go to the Financial Ombudsman Service. But these things take time, and she's sitting an end-of-year exam on Monday.

"I work full time and study at night," she said.

"I've already sunk hours into this and don't have the time Centrelink is showing me that I will need to bring this to closure."

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie said his office has received hundreds of complains and called for Centrelink to shut down the "flawed" debt recovery system.

"I'm very alarmed to hear of one particular debt collection agency portraying itself as the Government," he said.

"I would hope that Alan Tudge and his department jump straight onto this ... and if it is true they take some action - potentially legal action - against that agency."

Editor's Note: Since publication, the Department of Human Services has released a statement saying it has reviewed the recording of the phone call between Eliza and Probe Group.

“Agencies who have been engaged by the department to recover debt from people will always ensure their operators clearly identify themselves as calling ‘on behalf of’ the department,” it said.

“At no stage does the operator represent themselves as being an employee of the department. From his initial introduction, he is clear that he is making the call on behalf of DHS.”

The department has declined to provide a copy of the recording to Hack for “privacy reasons”.