I charged back a fraudulent charge to a local company, and they sent it to collections. Immediately sent the collection agency a registered letter demanding they validate (prove) the debt as required by the FCRA and California law, then another one a month later after they ignored me, and that was the end of it.

There's often no reason to fear these shenanigans. Companies get away with it when people don't understand their rights regarding credit and debt and cave in to the shenanigans.