Afni
Reviews and Complaints

I have received a collection notice of $75.04 from Bell Atlantic, now Verizon. I called afni and the clerk treated me like a criminal, "Well you opened this account, and you closed it after two years and owe this amount" , I replied "I never owned this phone #", and she said "well it happened 10 years ago, you were 31 years old". The forwarding address is wrong and I had a different phone # that the one in dispute. After my explanation, she said "you sound like an honest person, but you have to pay". Unbelievable, it's only $75.04 but It's a fraud. I contacted Verizon and I don't owe them a penny. What a waist of time. AFNI have to stop accusing people of false debts.

I received a collection notice as well. I called Verizon to see if there were any other accounts (other than the ones I know I have) associated to me and they told me "No." I called Afni and STUPIDLY confirmed the last 4 digits of my ss# and date of birth. At that point I found out the charges were from 1997. In 1997 I was living in a different town and my telephone number was under my roommate's name. It baffled me that my current information was connected to this old "bill." But thank God they did reveal that information. HUGE red flag that I failed to notice immediately.

In any case, when I was asked for my driver's license number through their web site I stopped in my tracks, did a search, and found this site. Thank you all for being here before me, as unfortunate it is that we all have been. Saved your family and loved ones.

Information below is all availble from their website:

Afni's executive team
http://www.afniupsourcing.com/about_us/executive_team.php#sub

Corporate Headquarters
404 Brock Drive
Bloomington, IL [protected]
800.767-2364

For collection-related inquiries, contact our Recovery Team at 1.800.371.3645, by mail at Afni, Inc. PO Box 3517, Bloomington, IL 61701 or email at: recoveryteam@afninet.com.

Another fraudulent attempt to collect charges for Direct tv. I have had Comcast for 9 years. Thank goodness I checked here before calling, at least they don't have my number. Did someone get Jessi?

Attempting to collect a debt from over 11 years ago. Inever had a phone with Verizon Florida. I have lived in another state for 11years.This is ridiculous and after 7 years it should not even be happening. According to the credit bureau there should not be any thing like this on my report.

This phone # that they said we owed was not ours or never had been. We have had Verizon phones
and have never been turned down for an outstanding account balance.

I received notice that I owed a bill from 1999 on a phone number that I still have. I asked why no one has contacted me in 8 years and he told me he would send a letter of validation. Whatever that means. What can I do to protect my credit rating... Plz advise smb!

Uhhh did you by chance even read what the FTC states is the statue of limt. ... i dont thingk you did. The statues protect you from credit repoting of a debt over 7 yrs and taking legal action after 7 yrs... But sorry bud there is no "debt fariy" that makes your debt go away after years you still owe it, companies can still collect on it and contact you about the debt. Any why do you companies have to be able to sue you for you to think you owe a bill thats kind of an odd comment to make for a person who pays their bills dont you thing?

I am yet another victim of this bogus so called company. They sent me a letter stating that I owed $146.10 but would settle for $73.10...from a Verizon Phone opened in [protected] in California. I have never lived in Cali or visited this state. I called the Federal Trade Comission filed a report, sent a dispute letter to AFNI my next steps will be determined when I find out what AFNI is going to do with this...DON'T PAY...if you didn't open it DON'T PAY...that is how they are making their money. They are getting through to some of us but not the smart ones. I have excellent credit and will fight to the end to protect my good decisions that I have made over the years. It is a shame ! Good luck to you all...!

my name is julia an afni send me a bill for $452.00 for a cel or phone account that i didnt paid, the problem is that i never had a phone in the UNITED STATES because i live in mexico so i tink someones brougth this line so, wath can i do whit this problem?

ANFI sent me a bill for a cellular one phone i never had i am 25 and the bill is 8 years old so in other words i would of had a cellphone in my name at the age of 17 which is totally not possible since you have to be 19 to even sign a contract in nebraska. So i think this company is totally bogus also i am the financial area. And Creditors can't even collect bills over seven years old. Also the only cell i have ever had is ALLTELL so explain this to me i have this cellphone number since i was 19. and i called ANFI about it and they could not tell me anything about. their might have been someone with my name elsewhere i told them but they assured it was me and they wanted my SS number and all this other information on me i told them to go to hell. If it was a real bill they would of had that info already and could of told me. But they want me to verify it F*CK that they can verify it to me.

My father (who is in his 70s) received a collections notice from AFNI in May of 2007 alleging that he owed Verizon of New York for a past due bill. My father has (1) never lived in New York, (2) has never maintained a relationship with Verizon of New York. We called the Company and we received by a less than pleasant customer service person who used a very threatening tone of voice with my father. We then followed up with a letter to the Company. We thought that the matter was resolved UNTIL, he received another letter in November of 2007 concerning another past due item tied to Bell Atlantic. We pulled his credit report and there is NO evidence of either claim on his credit report. We followed up to AFNI's second letter with another telephone call to the 800-number noted on the letter. We also mailed the company another letter. This time, we've copied Lisa Madigan the Illinois Attorney General, Congressman Mark Kirk, the Chicago Trubune, and Carol Marin of the Chicago Sun Times. This Company is taking advantage of senior citizens who simply don't have the resources and/or technological prowress to navigate the nasty web of lies that they attempt to promulgate. This Company is the epitome of what is wrong in this society.

I recently received a collection letter from Afni about a supposed telephone service bill from Pacific Bell that is 91/2 years old! This bill was paid way back then, but they were quite rude on the phone and were not interested in anything I had to say. They offered two times to "settle" -- first for $80.00 less, then for 50%. I have documented proof that the amount was paid. I am sending them that, plus I am going to complain to every consumer affairs agency --state and federal -- that will affect them. I welcome anyone who has had similar experiences to advise me of what else I can do to stop these scam artists.

Today I received a collection notice from Afni, Inc. for a Verizon bill that was over 7 years old. I live in the state of Kansas were the statute of limitations is 3 years. I am definitely taking everyone advice and reporting this collection agency.

My wife received a notice of collections for an Alltel bill from this Afni collections agency for nearly $800 for some cell phone service I was supposed to have had. I HAVE NEVER USED ALLTEL in the 10 years I have been using cellular phone connections. This has got to be some sort of fraud scheme going on. I recently received a loan to have a home built, pay ALL my bills on time and then some, and take great pride in my AAA credit history. I have never heard of or seen or have ever received anything from Alltel EVER. What the heck is going on Afni? Also, the day after my wife received the notice I called the toll free 866 # to dispute this matter; the number would not go through. Some sort of funny business you guys got going Afni. I am currently serving in Iraq and if this matter is going to go further Afni will be hearing from my JAG officer faster than they can accuse me twice of owing Alltel one red cent!

AFNI steals your identity!

They Phish for your info then send you a collection for notice a bill that is not yours, or possibly anyones. Being a collection agency they are permitted to view credit reports. When they find a candidate they think will pay they send you a collection notice. They will not have any full information just partial. Only what they can retrieve from your credit report. They are banking on the fact that you will just pay it than fight it.

I too received a collection notice from AFNI about a verizon number I had more than 12 years ago in NY. And I too had another Verizon number in New York after the first one, at a different address - could I have established it if I had owed them a balance on the previous account? Doubtful. This is the kind of guesswork left to me, these 12 or more years later... Verizon today has no record of me, but asked if I'd like to start up service with them. After some research I found like many people here that Verizon sold AFNI an extensive and it seems faulty laundry list of numbers which had outstanding amounts that go way, way, WAY back. The only Co. which claims to have records today is the collection agency, so if the balance is an error on Verizon's part, then we no longer have proper defense to dispute charges. So basically, I found out today that I live in a country where a regulated public company can easily sell your name attached to an outstanding bill to a collector, which will in turn hold your credit score ransom until you pay an amount which you may have already paid in say, 1996. I've heard a lot about SOL here but at the end of the day our credit report is vulnerable and if the timing is wrong, it could have consequences for people. People who may have even paid all their bills fair and square and now must pay again to "make it all go away." Excuse me for pointing out the obvious but, this should never be possible in the first place. I blame Verizon first, and though I may sound idealistic - I blame my government for allowing this practice to be partially legitimate. I'm not the type to picket so I've settled on a far more practical approach. I will never be a Verizon customer. Ever. This is a fact. AFNI may get their $20 once they supply me with a makeshift copy of my supposed unpaid bill, and Verizon now has the handful of pennies for the sale of that bougus info. But in the longterm, Verizon will lose this customer for a lifetime of business.

Actually if you all must know, there are only two states (WI & MS) that have a statute at which point all collections must stop which is 6 years (same for credit reporting.) Other than that it's fair game. Every other state has a status of 7 years credit reporting and no statute on how long they can collect. My advice is to pay ALL your bills and most importantly, keep receipts. I mean, yeah the debt might be old and forgotten, but if the bill was actually never paid, be happy you got away with it as long as you did. Most collection agencies will settle debts with you anyways, depending on how old it is you can save up to 50% or so. Some collection agencies are complete scandals, but from personal experience AFNI is a straight up legit company, only thing is, their clients sell them your debts and it's their job to collect, if it's someone to be angry with it's the original creditors.

Collection companies use unfair tactics sometimes

Good evening... I'd like to show you a quote from some site. This website specializes in helping consumers with issues out of their hands and out of control. I do not work or write for this site; I simply have watched it with pride for over a year. They have lawyers and a boatload of numbers that may help you and others on this site to escalate problems with companies to the executive level all the way up to the CEO in some cases.

On your issue: Credit/Collections. A sample of what constitutes a collectible debt...

First the conversation, then after the tags are comments from the users from all over the world:

05 08 2007
Interviews
Debt Collector Trying To Collect 7 Year Old Debt 3,752 Views

NOTE-IM conversation begins-----> james: my wife got a collection notice yesterday about a verizon account she had with roommates in college back in 2000
james: account was transferred when she moved out, there was remaining balance, verizon never alerted her and she just heard from collections yesterday, 7 years later
benpopken: ha
benpopken: 7 years?
benpopken: that debt cannot be collected

Afni Collections physical address is:

404 Brock Drive
Bloomington, IL 61701

but google maps points to an empty parking lot.

I what paid this bill my account number is [protected]-02 amount due is 260.22

I too recvd a letter from AFNI for a Bell Atlantic bill. I think i had a Bell Atlantic line 7 to 8 years ago and don't remember NOT paying their bill as if one didn't pay, they would turn off your phone. This is typical AFNI style strongarm collection tactics-I dealt with them recently on an old VONAGE bill (which the company wrote off since their service did not work, meanwhile, AFNI, 2 years later wanted me to produce documents or pay the bogus bill). This is what they do. I will dispute them and file complaints with all the right authorities.

Everybody, this is happening to a lot of people right now: every billing mistake ever resolved with Bell Atlantic, NYNEX, etc, every ID fraud case already straightened out, etc, etc way back from the 1990s is suddenly coming to life again after Verizon sold off these bogus uncollectable debts to ANFI.

You can find a lot of resources out on the web about how to approach these cases, but most of them will tell you to send a dispute letter to them by certified mail and ask them for reasonable documentation (billing history, bills, judgements, etc) and telling them that you do not owe this money. Make sure the certified mail is return receipt requested so that you have proof you did this.

Next, you need to file complaints with the FTC, your state's department of consumer affairs, and the Attorneys General of Illinois, your own state, and the state where ANFI now alleges you incured the debt.

If they try to sue you or put this on your credit report, go get an attorney who specializes in consumer protection laws and sue them.

I currently received a bill from the same company the other day for 104.32. When I called the company they stated that this was from 1999 and that I am still liable for the bill. I do not recall a outstanding bill from bell atlantic. I recently purchased a home and this particular debt was not on my credit report. I did call the collections agencey and she asked how I was going to pay. I stated this is extorsion! I refuse to pay... for something I have no clue about in 1999. What options do I have?

I too received a notice from Afni claiming I owed $300.01 on an old Bell Atlantic (now Verizon) bill from 10 years ago. I don't recall ever having a Bell Atlantic account and neither Bell Atlantic at the time or Verizon has ever contacted me concerning this debt. The rep from Afni claims Verizon did an internal audit and this is how they discovered the debt.

I am sending Afni a letter requesting verification of the debt and also told the rep I wanted copies of the bills that shows phone service and the calls placed that comprise the debt. He said they do not have that information and the burden of proof was not on them.

Thank goodness I found this sight. My husband received a letter yesterday for the same issues. This so called debt has to be over ten years old as he has moved and been in another state. The time frame doesn't add up either. He was still living at home with his parents and would have had no need for phone services in his name. I refuse to call them and decided to call Verizon instead. They couldn't even give me the address to where this home phone service was connected because it drops out of their system after 7 years. Why would I pay anything that did not have viable proof accompanying it. These people are full of IT! Totally. I even did a BBB check on them and they have a satisfactory rating. How I ask? They obviously have had numerous complaints, yet they continue to get away with this. I refuse to fall into this trap. If this charge was an issue why has it never been on my husbands credit? Makes no sense.

I received one of these bogus letters sent to my maiden name and called to tell them they were absolutely wrong about the collection. They tried to pin a bill on me from 1995 in Brooklyn, NY. I've never even been to Brooklyn, NY. They gave me the street number and phone #. They knew the last 4 of my social. They told me to go to their website and download a fraud complaint form. There was no form anywhere. I emailed for help and received a form saying they wanted copies of everything from a utility bill from 1995 to my current drivers license. The clincher was that they wanted a copy of my social security card. That was a huge red flag.

The statute of limitations is about 7 years that this account can be placed on your credit report. So, don't worry about it. Don't you DARE pay any amount or even agree to pay any amount on this old debt. This is a typical trick where they buy debts for pennies on the dollar and attempt collections with fear and intimidation.

If you pay anything, or agree to pay anything, they can open this debt back up and start from zero on your credit report. That means if you pay, they can put this on your credit report now and it will stay there for 7 years.

DO NOT DO ANYTHING!

If the notices are for something like a court judgment then the limitations statute might be null and void.

I too am a victim of the dreaded Collection Notice however I can take this one step further... I called and they even have the last four of my social. Where are they getting this info? I have never resided at the address that they stated the phone bill was at in 1997 nor did I live in the City. I find it odd that they misspelled my first name and used my maiden name.

They politely offered to settle for a lesser amount however; why should I pay for a debt that isn't mine!

I will send a dispute letter but I'm totally agitated that I must prove my innocence.

As many others I have just received a bogus bill from AFNI its from an old address I had 9 years ago I don't recall having this phone number, if so why would I get contacted so late along with no mark on my credit. They only sent me a letter showing half of the proof I asked. Does anyone have any advice in battling these guys. This well worth the fight. They should not get away with this.

I actually used t work with this company and can understand some frustration this might help some of you and with other collection agencies.
Are they calling because they own the debt or do they call saying they are a "third party collection agency" for verizon or cingular? If they are not third party then they may have purchased the debt from VZ or Cingular. This is perfectly legal and they can put it on your credit report if it is under 7 years old. Keep in mind that the only way that they get this is from the company they say the bill is from. Often people will contact a company like Cingular without realizing they have an internal collections department and they may have records not available to their customer service, or may have wiped the records if they sold the debt to afni or another agency. Afni is the jewel of collection agencies and prides itself in being overly compliant with the law, so don't take the frustrations out on the person on the phone. Here is what i would do.

1. If any agency tries to collect on a bill over seven years old politely ask them for their address then send them a letter certified mail asking them not to contact about the matter any further, some will do this if you tell them but legally they can keep calling unless you do so in writing.
2. Fraud is only a valid defense if you never had the service, arguing that you never had the service when you lived at the address of the service will get you nowhere. keep in mind that the burden of proof is on you when it comes to your credit report. If you never lived at the service address you must show where you lived during that time, tax returns, bills, insurance are all ways you can prove where you lived. If someone has stolen your identity they have committed a crime! This includes family members! To claim this as fraud where you are not responsible you must file a police report, and a report to the Federal Trade Commission. This is very important because people that steal identities won't just use them once, these reports will help with future problems. If it was a family member that did this keep in mind that if they did it to you what would they be willing to do to someone else?
3 Read two things, The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and the Fair Credit Reporting Act they dictate how agencies can collect debts and you can file a FCRA complaint when they overstep their bounds.
4 Ask if they will settle this for a lesser amount. Many times the older the debt the more likely they are to settle this. Most agencies will give you a first notice and 30 days before they report the debt to a credit bureaus, if the debt is already been reported to the bureaus keep in mind that if you take a settlement it will be reported as "Settled In Full" not "Paid In Full" and this may affect your credit less favorably. Get any settlement in writing before you pay it.
5 This will not work with AFNI because it is a legally gray area, but ask for credit deletion in exchange for payment, sometimes it works sometimes it does not.
6. Record every conversation, If they break the law this may be your best proof.
7. Ask for a bill copy, and do so in a formal dispute in writing if you think you do not owe the bill.
8. Do everything in writing and keep copies of it all and any responses.
9. Know the laws of your state, some states are more restrictive than the federal laws.
10. If you owe the bill pay the damn thing! Don't refuse to pay because you did not like the service or its just the "principle" of it. You may think that $200 phone bill won't affect you credit but if you refinance a house and it lowers your credit scour just enough to cause the bank to loan you the money at a interest rate only a fraction of a percent higher in can cost you more in the long run. For example a house loan for $100,000 for thirty years the difference between 6.00 and 6.1% interest is over $1,159
11. Read all terms and conditions of any service agreement! Phone, Cable, Sattelite and other companies have very restrictive language in their service agreements, there are often clauses only allowing returns within 30 days, early termination fees ( with some phone companies $200 per line thats $1000 for cell phone family plans with 5 phones!, and of course you may think that you will just sue them but guess again you agreed to waive that right! The best defense you have is keeping informed and get involved with group putting pressure on politicians.

My daughter received a bill from AfNI amounting to charges in excess of $1100 for a Verison New York phone number. Ironically, she's never lived in New York. I filed a complaint with the Verison and said they needed to prove that the number was once owned by my daughter. They said I needed to take it up with AFNI. I said, "AFNI says I need to take it up with you..." This conversation went back and forth with Verison several times. The more I insisted that they produce some sort of records the more they began to question AFNI. The next thing I know, I get a letter from AFNI telling me that "..they've investigated (I know, I was shocked, too) my dispute related to the referenced account and based on their investigation the account was being close." WOW you say? Don't be so sure. Two months later my daughter gets a bill from AFNI "making us a settlement offer to pay HALF the amount due on our over due account..." I'm telling you, they're a bunch of idiots with bogus credit reports who prey on good people with good credit histories to get MORE MONEY because they know they'll pay rather than risk getting dunned on their credit reports. It's shameful. Report this agency to everyone you can!

Today I received a collection notice from Afni, stating that I owed $293.34 to Verizon North, Inc. Also today, I received a settlement offer to resolve this matter if I would pay half the amount! I have never had the phone number they listed and I have never lived in Bloomington, IN. I sensed right away that it must be a scam and that was verified when I checked my credit report-Afni was not listed, and I saw the 300+ complaints against Afni on a Rip-Off website. The scam must be working or else they would not continue with this scam. It's incredible to me that it takes so long for the Indiana Atorney General to put a stop to this. I live in East Texas and can see that this scam is all over the US.

I received a settlement offer to pay the half balance $92.06 of the original amount was $184.11. Once I paid the $92.06 this account will be closed and I will no have to worry about this obligation. I have copy of this offer. Afni Account # [protected]-02 , creditor singular creditor account # [protected]. I received this settlement offer 9/14/2007. My address is P O BOX 1121 Camuy P R 00627 . Call me [protected].

We received a collections notice for $117.70 for a bill back in june of 98 that afni is trying to collect. I called verizon the customer service rep. said they have been receiving calls like this for the past couple of weeks, she told me not to pay and contact your local house of representatives. So I am in the process of that. located in upland, ca.

Can some one help me on AFNI INc. Today I checked my credit report and In my history it was said that I owe 1600+ dollars for singular. They told that it was the bill from singular in Sep2001. The funnest part is I came to US on 2003 only. How can I have a bill with singular from 2001 onwards. When I called AFNI on the same they are asking every thing including Address, Social, and employer etc... They gave me a number and asked to file a complaint in www.afnicollections.com and they gave me a AFNI account #. But it never worked for me... when i try to reach the same people I am not getting a response at all. It says register an appointment to speak to a customer service agent. To do this I ahve to book an appointment from the same website where i didn't find such link at all. Now my credit score i went to very bad state because of this. How can I get help on the same. I don't think I can get a solution with AFNI instead I am going to loose my Identity information calling them again. Is there any way I can get rid of this issue...? Is there any government agency where I can make a complaint...? Eagerly waiting for your suggestions friends...

thanks
Suresh...

I to am facing the mighty afni I nicknamed it "ain't found n0-one intelligent!" They claim I owe Cingular 1100 bucks from '02. Cingular is my provider now, and was then. I have tried to resolve this with Cingular and they tell me they don't have me owing this bill... Well, the people at "always frigging nose it" tell me I owe. Put it on my credit report as a "Major Derogatory" but not until I started ### did the MD designation come up. Well piss on em, let my creditors call me on my singular phone number and we can discuss it. I am going to start calling them every moment I have free, like stuck in traffic or whatever and try to resolve this issue at the expense of their bottom line. If the pissants can pay people 9-10 bucks an hour to call and harass, I can sure burn the time sheets up by becoming an inbound pain in the butt. Using my CINGULAR phone. I wonder who Mr. Jacksons boss is? Lol, thats who I wanna talk to.

The SAME thing happened to me.. in 2004 I closed my cingular account for orders overseas (military).. cingular gave me a zero balance report and here we are in 2007 I get a bill from AFNI for over 100 dollars.. cingular cant help me and AFNI wont hear anything... SUE ME!

I had the SAME thing happen to me with a cable bill! The cable company I had previously had service with was bought out so I couldn't even go back to them about it. I sent AFNI copies of payment as well and they said that account number didn't match their account number. Well neither matched the original account number! So I'm still trying to figure out how to fight this. Their validation of the debt was just a letter saying the debt was verified and I owed them money. If you find out how to fix this, please let me know.

Afni has been calling my phone twice a day for months in what must be an attempt to collect a debt from someone who gave them the phone number I have assigned to me. I have told them repeatedly that no one by that name lives at this residence nor has anyone by that name ever lived at this address, and that I have never known anyone by that name. They continue to call. Their number is blocked by caller ID so I cannot give the phone company a number to block through their harassment measures. It seems I am fated to continue receiving their calls despite my innocence in this matter. Is there ntohing that can be done to stop their incessant calling? Does this not constitute harassment? Are they free to harass at will?

My fiance recieved something from them and we set up to pay it monthly. Then we were unable to pay them for a few months. They called him and tried to make him pay 200 that day and the rest would be dropped. We couldn't pay it that day so we paid 100 for the next 2 months. They said that, that would satisfy the bill, but they are reporting on his credit report as unpaid balance. I have contacted the company to try to get original documents because he doesn't remember owing a balance when he left cingular. But we were paying this because we are trying to get a house and this is hurting us among other things. But they did tell him that there was a collectors fee. I am trying to find the statement on thier site that says "they do not charge a collectors fee". If anyone can help me with that, that would be great. My email address is j_dunbar2006@yahoo.com

Same problem here. Dispute in writing! Basically, if the debt is older than statute of limitation, usually 4-6 years depending on what state you live in, they cannot take any legal action to collect the debt and if the last "missed payment" is more than seven years ago they have no right to report this to your credit report Found great info on this site.

http://www.fair-debt-collection.com/index.html

I live in Australia and I've been here for almost 7 years. I was in the military for 20 years and lived in several different states. AFNI sent a letter to my sisters address in my name saying they were trying to collect a 60.00 debt for AT&T but will accept 30.00. I don't remember using AT&T for about 10-12 years and I know I owe them no money. What do I do about this?

BECAREFUL WHEN YOU CALL VERIZON, WHEN YOU CALL TO SPEAK WITH VERIZON'S COLLECTIONS DEPT THEY TRANSFER YOU TO AFNI, INC...

I AM CANCELLING MY VERIZON ACCOUNT.. If you also have verizon you might want to think about doing the same. Thanks to verizon now strangers/scammers at afni, inc have our information. If you ask an afni, inc for their last name they'll tell you that they can not give you that information mean while they have our info and ss# thanks to verizon.

Let people know how verizon sold our information to afni,inc. they are scammers afni, inc is now givin my phone number to other telemarketing company/scammer .. I am in the do not call list and I have never received any unwanted calls but now after afni, inc guess what my phone doesn’t stop ringing by scammer… I have googled the numbers that are calling me and they are scams….

Verizon should also get sued for selling our info to a company that’s into scam afni, inc has a bad name. They have the worst collection dept, rude unprofessional workers that are trying to make money off of people that don’t even owe money for unpaid bills way past the SOL….

Few months ago, I checked my credit report and it showed one collection item from Verizon for $361.00 since 9-2006 . The name of the collection company is AFNI, Inc. I tried to contact them and the lady I talked to gave me the information on the account. The verizon tel# is from a different state & of course, the address is different. Our Verizon acct is not & was never in my name. Meaning, I do not have any acct with Verizon under my name. I have never moved & have been in the same address since 1988. AFNI Inc advised me to go to their website and fill out an e-form and enter the reason of dispute. I did but they never took it off. I also visited the website of Experian and it lets you remove all the info that doesn't belong to you. I saw an address that AFNI gave and I deleted it off of my records. I checked my credit report again today and that collection item is still there. It is impacting my credit. I have 2 questions: 1-why is it that there is only one creditor that AFNI is collecting for? 2-How can I resolve this issue?

I recently pulled my credit report and saw a negative charge on my credit report for a company named afni collections stating a delinquent account for verizon in the amount of $80.00 and is now impacting my credit. I have no idea where this came from considering that I had verizon just a few short months ago and canceled my service and paid my bills in full and verizon has no account of me being past due for anything and stated that if I was they wouldn't have turned my service on for me this time. who the hell are these people?

I do not know who the hell these peoplem are. They want me to write out a check for 700.00. They must be crazy. Where do they get off doing this. I am calling the better business bureau.

Ugh - this company is horrible. I have complained to the BBB, FTC and my state Attorney's office. We'll see what happens. I gave all three the address to this web site so they can see how extensive this fraudulent activity is.

On July 30, 2007 I received a collection notice from this company stating that I owed Verizon New York Inc. a past due amount of $399.? After numerous attempts to get them on the phone, I sent a letter and email stating that I do not have any outstanding debts.

After reading many of the same complaints from people about this company, it is a disgrace that they are able to continue this scam.

Susan

I had a recent letter from AFNI. I actually found them to be pretty reasonable when I finally spoke with them.

The debt was to Verizon (formerly GTE) and was about 15 years old. It actually dated to a time when my mother continued to have her phone listed in my father's name after his death. When she moved out of state, the people she rented her ouse here to were able to fraudulently continue the service.

The only really frustrating thing is that I had already sent another agency a copy of the death certificate and I wasn't about to pay for another copy.

I gave them the most recent address of the tenants and wished them good luck as the statute of limitations is long passed on the fraud and they would have to take a number for a long line on these people even if they could pursue it criminally.

I received several letters threatening to sue me for 314.00 for a Verizon bill that was over five years old. This company is breaking the law by trying to collect an noncollectable debt. I have requested that they no longer contact me and I also turned them into the Better Business Bureau. We'll see how it all turns out...

I recieved a collection letter from afni stating that i owed a balance of 90.50 to cingular when i never had an account through cingular. they also claimed that the account was opened in my parents home before they bought it.

Not long ago, I received a collection notice from Afni regarding a 10-year-old cell phone bill (BellSouth Mobility) that had been paid and resolved years ago. When I called to clear up the apparent misunderstanding, I was met with a rude, belligerent agent who kept yelling me, saying, "Why don't you want to pay a bill? Surely you would want to pay your bill, don't you?" I told him that I was contacting my attorney and hung up. I've not received any notices from them since.

Yesterday 4/21/08, I received a Collection Notice from Afni Collections stated that I owe CINGULAR account; in the amount of $385.11 and a collection fee of $57.76 . This is very odd also because I have never had or step inside of a CINGULAR store in my entire life. Try to call that phone number a few times to dispute this but was on hold for 45 minute + with no one answering it.

Just got my notice on Friday 08/05/07 from AFNI about a Verizon bill ($477.67) from an address I never lived at at, at a time [protected]) when I lived across the country from the address. I tried to explain the situation, and of course they told me they would report it to the credit bureaus when I asked about statute of limitations (it is a contract you have with the phone company) they lied and said there was none. My brother the lawyer then got back in town and told me to cancel the charge until they can prove the bill is mine. Statute of limitations is also either 3 or 4 years, not 13! He said to ask for a copy of a signed contract between myself and Verizon, and copies of invoices, bills or other written proof tying me to the bill. I also reported AFNI to the Federal Trade Commission (The idiots actually offer the link in their frequently asked questions and there is an easy form to fill out) and I think if we all do the same, maybe we can stop them from doing this. It borders on fraud.

Same, I received a collections notice from Afni, Inc., also Afni Collections stating that I owed Verizon Communications a bill for an outrageous amount of $629.00. in New York City on bills from [protected]. Afni offer me settlement for $525.38.
I am in California from 1997 and never used Verizon and I paid all phone bills to New Bell before I moved to California. I have never at anytime ever owed New York Bell and Verizon this amount.

Beware!

My aunt received a collections notice from Afni Collections and asked me to call about it. The phone number that was on the collections notice was her number that she has closed over a year ago. When she got her final bill from ATT (not Verizon according to the Afni collections letter) , she had a credit balance and received a check back from them. I called Afni and after waiting over 20 minutes for someone to answer, I got the rudest person. I can't believe there are people actually out there that would work for a bogus company like Afni and try to collect money that isn't even owed. They really should be ashamed. By the way, they said the money was owed from 1999. Excuse me... 1999? How long ago was that and what company would still be trying to collect a debt from 1999? That immediately told me that was so fake.

AFNI Collections sent a letter to my wife who is a immigrant they stated she owed 410.00 to T-mobil. T-mobil claimed she spoke to someone from China in Chinese the problem is my wife can't speak Chinese they claimed she spoke to this individual for 2 hours I disputed this charge in the past with another collection agency and they refused to match their records with my records. They didn't even bother to respond. Debt collectors who make false claims should be fined 1000.00 according to FCRA rules and regulations. Debt collectors who do not follow FCDPA should get fined as well debt collectors who pass or pawn their problems to other debt collectors represent a serious flaw in Public accounting called liability and responsibility.

I may have everyone beat here. I just received my "collection notice" this week for Verizon for $96.20 from... get ready... 1989. YES, 1989! Come on now-how much more ridiculous can it get? This WAS an immediate red flag! I am printing all this info and sending it along with my response of this disputed "debt" certified to this "company".

These boys must be in full swing for 2007 - there's lots of stuff out there. Does Verizon even care that their name is attached?

Any others out there? Any new specific results or recommendations?

I too received a letter from AFNI collections for an old Verizon/GTE amount totaling $307.50. When I called for information I was told it was for phone services ending in 1998 at an address that we never lived at. In fact we had a phone line w/ verizon at this time at the address we had been living at for 3 years!

I have seen several complaints with the exact same info on the following website. I am submitting my info there as well. An attorney was billed the same type of charge and is considering a class action suit.

Please report this everywhere you can. Make sure AFNI is NOT placing bad credit information to the credit bureaus.

PAID VERIZON BILL IN FULL 1 JAN, 2009 AND THE OTHER FEB, 2009. THE ONE PAID FOR 116.00 HAD THE WRONG SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER ATTACHED TO IT . THE LAST NUMBER WAS WRONG UPON PAYING AFNI ASSURED ME THEY WOULD RETIFY THIS. UNTIL THIS DAY THEY HAVE NOT I HAVE SPOKE TO THEM SEVERAL TIMES AND THEY CONTINUE TO SAY THEY ARE AWARE BUT KEEP RETURNING IT TO MY CREDIT REPORT. THE LAST NUMBER WAS CHANGED TO A 3