Afni review: Wrongful Verizon bill! 23

THey are pulling the same thing with a fraudulent bill I owed Verizon in 1998. It was cleared up in 2004. Now here comes AFNI. This is a big scam. It is not on my credit report. Is Verizon releases our personal information to these people? Are they in co-hoots (sp?)?

It will be before long I'm sure. I didn't know of what AFNI was doing until I pulled my credit report last year. They had a negative entry for a cable bill I had paid 2 years earlier. They never attempted to contact me and won't send me any proof of this debt. They seem to be targeting cable/phone bills that were already paid or never existed.

Afni collections claims Verizon wireless owed past amount of $ 195.06. No such bill is owed.

I got a Verizon bill from these people for $530 for a phone number we never had at an address we never lived at. This bill was from 2001-We've lived in this same house since 1992. We were aware of this bogus bill several years ago and settled it with Verizon by proving we never had that address. But when I called verizon they told me they have no info on that - but they did "sell our bill" to Afni! Nice. Looks like Verizon and other phone co.'s are dumping old "bills" on these guys. Good Luck All.

I just received a collection bill from Afni for a home telephone service from Verizon for an amount of $ 187.33. But, I never had phone service with that company.I do not really know what to do right now.

Sub: Afni fake collection bill

I received a letter from afni dated 4/2/2007, say I owed a verizon $ 187.33 from 8 years ago at a phone I never had. I called them to dispute about that, Afni said that I had to fill out a form on there web site with more personal information on it to dispute the claim. I don't really fell comfortable to give them my personal information in this manner. Any advice please comfort me . I do not really know what to do right now.

I just received a letter in April 2007 about a GTE phone bill from June 1998 to June 1999. The phone # was correct, but there was no attempt to contact me for eight years. The collection is for $200. I called AFNI, played hardball saying I wanted an itemized list of charges with a list of calls I was responsible for, etc. They sent me a bill from November 1999 supposedly from Verizon, but w/o the Version logo.

I am most upset that when I called Verizon, I was transfered to a combative agent. I made the point several times that if these charges were legit why wasn't I contacted? I even had a cell phone bill with verizon wireless for 6 years. He made the point that "we" are separate companies. Minutes later he said he didn't work for Verizon, but worked for AFNI! I was pissed that Verizon had a direct transfer to these guys.

I have never even lived were they said i had this phone service. But they want me to pay 585.00. But I've never even been with verizon before. So dont play into the hands of a bunch of ripoffs.

I received a collection notice from afni collections for a bill from 1997 at a address i never lived at. I was told the bill was from GTE. I did not have any phone service from GTE or verizon from 1997 to MAY16, 2007 being the date i received the collection notice. My investigation found that GTE was not purchased by BELL ATLANTIC becoming VERIZON until 2000. I feel as if this a scheme between afni and verizon to collect data on people to be used for identity theft. I was told afni did not have a affidavit to send me. I got one from the AFT faxed it to afni then they sent me one. If there is anyone out there filing legal action against AFNI please notify me.

I checked my credit file last night and saw that there was a collection on my credit for $162.00 for a Verizon bill that was opened back in December of 2006 - BOGUS - The home phone was transferred from my old house and it's in my husbands' name! I have no idea what this crap is but I know that it should be against the law for them to put fraudulent information on someones' credit report! I am going to file suit against this company.

My great aunt has gotten one of these bogus collection letters. If the bill was from Verizon NY, please take note, the NY statute of limitations on debt collection is 6 yrs. After that, the debt is null & void. She's not giving them a cent or any info!

I just received a collection notice from AFNI re: Verizon for $269 on 6/29/07. While going through the correct ways of disputing it, they have already reported to the Credit bureau dropping my almost perfect credit score 100 points! The supposed "debt" I owe was from a long ago canceled number from back in 2000. This is also the first correspondence I've had from anyone regarding this and I have never skipped out on debts. I have done my due diligence with the credit bureau already who stated the debt will remain until 10/2007 but am still awaiting documented proof of the account to dispute it further. If I don't receive some type of documentation in a timely manner, I will be hiring an attorney since credit is of utmost importance to me and being a homeowner, my credit situation has now been compromised by this situation as well as years of good debt practices. I find this completely unacceptable and am about to file charges with the BBB.

Wow, I'm not alone! I received a weird bill from afni three weeks ago stating I owed "verizon" from 1999. I never had an account with verizon then and it had an area code I hadn't lived in when the bill supposedly came due. I sent a certified letter asking for an itemized bill and today then sent me a one line item saying I owed 361.22 also stipulating this was verified proof (?!). What a waste of time and what a scam.

I received bill from 1999, of address where I never lived...

#$ 55. I called Verizon. They have no record.

I send registered mail, asking for copy of bill to Afni. Instead, they send another form asking more personal information !

I am not gonna reply...

My plan is to send letter to 3 credit bureaus...disputing any charges.

I agree its verizon who is culprit, legally as well as morally. They should be brought to justice.

Same exact thing happened to me. I have gone through all the proper channels to dispute this: all 3 Credit Bureaus, AFNI themselves, BBB, FTC, Attorney General, and lastly I contacted all of my local news stations (haven't heard back from any of them yet though). NOTHING is working to erase this bogus collection. My credit score was perfect before this! It is infuriating! What are we supposed to do?

Just like Ikki, I was sent a letter from AFNI (very first letter from them btw, and it was sent AFTER my complaint to the BBB which they have STILL not responded to) they asked me for my personal info! I don't think so buddy! Why isn't there some class-action suit against this fraudulent company? I too am a homeowner and we'd like to refinance soon; now I can't because of this.

Isn't there ANYONE who can help us with this?

I recently reveived a bill from Afni for $82.76 for a disconnected phone number. The funny thing is the phone is not disconnected and I am current on my bill. When I called Verizon they could not tell me anything except that it was an old bill. I said if my account is current then how could I have an old bill. This makes no sense. I am writing to the BBB, FTC, my local government officials and anyone else I can think of.

Get this... I left an abusive marriage over a decade ago and moved out of state. When I left, I shut off ALL services including the land line phone service. Yes, that means I disconnected the service completely. I had paid the balance due on all of my utilities including the phone company. Apparently, my ex husband must have had the phone company turn the service back on when he returned and racked up an over $200 bill.

Fast forward to today... I get a collection bill from Afni, Inc. wanting me to pay this bill from over a decade ago that I didn't even know was in existence. I called the company and the woman I spoke to was very condescending and treated me like a CRIMINAL before I could get a word in. The conversation went downhill from there and the woman hung up on me. I called back, talked to a man who was a shade nicer but said that because I was still married and my ex turned the phone back on I was still liable for the bill. When I asked what the statute of limitations was, he said there was no statute of limitations then my present hubby looked it up and found that the statute of limitations on this bill would have been 2 to 4 years.

Verizon has gone nuts! I have a Verizon CELL phone and I'm going to shut it off. I'll GLADLY pay the termination fee for shutting service off before the end of the contract. I'll NEVER, EVER do business with Verizon again in my life!

I'M ALSO NOT PAYING THIS BILL! GR!

Is there a class action lawsuit going on or know of people starting one up? I'll certainly get in on it. Email me.

Qwkfingers.

Does anyone know exact date no guessing when GTE became Verizon ? How long GTE was GTE ?

While I agree with people on here if it is a fraudulent account, PEOPLE WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE! You have to PROOF it's fraud. If we could all say "such and such bill is fraud" then we wouldn't owe any bills! You have to PROOF that YOU weren't living at the service address during the dates of services.

AFNI is a collection agency. They are NOT require to provide an itemized statement & they can't PROVIDE IT if THEY ARE NOT GIVEN IT! Duh! So they send you a "validation of debt" letter stating you owe the money. Now, NO I DO NOT WORK FOR THEM. So DON'T GET ANY IDEAS :P.

I do agree with many of you, it is UP TO US TO CHANGE THE LAWS. I DO NOT AGREE that companies should be able to sell old accounts to collections agencies such as AFNI. But to call AFNI a scam? Come on! They are a collection agency! And they are there to collect a debt. If people want to be BABIES and NOT FILE CLAIMS STATING IT IS NOT THEIR ACCOUNT then DON'T. IT WILL GO ON YOUR CREDIT REPORT!

But getting back to you Tracey, you need to provide PROOF to AFNI. Get a copy of your lease agreement, if your landlord has any old copies of utility bills get copies of those. Make sure they are around the time frame of telephone service. Send all that to AFNI then it will show that you didn't establish telephone service at that place. Provide them proof of copies of your residency if you were living somewhere else at the time with copies of bills that show a different address.

Pablo

I am only 32 years young and received something from Afni claiming I owe a bill for $642 from when I was 18 years old. I have a credit score of 770. I'm not one to not pay my bills. I asked them to see the bill since I have no recollection of such an outstanding bill and they told me the bill they sent me is the bill. I said NOOOOOO... i want to see the usage otherwise how do I know this isnt a mistake? Very rude customer service people who didn't want to hear anything. I have a verizon land line and cell phone in my name and called Verizon and they said they "SOLD" afni the past due accounts from Bell Atlantic. I'm sure you all remember Bell Atlantic it went out of business in like 1995. I believe this is some kind of scam and since I have such good credit I'm extremely nervous about not paying. Any ideas? HELP! IRS only requires you to retain information for 7 years. This is going on 14 years! How could I ever prove that I paid something that I'm not even sure I owe this money? Come on I was 18. I paid the bill and threw it out.

I just received a fraudlent claim from Afni, Inc.

In doing a research, I transferred from US NAVAL WEAPONS STATION SEAL BEACH, CA in September of 1994.

At that time the area code was 310, in 1997 the area code was changed to 562.

I know I paid my bill because the Commanding Officer will not allow a transfer go through with any services not paid by the United States Navy.

AFNI refuses to provide proof it is mine. So, I got the Michigan attorney general involved. AFNI finally provided a bill long past the statute of limitations. Oh, but not to me, that would have been to easy, to the AG. The AG is nice and following up but it has been 5 months since the first complaint and 2 months since the second follow up. I get the feeling there is more important stuff to do while in office like text messaging interns. He is due to respond any month now. {sarcasm} If I wasn't so interested in the class action status and shutting AFNI and Verizons practices down, I would drag the punks through the county court. They already have a removal date showing on my reports and it might just fall off before they do a damn thing.

OMG!Im GOING THROUGH THE SAMETHING...just found out today that I owe a 500 bill and I have never had a cell phone with verizon . they are saying it was from 4 years ago. my question was why didnt anyone contact via snail mail or any other way? Usually when things go to collections you get a letter in the mail from ACS. I also looked at my credit report and there is nothing on there saying anything about a debt that wasnt paid and went into collections! PISSSSSSSSSSED OFFFFF!