Scam or not?

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  tj

  6 Jul 2007

  If you review the many consumer complaints on AFNI available on the Internet, including those on ripoffreport.com, complaintsboard.com, and budhibbs.com, what becomes clear is that:
  
  1)  Most consumers are complaining that they have been sent a collection letter for an account that is not theirs, that they do not owe.  Some report they have received a collection letter on accounts that were already paid, or for disputed amounts that the original creditor agreed to reverse, and some have reported that they have even verified with the original creditor that the disputed amount was in fact reversed and that no amount is due.
  
  2)  The rate of complaints against AFNI, as seen on complaint sites, including BBB.ORG, has shot way up since the beginning of 2007.  Complaint levels on several different sites have increased by hundreds since the beginning of 2007.  Several TV stations have recently done stories on problems with AFNI.  Despite the numerous recent complaints, however, AFNI's collection tactics have not changed in response to the many consumer complaints that they are attempting to collect on accounts that are not owed.  They have, however, joined BBB, who somehow rates them "satisfactory" despite the large increase in BBB complaints.
  
  3)  Most of these alleged accounts are old, many over 10 years old, not legally reportable under FCRA, and most state SOLs have expired.  Many are alleged Verizon accounts, or other old telecom accounts.  There are still reports that AFNI collection agents have claimed that consumers' credit will be damaged if they do not pay.
  
  4)  When they dispute it as "not theirs", demanding validation, AFNI seldom sends any "validation" actually obtained from the original creditor, if it sends anything at all, yet still attempts to collect.  Many consumers report receiving a letter claiming they cannot validate, while still demanding identity documentation and police reports substantiating "identity theft" on an alleged account that AFNI has provided no proof or documentation of.
  
  5)  AFNI collection agents generally attempt to divert consumer disputes to their website, avoiding provable delivery by certified mail of validation requests in accordance with FDCPA.  Some consumers report that their website only provides options to pay, or requires disclosure of private identity information before even allowing disputing the debt.  FDCPA places no such requirement on disputing or requesting validation of debts.
  
  6)  Many consumer complaints regarding "accounts" they do not owe strangely include that some of the AFNI information is partly "correct".  For example, part of the alleged account name may be correct, slightly erroneous (spelling, or first or middle name), or using a name such as a maiden name that they had once used but did not use at the time AFNI claims the alleged account was opened.  Others report that the account address matches a past address, or maybe just a city they lived in, but not during the period they lived there, or the alleged phone number is not any phone number they had.  Several report "accounts" allegedly opened when they were minors and had had no phone in their name.
  
  7)  Many report that AFNI has their correct SSN and DOB, even when other account information does not match, and even when Verizon or other original creditors report no accounts or no delinquent accounts under their name or SSN.  In some cases, consumers report that AFNI alleges the account is owed by them but with a  mish-mash of their identity, mixed with the identities of another relative.  AFNI has claimed in such cases that this is "identity theft", and demanded that the consumer either pay or file a complaint against a relative, even though AFNI still fails to provide validation, yet a number of consumers report that they do not believe this claim is credible.
  
  
  In short, the overall picture presented is of attempts to collect thru blind matching of names, or even only addresses, in an attempt to collect from anyone who might owe, or be convinced to pay, old "accounts" that may or may not even be owed.  This results in many consumers having to deal with bogus collection claims on accounts they have no clue about.  In addition, AFNI appears to have access to SSN and DOB information on whoever they send collection letters to, from sources separate from account information received from original creditors (perhaps credit reports or other databases), and they use that information to "substantiate" their collection claims.

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