Complaint

0
Monica
Country: United States
I am very allarmed by how many people are being scammed by this company.  I received a bill from Afni Inc. Aug. 13 telling me I owe $1301.26 for a phone # I never had. The previous creditor was listed as Verizon.  When I called Afni I was informed the bill was dated from July to November 1996 at an address I did not live at that year.  I moved away in 1992.  Ask Asa did a column in the New York Daily News this week about another individual with the same problem.  His article was very educational.  Firstly the satute of limitations in New York is six years.  If you have not been contacted about this debt within 6 years in NY you are protected.  Check out the statute in your state.  Secondly you have the right to request proof of the debt before paying.  I sent my letter denying the validity of the debt and requesting proof certified/return receipt requested.  I also sent a complaint to the NY state attorney general.  I checked my credit and so far its clear.  I'm not sure if I should draw their attention to this matter yet.  If you live in New York and you would like to contact Asa AArons of the Daily News to tell your story his email is: AskAsa@gmail.com.  Maybe if he receives a large response to his column He will cover the story on his consumer reporter segment which airs on channel 4 in the NYC area at 5:30.  Maybe then Verizon will be forced to reign in Afni Inc.  Loyal Verizon customers who have always paid their bill are being harassed by a collection agency hired by Verizon.  Even worse some victims of this scam were never Verizon customers.  Let's make some noise people.

Comments

  • 0
    tj
    Your best path is as you are already handling this:  Send dispute and validation request letter, certified return receipt requested, within 30 days of receipt of their letter, to block any collection activity until validation is provided, followed by regulatory complaints and possible legal action if they fail to comply with FDCPA.  Complaints to consumer reporters are also a good idea, as you have suggested.

    Just to get a clearer picture of AFNI's activities,

    Does it appear that in your case there is any likelyhood of an actual "id theft" account opened in your name, or does this look more like they "skip-traced" an old address of yours to possibly match the address on an alleged account, but got the time period grossly wrong?  

    Was the address at which you lived in 1992, and at which AFNI claims is on the "account" in 1996, an address at which family or aquaintances still lived in 1996, or did you move out in 1992, and an unknown number of later unknown tenants presumably occupied that address?  

    If the former, it still doesn't prove it was even "id theft", lacking any account information directly from Verizon confirming your identity on the account.

    If the latter, this would support the hypothesis that AFNI is sometimes ignoring names on accounts, and billing based on sloppy address matches only.

    Did AFNI claim to have your SSN or DOB?  Did they claim that because they had it, this must be your account?

    Did they pull any of your credit reports, which would get them access to your identity information?


    What we are looking for is evidence that AFNI is "skip-tracing" accounts and attaching other people's names and identity information onto accounts that did not originally have that information on it, using only the pretext that other consumers once lived at the account address.  

    Pulling credit reports to collect on a debt when the person whose report is pulled is NOT on the account would not be a "permissible purpose" under FCRA.  Obtaining name, SSN, and DOB information (possibly simply off of credit reports, or thru skip-tracing databases) and using it to deceive people with no connection to a debt that they owe it and must pay it would at a minimum be deceptive collection under FDCPA, and possibly criminal "id theft".

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