AFNI FRAUD HOW TO DEAL WITH THEM

ComplaintsCollection AgenciesAfni, Inc.

Complaint

0
mason
Country: United States
I got a letter JUne 22nd 2007, from AFNI COLLECTIONS stating I owed Versizon New York Inc. $212. I've NEVER even had an account with verizon!!!  WHen I called Verizon they had no record of me under my name or social security number-NONE! Luckily for me I did not have a  problem finding how to defend myself against these scumbags as they have done this to numerous others. You can find complaints on them from the following websites

http://www.Complaintsboard.com/

complaintwire.org

ripoffreport.com

http://public.findlaw.com

THIS IS HOW YOU HANDLE THEM
Be aware of the following.  DO NOT CALL THEM !!!! They will track your phone number and harass you. Those that have called confirmed that they send a Fraud / Dispute Resolution package when you call to complain. The package arrives in about two weeks later.

IN this package AFNI requests you to include: a copy of my driver license, a copy of my Social Security Card and/or proof of citizenship (copy of birth certificate or naturalization papers), proof of residence at the time the account was established utility bill, bank statement, tax document or the like, a copy of police report or ID theft affidavit, and any other documentation that might assist AFNI investigate the claim.

They use this as a fishing expedition to gather more information on you. DO NOT CALL DO NOT SEND THEM INFORMATION!! Correspond with them via USPS ONLY and keep a record of it Return receipt requests /certified mail(which is further explain below, the instructions and form letter are below too). USPS is better because AFNI is too afraid to face federal charges for mail fraud. Please click on the links below for further information.

You can also call the credit report companies (transunion, experian and equifax) to get a free credit report and take steps to protect your credit.

I suggest reporting them to DCA (department of consumer affairs) IN YOUR STATE, State Attorney general, FTC (Federal trades commission) Dateline NBC and post this information anywhere you can to stop them.

Dont be surprised if they send a similar notice to someone in your home as well!

The information below was provided by yet another victim- I found it to be useful. GOODLUCK!





Registrant: Make this info private
Afni
404 Brock Drive
Bloomington, IL 61701
US

Domain Name: AFNICOLLECTIONS.COM

Administrative Contact :
Angelo, Alan
alanangelo@afninet.com
404 Brock Drive
Bloomington, IL 61701
US
Phone: 309-820-2918

Technical Contact :
Network Solutions, LLC.
customerservice@networksolutions.com
13861 Sunrise Valley Drive
Herndon, VA 20171
US
Phone: 1-888-642-9675
Fax: 571-434-4620

Record expires on 28-Feb-2012
Record created on 28-Feb-2002
Database last updated on 22-Jun-2006


I took a look online and found an excellent website that details how to query this. Here is the link to the form letter that you need to send Afni Inc. Once they receive this they will most likely lose interest or sell the collection on to another agency. If they break the rules you can report them to your state Attorney General, FTC and the Better Business Bureau and use the fact in small claims court :-

http://fair-debt-collection.com/Disputing_Col ... ute-letter.html


Here is the link for the procedure you need to follow to ensure you have documented proof that you have mailed the dispute letter :-

http://www.fair-debt-collection.com/Disputing ... structions.html

Here is an exert from the Form Letter :-

==========================================
Be advised that I am fully aware of my rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act. For instance, I know that:

· because I have disputed this debt in writing within 30 days of receipt of your dunning notice, you must obtain verification of the debt or a copy of the judgment against me and mail these items to me at your expense;

· you cannot add interest or fees except those allowed by the original contract or state law.

· you do not have to respond to this dispute but if you do, any attempt to collect this debt without validating it, violates the FDCPA;

Also be advised that I am keeping very accurate records of all correspondence from you and your company including recording all phone calls and I will not hesitate to report violations of the law to my State Attorney General, the Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business Bureau.



I have disputed this debt; therefore, until validated you know your information concerning this debt is inaccurate. Thus, if you have already reported this debt to any credit-reporting agency (CRA) or Credit Bureau (CB) then, you must immediately inform them of my dispute with this debt. Reporting information that you know to be inaccurate or failing to report information correctly violates the Fair Credit Reporting Act § 1681s-2. Should you pursue a judgment without validating this debt, I will inform the judge and request the case be dismissed based on your failure to comply with the FDCPA.



KNowledge is power- dont take any wooden nickels!!!

Comments

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  • 0
    Lisa Lavin
    This SCAM COMPANY wants me to pay close to $ 7,000 for an Cell Phone Bill after the phone was stole 9 yrs ago and I did  CELL CO< to report phone stolen.
    They accused us ( My Mother and I ) of being liars.
    I have not had this phone for 9 YES 9 YEARS , but they are threatening to take me to court and ruin my credit
  • 0
    lb
    | 1 reply
    Afni has been calling and sending collection notices to my daughter stating they are working for State Farm insurance company and trying to collect for damages for a car accident she was involved in.  Very difficult to get them to prove the debt is valid, numerous phone calls later we are still not sure she really owes any money.  I seem to think that if she owed money to State Farm they would have contacted her directly.  I have talked with several State Farm agents and they all say the same thing, that State Farm does not use collection agencies to collect money from consumers.  So beware anyone who gets phone calls and letters from Afni saying they owe money for an accident they were in, I believe they are somehow obtaining public records and using these to scare people into paying money they don't owe.  They threatened my daughter with taking away her license, registration, and suing her.  Someone needs to stop these people.
    • 0
      Mr. B. replies to lb
      If they can’t or won’t verify the validity of the account in question, that is their problem, not yours, and a clear indication of a bluff. Think about it, since the legal burden of proof is ALLWAYS on the creditor, if they had any kind of proof of a valid case, why on earth would they hesitate for a moment to provide it?  These clowns are nothing but a scam, Check the FTC website and your own state agencies for help in getting them to back off.
  • 0
    RO
    Afni has not limited themselves to phone services, they now want to collect $1000 + debts for accidents that did not happen. They claimed I loan my car to someone who got into a car accident and they have done all the bully tactics on me. Funny thing is I was out of state with my truck at that moment... But now I am going to have to deal with harassment and take preventive actions to protect my credit....
  • 0
    Maureen
    We just got a letter in the mail stating we owed $852 for a State Farm insurance claim from the owner of the house next door. He did file a claim with his insurance, but it was thrown out because he was proven to be the one in the wrong. He tried to say the leak in his family room was caused by our roof. Our homes are connected by the garage and we were not at fault, he was. he even left a message on our voicemail saying it was his roof! Mind you all this just happened in April of this year! 3 months ago! These people never even called us, we never got a bill from anyone else and according to our insurance it was handled. His name was even on the letter. My husband is calling our insurance and contacting all of the agencies listed above. we will also get a letter sent to them from our lawyer. What I don't get is how they can sell our info to a collection agency if we are not in default for anything? I don't want our credit ruined by these people. We are trying to move.
  • 0
    Maureen
    And how did they even get hold of any of this information about us and this claim??? This is really scary.
  • 0
    cheme
    Today I receieved a phone call from a frantic woman about 30 miles from my home yelling at me that I need to pay my phone bill. I have an at&t account with 5 lines that was paid two days prior. I have a credit score of over 750 and have NEVER paid anything late, usually I am about a month ahead of all my bills and have no debt. This woman claims that she receieved a collections letter with her name, her address and her last four of her social. The bill was for $1800 and was claiming collections for a bill that was not paid for the last two years! She also said that she has never had a cell phone in her life and did in fact have an at&t home phone. Although it seems that she is the one who is being screwed, how could my information be out there like that? She read off all numbers on my account. Does this mean that someone in fact does have my information?? Well, another twist, I have paperless billing, so the explanation of an accidental mail delivery gone wrong no longer makes sense. When I called at&t they assured me that my information was secure blah blah.. they also told me that the number the woman called me from was not a land line but a sprint nextel cell phone. Who is really being screwed here?!?!
  • 0
    matt
    Centurylink as do most companies have arbitration.  Just google centurylink arbitration aaa.  File arbitration and AFNI will either remove the tradeline or pay you a large check.  They almost always violate the FCRA and FCDPA.
  • 0
    Mr. B
    These Hitler Youth punks are one of the most disreputable vomit stains to soil the world of finance since we stopped trading with rocks.  Not only are they one of the worst FDCPA violators on record, but most ethical creditors wont even consider hiring them due to their terrible track record with customer service.  Anything positive about them on these sites was put there by their own employees  But the up side is, since they can’t attract much “good” business, they deal mostly in expired, bogus or otherwise legally uncollcetable “junk debt” accounts which they buy for pennies on the dollar.  They can only lie and make empty threats when it comes to collecting on such time-barred accounts, for which they hire from the bottom-of-the-barrel.  Laugh at their sorry tactics and hang up on the bottom-feeders, or better yet, send them a D.V. letter and file complaints with the relevant government agencies.  They already have such a hideous record with the FTC and other authorities; they won’t dare violate it for fear of being sued yet again.  Also, the Licensing departments in many states have special collection agency boards, whose sole reason in life is come down hard on collectors who ignore the rules.  This is how we addressed their illegal harrassment calls for someone who never lived at our number and we never heard from them again.
  • 0
    Alex Jameson
    I just received a letter billing me for $17,000 for an accident from last year. I know the person I collided with so I contacted him and he said he had no idea what it was about. It had his name on it and a claim number case number and everything. It had my name but it was misspelled. I called the number on the letter and some woman with broken English and when we got off the phone I was still left with no answers and she said my license can be suspended. I have no idea what to do or where to go for help. $17,000? For a car that didn't even cost that much and mind you he said he doesn't even know what the letter is about either so we both are lost.
  • 0
    Megan
    Is it too late to do this?
    A few months ago I received a letter saying I owed DirecTV $500. Because I didn't owe DirecTV $500 I ignored it. After checking my credit today I found they've reported a collections on it.

    I'm not sure, but I think they also called my grandmother's house. I happened to be there at the time and with no real information about who or what they were, I refused to speak with the person on the phone. I wish I'd looked them up before.
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