Last discussed

1. (0 minutes ago)
sales@researchanyone.com
fraud

2. (1 minutes ago)
UK GSM Win
Fake message!

3. (4 minutes ago)
BulldogsRUs
Rip off

4. (6 minutes ago)
ResearchAnyone.com
The company takes your credit information and you will never get results. In fact ,you will never be registered as a member.

5. (6 minutes ago)
Verizon Wireless
Lying about termination fees

Consumer tips & tricks

The world’s best-kept retirement secret

How to Sell Old Cellphone

Avoid Telephone Bill Scams

Worst rating

1. CIC Triple Advantage (-558)

2. Castaway Pools and Spas (-347)

3. Afni Collections (-318)

4. 360 Share Pro (-310)

5. KmartFeedback.com (-300)

Subjects of wide speculation

1. Novelty ID Factory (1234)
Take your money and run away

2. KmartFeedback.com (821)
$2500 gift card survey!

3. Dr. Sydney Coleman (540)
Buyer beware!

4. CIC Triple Advantage (495)
Signed up for service I never received and did not want or need!

5. Castaway Pools and Spas (447)
Never came back to finish the job!

Stay away

1. Airtel (957)

2. CIC Triple Advantage (284)

3. Nokia (251)

4. Kmart (217)

5. Direct TV (208)

Afni Collections Complaints - These rip-offs must be punished for what they are doing!

Review all Afni Collections complaints

Afni Collections

Posted: 2007-01-10 by Vicki [send email]

These rip-offs must be punished for what they are doing!

Complaint Rating:

I received a collections notice from Afni, Inc., also Afni Collections stating that I owed Verizon Communications a bill for an outrageous amount of $637.25. I only owe Verizon for my current phone service.

Verizon stated that I only owe for my current bill. I have never at anytime ever owed Verizon this amount. If I ever did, I seriously doubt if I would have any type of phone service available to me today.

When I went to their website, it is a fake too! These ripoff con artists need to be stopped and prevented from pulling this with anyone else. Also from causing Verizon a needless bad reputation.

The phone number they are using on the bill they sent to me is not even my correct phone number. These rip-offs need stopped and punished for what they are doing and trying to do!

Comments

United States

Collections Agencies

Share with others:

More Afni Collections complaints

Afni Collections - Phony bill!

Afni Collections - Fraud and cheating!

Afni Collections - Fraudulent Billing

Afni Collections - recieved settlement offer re money owed to Verizon on account never owned and name not used in 2o years plus name is spelled incorrectly

Afni Collections - COMPLAINING ABOUT BILL THAT YOU DID NOT RUN UP THE BILL FILE INDENTITY THEFT INSTEAD OF BLAMING PEOPLE THAT ARE JUST DOING THERE JOBS

Afni Collections - Fraud

Afni Collections - Fraudulent billing!

Afni Collections - Something's fishy about Afni

Afni Collections - Afni Collections

Afni Collections - past due verizon phone bill

Comments

491 days ago by Dan Powell [send email]

You have to fight them! It's a pain but you can resolve it. They are just waiting for you to crumble. I finally got some resolution on this today. I had to go back and forth with the BBB complaint board because Afni would not ned me verification... same situation as everyone else. Afni claimed a debt over 10 years old, for a number that was not mine. Anyway, Afni mailed me "billing statements": a blank spreadsheet with their debt numbers on it. Amazing. Back to the BBB... Today I got a BBB notice from Afni saying how much they want to work with consumers and their concerns... HA... and they closed the account! Done Resolved!!! Of course I will be checking my credit report for postings. So fight it. I had to call in the big guns... but whatever works. Good Luck to everyone else in this horrible situation.

485 days ago by Louis C Cimorelli Jr [send email]

We too received a notice from Afni stating that we had a $533 phone bill from Verizon dated 4/4/97, at an address that we never lived at. We submitted a package to Verizon that it was a fraudulent account almost 10 years ago, and had this removed from a credit report in 2002! These thieves at Afni need to be stopped! Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Afni is violating several rules by attempting to collect on inaccurate, and old information.

483 days ago by Afni Employee [send email]

I happen to find these comments rather humorous, I am an employee with Afni, and have been for over 3 yrs and I know the trainers who train the employees for the collection department personally. I guarantee to anyone who has any type of doubts, that Afni collections is in fact a real company and a real debt collector. Afni was formally known as Anderson Financial Group which just recently celebrated our 70th anniversary. i would just like to notate a few remarks/responses to a few of the comments that were placed. --- REMARK #1 there were remarks about Afni trying to collect an 11yr debt, just an fyi; just because a debt is over 7 yrs old, it doesn't mean that its no longer your responsibility to pay it. Just because its been several years that you owed this company money, the debt just doesn't disappear with time. Actually, after 7 yrs a credit company is unable to garnish your wages and no longer shows on your credit report, but for those of you who feel that just because it doesn't show on your credit report any longer, that you no longer owe it, please look up the definition of a theif. PS- remark about Verizon being GTE, this is correct, if you owed GTE money several years ago, Verizon bought out GTE, so YES you would now owe THEM the money! --- REMARK #2 for the remarks where the consumer has tried to contact the old provider.. if you worked at a call center or a phone company before, you would be aware of this information: When your account is "written off", the current company would no longer have any data on your account. What actually happens is the company sells your debt, which means that YOU wouldn't owe THEM anything any longer. That's right, they got their money, because WE paid them for YOUR debt and YOU would now owe US the debt. You calling your old provider, especially if it was years ago, they wouldn't have anything on you because you no longer belong to them and they don't care if you pay or not because they got their money. ---let me add just one thing to remember before i end my novel... Afni, nor their employees are responsible for your debt, you writing all these remarks refusing to pay your bills and debts will not be hurting afni, you will only be hurting yourselves. why you ask... this is your credit, not ours... the way it works, if we don't collect on your debt, we'll just sell it to another company who will try. so in the end, we get our money... but does YOUR name clear?

483 days ago by Big T [send email]

Wow! I live in Tucson and once worked for afni. Surprise it is a real company and we do collect debts. I also used to receive customer service calls for other companies through afni. It is an outsourcer. Afni collects debts takes customer service calls for issues ranging from cell phone problems to dsl issues. They don't just collect debts. They are a real bonified company and they are not a scam artist. Your ignorance is astounding!!! I find it painful reading some of your posts due to the fact that this country has become so self indulged in catching scam artist that you boners don't realize the scam artist's here are you trying to skip on your debts. I must admit i am glad i do not work for that company anymore and it's not because it is a fake company or because they made me dig through your garbage for your name, address, phone number and last four of your social but because of people like you calling saying that we are scamming you out of your money. If you could manage your debt and bills better you would not have lost track of an account 15 years ago. You have to be some of the most dense people i know. I know if i had debts 8 yrs ago why don't you? Ignorance in this country is high and in this post even higher. Have a great day!

482 days ago by Courtney Colon [send email]

Let me start out by saying this, I received in the mail a collection letter from Afni the other day with my husbands name on it. I called the number that was provided on the letter to find out why an account from Verizon. first of all was in my husbands name since I have always had the phone bills in my name and second why he would even be in collections. I spoke with one of their representatives who tried to offer a deal and told him I don't think so, then after talking a little longer he offered me another deal, but stated this was coming from him and he could only keep this valid as long as I gave a commitment to him and paid before 1 p.m. the following day. After listening to him ramble on, I explained to him that I was very familiar with collection procedures, since my job is a Collection Manager for a company. I proceeded to tell him, 1st of all we never had this phone #, the telephone bill has never been under my husbands name and I think we would have noticed our phone being disconnected. I also stated to him, we were never notified by Verizon or any other collection agency, the statute of limitation has run out, this is not his and to stop contacting us.

Now, I would like to address the Afni employee and Big T. To the Afni employee, your second remark to all the postings was how "That's right, they got their money, because AFNI paid them for YOUR debt and the consumer now owes AFNI the debt". What you left out, is AFNI did not pay the full amount, this company along with many other's pay pennies on the dollar, so for instance if AFNI is saying you owe $300.00 on an old bill, most likely they paid about $10.00 , give or take a few dollars. Then they want to act like their doing the consumer a favor by giving you reduced offers, telling you they are only valid for a certain time (which is usually a day) but they need commitment from you. Now to me that sounds like a thief! Finally I will end this by addressing Big T, I believe in paying my debt as I am sure everyone else, but to say you are glad you no longer work there because people were calling and saying you were scamming them out of their money, I feel for you! Hello, I need a wake up call! I can't believe that would happen in a position like that. I mean having a job collecting money from people should be easy. I ask who's the ignorant one?

481 days ago by Afni Employee [send email]

So because a COLLECTION agency buys a DEBT that SOMEONE else owes at a reduced price, this should provide the ability for the consumer to get away with not paying their bills. So we can just tell everyone that paying your bills doesn’t matter, wait until a collection agency has to buy it because then you will only owe half or a quarter of it right because they didn’t pay full price for it, so why should we? Right? Because that’s what your saying.. because we bought it for $10.00, you should only owe $10.00 even though you skipped out on a bill of maybe $200.00 over 8 yrs ago. Again.. its theft.. Do you have children? Because this is why we have so many “cons” out there... We have people raising their children or showing their children that this is ok. Tell them-- if you owe a debt, just announce fraud and it will all wash away.

481 days ago by Big T [send email]

That's funny. your a collection agent and yet still so ignorant... If i miss the last 5 payments on my mortgage or car and it goes into foreclosure and they tell me for a percentage of what i owe i can clear my name am i being ripped off?? No i am getting a lower price on the same original debt just because it's a collection agency and not the original point of contact (verizon wireless) doesn't mean you don't owe the money. They offered to settle for half and you don't want to because your not paying what they paid??? That is the definition of ignorance. God bless America.

P.S. if this were india i would chop off your hands thief!

479 days ago by Megan S [send email]

I received a notice from Afni, Inc. on Monday stated that I owed them over $1000 for a Verizon Maryland, Inc. account. That's funny considering that I've never had an account with Verizon. I called and actually talked to a nice person who kept apologizing and telling me she understood (she must have been new). She looked up the account and gave me the address that it was associated with and I had never heard of it. She said that it was active between 2000-2001. That's also funny because at the time that this "account" was created I was a minor living at home with my parents! She said that I needed to provide documentation that I didn't live at that address at that time. I immediately called my dad and he told me to check my credit reports. I checked the TransUnion one and it was not on there. However, they had accessed my report without my knowledge. I was not able to get the Equifax report online. I hadn't written the original address associated with the account down so I called Afni back. This time I got a stubborn SOB who adamantly and rudely insisted that I SHOULD NOT send them a letter, I should go online and file a fraud report. I went online while still on the phone and did not want to go further since it required the last four digits of my SSN. I told him I would not be putting in my SSN and he said they already had it. I had him verify the number and he would only give me the last four (which is probably all they really have) and it was the same. I punched it in and was sent to a screen to start payment. There was no fraud department that was easily accessible online. I found several complaints about them by doing a simple google search for AFNI. I have since put a fraud alert on my credit reports, filed a report with the FTC and the BBB, and I filed a police report (however I filed the report at about 10pm and when I went to print it out the next morning it was already marked as an inactive case). I sent them a letter registered mail RRR demanding that they validate the debt and informing them of the steps I have already taken. I am getting ready to file complaints with the attorney generals in NC, MD, and IL if they respond unfavorably and I encourage everyone to do the same.

478 days ago by Catlady [send email]
To the Afni employees, The fact both of you have missed, and apparently your employer Afni also missed, is that some of these 'debt notices' people are receiving are for phone numbers or services these people have NEVER HAD! Some of us refuse to pay for a debt we NEVER incurred in the first place!

478 days ago by Big T [send email]

So call afni or verizon wireless and open up a fraud investigation instead of calling a real to life company a scammer. Your tainting the name of a perfectly legal outsourcer to make yourselves feel better. Why don't you open a fraud claim and stop posting this nonsense? I am no rocket scientist but i think that would be the first thing i would do. You all google to damn much. Actually just pay your debt and call it a day.

478 days ago by Courtney [send email]

I think you are correct, when a collection agency buys a debt that is owed by someone else at a reduced price, the consumer most definitely should not pay, if it is not their bill to begin with. Would you pay someone else's debt? To me, that is theft by deception. Take for instance the couple of people who wrote that these debts were supposed to be theirs, yet they were minors living at home. I guess when you had asked if I had children, because that is why we have so many cons out there, will we now be getting this collection letter in our children's name? As for the comment about missing 5 mortgage / car payments, now come on be serious, you would know that is your debt. Yet you call me ignorant for not wanting to pay a debt that is not ours in the first place. Then I'll be ignorant! But think about this, 10 years down the line when you get a collection letter for someone else's debt, will you fight it? That was an ignorant question, judging by what you are saying I guess you will pay it. I'm sure you wouldn't do research on it or the company that is trying to collect debt that isn't your's. You'd might have to google it and be part of a complaint board. Last thing... Where did you get your collection tactics from? Another glimpse of my ignorance, but we go from being called names, to asking about children and chopping of hands. HMMMMM! Nice and professional to say the least.

477 days ago by Catlady [send email]

Big T - I don't know about everyone on this board, but myself personally, I followed the FTC rules for Fair Debt Collection Practices Act in resolving my issue with Afni. Several other people on this board also followed the FDCPA asking Afni to validate the debt, which they had a legal obligation to provide to the person. However if you will read through the responses here, Afni refused in most cases to validate the debts which is in violation of the FTC rules!

While Afni is a bona fide company, they aren't exactly forthcoming in their obligations to validate debts when asked, at least by the posters on this board which I'm sure is only a small percentage of people Afni deals with.

If you have an issue with the course of action people have taken within their rights then I'd suggest you take it up with the FTC, rather than a message board.

476 days ago by Big T [send email]

Having worked for afni a while back i know for a fact when we are collecting debts we have visuals of their (your debt). If you ask for proof i agree you should get it. I also know that us asking for the last four of your social isn't because we have the first 5 numbers and are jonesin for the last four to buy things on ebay. The last four of your social is to verify an account you are all to damn critical. Second of all if they are not your debts don't pay but don't waste your time posting and name calling when you have no idea what your talking about when it comes to certain companies. File a fraud complaint. Most of you are saying im just not going to pay like that makes you feel better. If i forget it and not pay it i think it will just go away. Think again like i said before afni doesn't care if you pay your debt they get paid either way. You should look out for yourselves and not get self indulged in being scammed. No one is out to get you here but yourselves if you ignore these situations. And yes i would chop off your hands

470 days ago by Mad As Hell [send email]
Does ANYONE have a solution to this scam? Please post... AFNI-Verizon scam how to get it off your credit report, who to contact to get real answers? Who to sue?

470 days ago by Karen P [send email]

OK here is an update on my situation with AFNI. I sent a letter to AFNI to dispute the validity of the collections. They finally responded stating that they "are unable to investigate at this time" and that I provided insufficient information to substantiate my claim!? WHAT!?

I again attempted to contact Verizon, they were already closed. I again, attempted to contact AFNI (866-857-7203), I actually spoke to a CSR named Carl, who was quite friendly. Anyway, he said that this debt was from an account possibly with GTE, who Verizon bought, from back in 1993. He pulled up some data base and gave an address associated with this phone bill, it was my husband's sister's address from back then. He said this account was closed in Feb. 1993. My husband never lived with his sister. He even gave me his sister's name!!!

He was wanting me to commit to payment now and then work it out with his sister later. I said I did not want to do that. He said we could settle for $100.00. Give me a break!!!

I spoke with my sister in law, and she never had that telephone number, not to mention, ever using my husband's info to open a phone bill. She stated that she would never even had terminated service at that time, she moved from that address in July of 1993.

This is getting more and more ridiculous.

469 days ago by Afni Employee [send email]

I really am not trying to be rude to any of you. i am telling you honestly that these are true debts. A lot of these debts are from years ago.... and i mean years. some as far as 20yrs old. A lot of customers don't remember "phone #'s" from that long ago, or state that they didn't have service with "that" company. but a lot of things change in 20yrs. like everyone is saying, verizon use to be gte. I guarantee if you work with these collectors they will ask you all the right questions and figure out, or should i say, jog your memory as to where these debts have come from. i honestly doubt that my company could stay open for 70 years if all they were getting was "false" debts or fraud accounts.

Important note to all of you. IF you know who the person is that took your name to open an account, i guarantee that this is NOT fraud. when someone has fraud committed against them, they file a police report and legally go after who ever did this to them. A lot of these debts are because of people allowing family members or friends to use there name and the bill never gets paid. --- so when you let your poor mother put her electricity in your name so she could walk through her house at night, but then she got behind on the bills and now you have a collection agency after YOU to pay, YOU now owe this, unless you want to file a police report on your own mother. -- legally you are held responsible, and you will be required to pay this bill.

Test me on that, i dare you. Also --- if you lived in the house that had the service or knew someone who lived in the house/address where this debt is showing to have come from... yep.. you owe that too. Please prove me wrong.

Karen -- by you stating that this is your husbands sister... this is your debt. i suggest you pay it and take your sister to small claims court. But thats just how it legally works.

469 days ago by Kevin K [send email]

Afni Employee- I can't believe how thick you are. You are responding to some of these comments, but it doesn't seem like you're absorbing the content. People are saying they don't owe the money that AFNI claims they owe. Can you grasp that? I don't care what documentation you've seen while working at AFNI. NO ONE on here that I've read is complaining that they don't want to pay our bills. In fact, the reason people are so angered on here is that we *do* have a history of paying ALL of our bills.

Your bottomfeeding employer sent a collection letter to my wife, who has perfect credit, asking for $291 from a Verizon bill that SHE DOES NOT OWE. And now it is on us to dispute it? You keep saying 'god bless America', but it seems to everyone but you and the people that sign your paycheck that AFNI is the one that is taking liberties with the law. Here is something that someone better versed with the law than I posted on another board:

"Afni is a company which tends to flaunt the law. There have been 27 federal law suits filed against them in just the past 13 months, 26 of those suits for violations of the Fair Debt Collections Act, and one filed by the U.S. Attorney General for a garnishment ( I have not read the case so I don't know the particulars.) That is just the past 13 months. We can assume that close to the same number were filed in 2005 and may have been settled or are still pending. Those are just the Federal Court cases. I don't have a count on all the local State Court law suits that might be pending against them around the country for violation of local laws."

Do still think AFNI is a fair and benevolent company, or are all of these lawsuits frivolous? I can't find an exact reference now, but I also recall reading that the name of your company was changed from Anderson Financial to AFNI because Anderson was sued into oblivion as an entity. I'll try to find more info on that.

But to dispute the overall inanity of your posts- the point people are making is that AFNI is making claims for debts that are erroneous at best, and illegal at worst. They are fishing for payments from people that are too stupid to question a letter than they got in the mail. And you have personally earned money from these immoral (and arguably illegal) practices.

I have a hunch that you *know* that all that I and other people are saying on here is true, but are turning a blind eye to the facts so you can sleep at night. You are the one that is ignorant.

468 days ago by Not Another Sucker [send email]

More than 45 days after I had sent my certified letter requesting verification of this debt or for the collection efforts from AFNI to cease, I finally received a response from AFNI. They simply stated: This letter is to inform you that in accordance with 15 USC 1692c(c) we are acknowledging your request to cease communication with you regarding this debt.

I find it fascinating they neither bothered to provide any documentation regarding the debt nor agreed to cease collection efforts. At most, they are acknowledging my letter; however, due to the return-receipt AFNI signed at time of USPS delivery, I already know they received my letter.

465 days ago by Frank Dugger [send email]

Accountability of Afni

I received a credit report with a Collection History for AFNI collections regarding a fraudulent Spring Cellular bill. After reading the postings on this site, it appears that AFNI specializes in fraudulent charges, and attempted collections, for cellular phone companies. I was under the impression that the United States Government has Credit Protection Laws to prevent things like this from happening. However, I do not hold the Credit Agencies unaccountable for these actions either. They should be aware of this particular company, and others like it, and prohibit them from making reports on any citizens given their reputation for fraudulent charges and reporting. If you feel the same, and are a victim of fraudulent credit reporting practices by this company, then reply to this posting and let's consolidate our voices to end their unethical practices. And in case you are wondering, I am not an attorney or have any affiliation with any law offices. I'm just a concerned citizen and am tired of companies destroying peoples' credit with impunity. Pass this on...

464 days ago by R U Kiddin [send email]

Until today, I'd never heard of Afni, but this is the second site, in my Google search, that is filled with complaints about the company. Given the number of complaints, it sounds like it's time to contact Attorney Generals' offices, write to Senators, contact the FTC, and FCC if phones are involved, contact the US Postal Service and have an investigation started on possible mail fraud, the Secretary of State offices in states where this company operates because that's usually the entity that issues state business operating licenses, and put fraud alerts on credit reports. I also learned through this search that there are statutory limitations on debts.

Another thing to consider is the rash of ID theft and data base breaches which have occurred in the last year. Tens of millions of peoples' personal ID info have been hacked or stolen. In addition, recent crackdowns on illegal aliens have yielded thousands of cases of stolen ID - that's just the ones who have been caught. There was one case where some citizen's ID was stolen and used by over 200 illegals.

Time to alert all agencies that might have jurisdiction over these cases. Afni may be tied in somewhere to all of this - tip of the iceberg thing, maybe.

The credit bureau I talked to today stated that, if some creditor can't come up with proper documentation in 30 days on what it submits is a legitimate debt, the credit bureaus are supposed to take that info out of your credit report by law.

Hopefully, some of this info will help some of the posters fix the problems.