Complaint Rating:

I received one of these letters like everyone else is describing: $573 for a Verizon account I've never heard of, for an area code where I've never lived. I was suspicious immediately because it had not appeared on my credit report when I had recently bought a house, the notice was mailed to my new address (which was less than 6 weeks old), and I had never received a bill or overdue notice from Verizon directly.

Anyway, after reading similar posts on this and other web sites, I contacted the local police in Bloomington, IL, where AFNI is located. I attempted to file a fraud report with them, and YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS...

David White, who works in the police department's public affairs office, did not take the complaint. Instead he told me that he was a personal friend of the manager at AFNI, whose name is Jeff Shepherd. He said he'd simply forward my complaint on to Jeff.

So for those of you who actually want a real live person to pester over this thing, I suggest you ask for Jeff Shepherd at AFNI directly. And if you get no relief there, give a call to his buddy David White at the police department. Maybe if David gets enough complaints about his buddy, he'll feel compelled to do more than "forward the message." His number at the police department is (309) 434-2355.