I received a similar letter from Afni claiming I owed money for a Verizon account. I spoke with a representative from the Verizon collections department, and she told me that Verizon is aware that Afni has sent out many of these letters "in error"!
Even though the collection notices are fraudulent, you still have to DISPUTE THEM IN WRITING. You should send your written dispute by certified mail with return receipt requested. This will cost about $4 and it's ridiculous that we have to go through this crap, but it's necessary to protect ourselves since it's evident that Afni Collections is just a scummy thieving operation.
It is also important that we all FILE CONSUMER COMPLAINTS against Afni Collections with the FTC. You can call the FTC at 877-FTC-HELP and follow the prompts until you reach a live person. And/or go to their website at www.ftc. Gov and select "For Consumers" from the menu on the right side, then select "File a Complaint" toward the bottom of the next page. Here is the complaint that I submitted today:
"I received a collection notice from Afni Collections dated January 16 claiming a balance due of $200.39 on a Verizon telephone account. I subsequently spoke with two representatives from the Verizon billing and collections department, and they informed me that Verizon has no record of any balance due on this account. Furthermore, they mentioned that Verizon is aware that many erroneous collection notices have been sent out by Afni Collections, including for phone numbers in states in which customers have never even lived. I have made several attempts to contact Afni Collections by phone, but their phone numbers provide only an automated response stating that they are unable to take calls. I will, of course, dispute this collection attempt in writing by certified mail, but I want to make the FTC aware of Afni Collections' unlawful activities, especially since this problem appears to be fairly widespread. Please see the following website for complaints posted by some of the other people who have received similar fraudulent collection notices from Afni Collections. Thank you for your efforts to protect consumers from these predators."
Good luck to everyone affected by this! If you have any updates to the situation, please post to keep everyone else informed. Thanks.
Michelle, California
U.S.A.
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