Well I am glad to hear I am not the only one dealing with this. I also received a collection letter for a Verizon bill that was never mine. I tried calling too and couldn't get through on the number listed in the letter so I went to the website. I did the big NO-NO and typed in the last 4 of my SSN. The system could not find my account. Hmmm.
So I called up Verizon to see what was going on. The CSR I spoke with was surprised at my situation and even checked on the phone number that she said was not registered in my name. She didn't know what to do so I had her transfer me to the collections dept. The collections dept was no help and told me that I would need to contact Afni because they now "own" the account because they purchased it.
I argued with her about it not being my debt and that I was being wrongly targeted. She said I had to call them there was nothing they could do. I told her there was no way of getting through to them on the phone number they gave in the letter or online. So she gave me a different phone number. 1-866-352-0471...
I was able to get through to someone after sitting on hold for 10 minutes. I explained my situation and the gentleman, Tyler, said that he understood my frustration, GAG ME! A total pat, canned answer. He said that he had my MARRIED name (at the time of the debt I was only 16 and single) with my correct birthdate and so I only had TWO choices.
I had to file a fraud report or pay the debt. He kept pushing for me to set up payments and I kept arguing with him that it was not my debt to pay. Again the pat answer... Needless to say he told me that I need to file a police report, send proof of residency at the time of the debt, and a copy of my current driver's license... Oh by the way it was 9 years ago... That would mean I was 16 years old and getting a phone line in a city I did not live in... EVER!
After reading all the other postings I plan on mailing a certified letter demanding proof that I owe this debt. I probably will file the police report but I don't think I will send a copy of my DL... Why they would need that does not makes sense to me. I also plan on writing to Verizon about this. They should know that associating themselves with a company that is falsely accusing people does not look well for their company either.
If anybody wants these numbers here you go... I also got a second one from Tyler (the lovely collection rep) for me to be able to contact back to... Here you all go.
1-866-352-0471 this is the one Verizon gave me.
1-866-857-7209 this is the one Afni gave me over the phone
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