This company sent me a bill claiming I owed $128.37 for a Quest bill made in 2002. I immediately called them to request more information because I have never had a Quest account. They gave me an address and I told them I had never lived at that address. They said that is not the service address, it is my last known billing address. I told them I have never lived at the "last known billing address" they gave me. I then asked if I could call Quest to find out more informaiton and they said that Quest would not give me the information because they had purchased the debt from them. I asked them for the address of service and they said they did not have that information. They said if I disputed the bill to go online and submit they dispute. I went online and put in my Afni account number. I t would not bring up my account because they did not have the last four digits of my social security number correct. I called them and told them they had the wrong person because they did not have my real social security number. They asked my what the last four digits were and I gave them fake numbers to see what would happen. They miraculously informed my that they had transposed some numbers and it was right now. This company needs to be shut down! I am going to send them disput letter and am notifying the FTC. These scammers need to be stopped.

I received a collection notice from this company regarding a cell phone I had with Cingular over 5 years ago! Let alone Cingular is now non-existent, and is now AT&T, but the amount was so ridiculous, $151.43 past due, seriously! A small amount like that would have been taken care of long before they let me cancel the contract! I knew something was wrong with this, but first just thought it was a mistake. I sent a dispute in writing and never heard back from Afni, so I went to there website and realized what a fake they are! I googled Afni and found other complaints against them, so I am adding to the complaint list. I can't believe they are getting away with this!

I have read many of the complaints on this board related to Afni, and they all resemble my experience. I successfully disputed the collections letter Afni sent me, and I encourage anyone who is debating how to respond to a letter from Afni to follow the aproach I took. Furthermore, we should all band together to fight back against this fraudulent company by reporting their activities to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection exists to investigate fraud and protect us consumers from companies like Afni. Here is how I refuted the claim Afni sent me:

1. Read your letter. If it is the same as mine, it will give you a deadline to respond in writing to dispute the claim. You must respond by this deadline - the sooner the better.

2. Gather information. In my case, my wife and I have obtained two mortgages since the supposed outstanding balance existed. Nowhere in any of our credit checks or other paperwork did an outstanding balance with Verizon (where Afni claimed the balance existed) appear on our reports. I documented each of these credit checks, as well as ones I did when I bought my car and applied for credit for other things. This outstanding account did not appear on ANY of those credit reports.

3. Draft your letter. Be sure your letter is written without grammatical and spelling errors to demonstrate that you are serious and prepared to follow up on your letter with real action. In my letter to Afni, I cited all of the credit reports I pulled together as stated in #2, and I closed the letter by stating my expectation of a response in my favor within 30 days. I went on to say that Afni's failure to respond in that timeframe would result in my reporting Afni to the FTC. To show I was serious, I attached a copy of the FTC's consumer complaint form, which can be downloaded and printed from the FTC website (www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov).

4. Follow up with FTC. Afni responded to my letter within my deadline with a letter that stated they conducted an investigation on my account and as a result of the investigation, closed my account. They stated that Afni would take no further collection action at this time, and that credit reporting agencies would remove the account from my credit report (which is bogus, because as stated above, this never showed up on my credit reports).

Regardless of whether or not Afni responds in your favor, you should report them to the FTC. Companies like Afni prey on masses of people who are easily backed down when faced with threats against their credit, regardless of how dubious. Those of us who care about helping our fellow citizens fight back against predator companies like this need to band together and ask our government to work for us.

Good luck.

Recieved settlement offer for a 10 year old phone bill with unknown number and area out of the blue. They say I owe $171 and will take $85.50 and be settled in full. It's in my maiden name and I have no record of living anywhere with that number. upon looking at all the thousands of complaints towards the company, and also have the same issue with the national home gardening club, RMCB is their collector and they state I owe them $226. I am finally begining to get the idea this new scam will worsen with the public in the next few years, if not legally dealt with. It's too time consuming and frustrating and that's why they get away with it. Some people just give in and pay to shut them up. I don't owe them and I don't have money to pursue a legal case! This has already taken to much of my time today!

I have received a "second attempt" (never received a first attempt) to collect on a debt originally from Verizon from this AFNI, Inc. They are offering me a settlement offer of half the amount due if I pay now. I do not owe the bill and will be contacting my attorney!