Complaint Review: Afni - Bloomington Illinois

My husband and I have been receiving these letters regularly. Each letter has a different account number and different amounts ranging from as low as $70 to as high as $900. They attempt to gain your personal information by coaxing you into calling them and then asking you for info. They even ask you to login to your account on their fake website and tell you to use the last 4 of your social security number. Come on, they don't have that info already! They just want you to GIVE it to them. If you are confused enough to write your credit card info on the back of the return stub along with the 3 digit code, I really have to feel sorry for you. Furthermore, it seems as if the "lawyers" that have posted should know better as well. Maybe they work for the scammers, who knows? If I'm wrong then I'm wrong, but it's smells extremely fishy. I've never had the account that they are insinuating I owe money for.

I, too, have just received a letter stating that I owe $216 from 14 years ago. I do not. I will email you with my email and give you any information you request if it will help.

Gary, Depending on what type of bankruptcy you filed and whether this debt was included or not; it is still possible that it could be added to that original bankruptcy. You should get in touch with the attorney you used for your bankruptcy and let them know of these attempts to collect on a discharged debt (if it was included). Then, the attorney can send a threatening letter to the collection agency demanding that the cease collections efforts or else you can sue them in bankruptcy court for violations of discharge. Good Luck!

I would like to join in if/when a class action suit is filed. I received a letter today from afni wanting to collect a debt they say I owe from GTE (now Verizon) phone service from March 1994 - April 1995 for $1054.53. I filed bankruptcy and judgement issued in Jan. 1996 discharging my debts. I explained this when I called, and was told to provide documentation and the matter would be looked in to further. I am trying to check in to the statute of limitations on debt collection in Illinois. From what I am finding, it seems to be 6 or 7 years at most. If anyone has any advice on this or knows the correct statute of limitations, please respond here. I will be sending afni a certified letter disputing the claim as well as asking for validation as well as the remainder of your advice, Dar.

Hi, I received a letter and my husband received one as well. We would gladly join in on any lawsuit as this is ridiculous. First of all I should not have to spend my time writing to them to prove the debt which we all know is bogus. However, in order to protect ourselves we now all have to go through the trouble to send them a certified letter. If we don't they win... Now tell me... How sneaky is that! AFNI does not have any claims to any money. We have never had a Verizon account at all in all of our life and Verizon's time in business. I can not tell you how mad I am at this. We have used another wireless company since wireless came out and in my business name. Yet, I have to waste my time to send THEM a certified letter. It is good advice not to ignore them. I am just mad as all heck that now I have to mess with these people. I will and I am telling you that I will carry this to the end if anyone else wants to. It's time we stand up and stop being ripped off by these idiots. Just think of all the seniors and other people out there that will just pay it! MAJOR RIP-OFF!

I have received approx. 50 replies as of this date. I am a sole practitioner and can not respond to each one individually, so here is the low down as of 1/23/07: I still have not decided if I want to go through the effort of a class action suit yet...will let all who reply if I do so. In the meantime: Do not deal with Afni over the telephone: BUT DO NOT IGNORE THE LETTER!!! Reply in writing within 30 days of the date of the letter letting them know you dispute the debt and asking them to valadate the debt and to cease collection actions including any calls. DO THIS CERTIFIED LETTER, RETURN RECEIPT. This will require them to prove they have a right to collect the debt, where they got the debt from, the details of the debt etc. Check with your individual state's statute of limitations on debt collection,...most likly the debt is beyond the statute and they will not be able to take you to court anyway, but they can still try to collection in other ways, unless you send them the letter disputing the debt AND telling them to cease collection actions as the debt is not yours and/or it is past the cut off date for the statute of limitations. YOU MUST DO THIS WITHIN 30 DAYS OF THE DATE OF THE LETTER!!! AGAIN DON'T JUST IGNORE THIS. ALSO NOTE: IF YOU MAKE ANY PAYMENT JUST TO GET OUT OF THIS YOU MAY, IN MOST STATES, START THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS ALL OVER AGAIN AND GIVE THEM AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE ABLE TO SUE YOU IN COURT AFTER ALL!!! It is most likly that AFNI bought a large list of stale debts and they are fishing for all people who have similar names or are hoping to get people who are unaware of their rights to just send them some money. It is usually allowable for them to seek payment on the stale debts they have purchased...even if they can't sue you in court due to your state's statute of limitations unless you dispute the debt them and demand they cease all actions in writing. At this time this is the best "general" suggestions I can give. Please bear in mind that the above suggestions are general suggestions, since I don't know each of your specific situtations and I would always suggest you contact a local attorney as well if you are unsure and that you also research your own local laws, state codes. etc. Another thing to consider is to file complaints with your state Attorey General AND the Attorney General of Illinois, who I noticed was currently assessing fines against another collection agency who had done similar actions...so they do apparently respond if they get enough complaints. Good luck and I'll let you know if we decide to go with a class action as well.

I tried to post this response before but for some reason it never showed up. Good for you! There was a class action suit filed recently in Wisconsin against AFNI; the only difference is that this time it involved Cingular accounts. Here it is: Seeger, et.al. v. AFNI, Inc., 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 55709. Here are the attorneys who are representing the Plaintiffs: John D Blythin , Robert K O'Reilly, and J Scott Schnurer of Ademi & O'Reilly LLP in Cudahy, WI. Here is their contact information: 3620 E. Layton Ave., Cudahy, WI 53110, (414) 482-8000. Maybe you would like to contact them about their plight against AFNI. The court not only gave this suit a class action status but it stated the following: "IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the following plaintiff class be and hereby is CERTIFIED: (a) All natural persons in the State of Wisconsin (b) who were sent a collection letter by AFNI claiming a collection fee (c) for Cingular telephone service or service of another cellular provider transferred to Cingular, (d) obtained for personal, family or household purposes, (e) which originally included a contract for a minimum term of service of one or more years, and "early cancellation fee" of any amount, (f) on or after July 7, 2004, (g) that was not returned by the postal service." I wish you good luck! I have been watching all of the victims of AFNI and Verizon pop up on this web site and somebody needs to stop this insanity. It's really fraudulent on both of their parts to collect debts against people who have never had accounts with them. Keep us updated; I would be curious to see where this goes.