Reading up on the AFNI/Portfolio scams. Let's discuss my next move in this matter.

[Guest]

Alrighty! Well. One of the things I received in the mail today was a brandy new letter from what appears to be "Portfolio" demanding some kind of large sum of money. I am not familiar with what they are asking for. I suspect it is the 3rd or possibly 4th CA that's been passed whatever they allege like a hot potato. I don't even know why I am so agonizing over what to do.. It's probably because I haven't had an actual, real collections attempt since 2012 (and I successfully made the CAs involved back then fail to validate those debts, as well. I also was in Massachusetts again at that time.)

 

Now, as hypothesized before, my recent change of address at the USPS likely triggered the tidal wave of dormant or even "zombie" debts from.. whenever. Whatever partial match they do, once that hits their computers. So that could be a potential source here.

 

So, of course, when I see "PO Box 4115" I go straight to the Google, and I see the followings:

 

http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/CreditSolutions-Collection-Agency/Concord-California-94524/CreditSolutions-Collection-Agency-Fake-Collection-Agency-Mail-Fraud-Concord-California-285643

(2007 entry)

 

http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Financial-Recovery-Services/Minneapolis-Minnesota-55438-5908/Financial-Recovery-Services-A-complete-and-utter-con-job-Minneapolis-Minnesota-452229

(2009)

 

^

 

 

 

These low-lifes began calling me four days ago in an attempt to intimidate and strong-arm me into sending them $ for a debt that no longer exists. Since this time, I've received calls from them on a daily basis and just today received a very official-looking letter from them in the mail.

The return address on the collection letter, which said that I could settle in full by sending them a one-time payment equivalent to 50% of the so-called "balance", is:

[No Name]
Dept 813
PO Box 4115
Concord, CA 94524

I called them today (at the phone # provided in the letter [866-438-2860], which the customer could call with "criticisms, complaints, suggestions, and compliments") to dispute this non-existing debt, only to be harrassed, threatened, and criticized by a rude, arrogant, and wildly unprofessional young scam artist.

After mentioning to this young man that I am on full disability and am not currently working, he (to my disbelief) responded that if I'm home all day and not working, I "should be happy to receive phone calls."

Finally, by the end of the phone conversation and after his shameless, unprofessional, uneducated attempts to intimidate me, he finally gave in, saying that my case was "an isolated error" and that he would remove me from their list.

In a word, Financial Recovery Services is a band of liars and thieves who prey on the innocent and under-educated. They do need to be stopped, but please, if you hear from them, do not allow their threats to cause you needless anxiety.

Iamsopissed
New York, New York
U.S.A.

 

^^ Hello...

 

http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/portofolio-recovery-associates/concord-california-94524/portofolio-recovery-associates-ripoff-collection-agency-concord-california-267439

(2007 again)

 

**More 2007-ish posts of the Low Content and practices of this company, the same one currently pursuing me**

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/afni-collections-c3894.html?page=9

 

FatWallet knows them, too... https://www.fatwallet.com/forums/finance/973447

 

But, then. There is this: http://afnifraud.blogspot.com/

 

 

6/29/07

The Afni Collections, Inc. Scam

Phony Express
If you’ve come across this blog after searching for “Afni Collections” or “Afni Collections, Inc.” because you think that you’re being scammed after receiving a collections notice for a telecommunications company such as Verizon, you’ve come to the right Website. Before I explain the purpose of this site, however, I have to say something to you immediately:

Do not pay a single cent to Afni Collections, Inc.

Located in Bloomington, Illinois, Afni Collections, Inc. has been sending fake collection notices to people all over the United States—possibly even to Canada—hoping that someone is willing to take the bait and give them money that isn’t actually owed. In some cases the bill had been a legitimate one many years ago but has since been paid off; in other cases—myself included—Afni sent collection notices for Verizon bills that simply never existed in the first place.

If you do a Google search for Afni, you find yourself reading the following words: rip-off; scam; fraud; bogus; illegal. A recent consumer advice column in the Miami Herald contained the following question and answer:

• Q: I received a bill from Afni Inc., a collection agency, for $475.56 I ostensibly owe to Verizon Select Services. I haven’t used Verizon since 1998.

Since I have never left anything unpaid, I wanted to know where such information was coming from. After attempting to figure things out, Afni sent me a new bill for $240.45.

Because I was afraid to have my credit ruined, I paid it.

Is this a scam? Can Action Line tell me what I should have done?

Gerardo Martinez,

Hialeah

• A: You shouldn’t have paid that bill. With no documentation that you owed anything, Afni was just hoping you would fall for the trick.

On June 21, the Federal Trade Commission issued a press release to warn consumers about extortion schemes such as this. It focused on an English-language instruction course—Inglés con Ritmo—that was in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by falsely claiming that debts were owed. The scheme was targeting Hispanics.

“Lying to consumers about debts they don’t owe and harassing and threatening them when they don’t pay are illegal business practices, period,” Lydia Parnes, director of the

FTC

’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said on the

FTC

website. “We will aggressively pursue companies that use these tactics to extort money from consumers.”

At ripoffreport.com, Afni is well known. We found about 255 reports from consumers throughout the country who have been in situations similar to yours. Afni asks them to pay bills dating back to the 1990s from different Verizon companies. Many of the consumers said that when they protested, the collection agency backed off.

“We sue [Afni] all the time for failing to abide by the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Fair Debt and Collection Practices Act,” Miami consumer lawyer Samira Ghazal said.

Beyond that, Bob Elek, a Verizon spokesman, said company records didn’t reflect the account numbers you provided.

Verizon Select Services is no longer an active company. Any outstanding bills were purchased by a collection agency long ago, but, to the best of Elek’s knowledge, Afni wasn’t one of them.

“They [the outstanding bills] may have been resold, but, short of that, I don’t know how it ended up with that information,” he said.

Return to Sender

I’m not an attorney, but it’s crucial that you send Afni Collections, Inc. a letter within 30 days of your receiving the fraudulent notice to dispute the validity of the debt that they’re telling you to pay. Be sure to tell them that you’re requesting the validation in its entirety pursuant to the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Be sure to tell them that your letter is not a request for address validation. Be sure to request that all communications be in the form of paper documentation that is sent via the United States Postal Service, and that you will not do business—and I use that term loosely in Afni’s case—with them via telephone, e-mail, etc. Be sure to clearly state your dispute with the bill; tell them why you’re disputing its validity. Be sure to request a complete, itemized bill for your alleged debt (including proof that you ever entered into an agreement with any company for which they claim to be collecting). If you’re someone who recognizes the alleged debt as one that you’ve paid off many years ago, be sure to inform Afni of your state’s statute of limitations concerning debt and remind them that their notice is far beyond that time period (this time period differs from state to state). Finally, be sure to send the letter by certified mail, return-receipt requested (this should probably end up costing you around $5.60 in postage—sorry).

Just as a reminder, if Afni Collections, Inc. didn’t contact you by phone, there’s a good chance that they don’t have your phone number. Don’t give it to them; if you do (and this includes any attempts to contact them by phone), there’s a good chance that they’ll harass you over the telephone from that point forward. It’s also worth avoiding the telephone because three things have been mentioned several times on many of the complaint Websites: (1) the Afni phone is busy or simply is not answered; (2) the operators are obnoxious and will threaten you; and (3) they tell you that they can “help” you by assisting you in paying the debt over the phone—the same debt that you never owed in the first place.

Another piece of advice is just as important as sending Afni a letter disputing the validity of your alleged debt: sending as many officials notification of this fraud as possible. Contact the Illinois Attorney General; contact your state attorney general if you’re in another state (which many of us are); contact the attorney general of the state in which the phony phone number is located if this happens to be your situation; contact your state and federal representatives; contact your state bureau of consumer protection (or similar agency); and be sure to fill out a mail fraud report with the United States Postal Inspection Service.

To make it easier, here is the exact text from the letter which I had to use on not one but two occasions (remember to use your alleged balance, the alleged phone number, and your own account number where I've used Xs and 5s):

Afni Collections, Inc.

P.O. Box 3427

Bloomington, IL 61702-3427

To whom it may concern:

This letter is being sent to formally dispute the validity of an alleged debt, in

its

entirety, of $XX from a creditor known as “[insert name of creditor here]” for an alleged disconnected telephone number of “(555)-555-5555” (Afni Collections account number XXXXXXXXX-XX). Pursuant to the

Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

, I am formally requesting validation—in full—of the alleged debt on which you are attempting to collect.

Be aware that this letter is not a request for address validation; this letter is to formally dispute the validity of the alleged debt that is listed on the collection notice and demand that the debt validation is provided to me, by you, in

its

entirety in accordance with both federal and [your state name here] laws.

All communications and correspondence pertaining to this matter are to be carried out via the United States Postal Service at the mailing address found below and not by way of telephone, e-mail, or any form of electronic communication. Furthermore, all forms of correspondence pertaining to this matter received at and sent from said mailing address have and will be photocopied and retained for any and all future legal proceedings if necessary.

My specific dispute with the Afni Collections, Inc. alleged debt is based on the fact that I have never held any type of account with [creditor name here] at any time. Moreover, I have never had an account with [creditor name here] in any way, shape, or form at any given time, nor have I ever resided in the city of [city name here] in which the alleged disconnected telephone number listed on the Afni Collections, Inc. collection notice is located. As such, I dispute the validity of this debt and formally request evidence of validation in accordance with the

Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

. I am requesting that the following information be supplied by your agency: a detailed description of the product and/or service for which this alleged debt is owed; an itemized description of how the alleged debt was calculated; and copies of all documents showing that I agreed to purchase any product and/or service in addition to paying for a product and/or service from a creditor known as “[creditor name here].”

Be advised that the hardcopy and photocopies of the Afni Collections, Inc. collection notice and all future documentation pertaining to this matter have and will be retained and/or photocopied for use by my attorney and each agency that I am contacting regarding this situation.

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

NAME

ADDRESS

If your dispute was different than mine, remember to change your letter to Afni appropriately.

Spin City

Don’t be intimidated by anyone who suggests that all collections agencies are honest and that if you get a collections notice from them, you must owe them because they say so. This is a tactic that has become commonplace among Afni employees and their family members (Afni is putting bread on their table, after all). It’s obviously not to the same degree of severity, but it reminds me of the blind support that Adolf Hitler received from his Nazi storm-troopers who really thought that they were doing a good deed by trying to exterminate an entire religion during the 1930s and 1940s.

A few weeks ago, an Illinois newspaper covered the story of a malicious letter that was sent to Afni’s headquarters. The mailing was deemed a biohazard and it was suggested that a disgruntled recipient of an Afni notice decided to send them his hemorrhoid (I’m not making this up—I swear). Anyway, comments that were left at the bottom of the story were back-and-forth banter between people who pointed out the scam that Afni is pulling and Afni loyalists. (The page has unfortunately been taken down, but a similar story can be found here.)

While some of the pro-Afni comments were from folks who were single moms, trying to make ends meet, or people with limited skills trying to break into the work force (ethics be damned), some of the comments that were left were not only belligerent but downright sad.

One person who signed their name as “Current employee” wrote: “Those who bash Afni probably had a bad experience, most likely due to their own actions.” Yes, I had a bad experience with Afni, but if you think that getting a bogus collections notice in the mail is because of something that I’ve done, it’s pretty safe to say that you’re not going to be moving up the ladder unless you plan on sleeping with the boss.

Another comment was left by a man using the name “afni employees father”: “for those afni [sic] ‘bashers’ i [sic] say this[:] would you rather our young people deal drugs or participate in gangs to make money, or make an honest living working for every dollar they make? My son works hard for AFNI and in return is provided a decent workplace and a paycheck. I’m sure most of these bashers are losers who have been contacted to pay a debt that get all upset about people actually expecting to be paid for services rendered……imagine that!”

This comment was my favorite for a multitude of reasons (and no, the fact that it appears to have been authored by a second grader isn’t one of them): (1) there’s nothing “honest” about sending out fake collections notices; (2) if those of us who are “bashers” are losers because we’re standing up to crime, so be it—I’ll happily wear the title of “loser”; (3) we’re standing up to this crime because in some cases the debts were already paid and in other cases the debts never existed in the first place; and (4) if your son’s only options in life are down to drug dealing, gangs, or working at Afni, you might have more serious problems on your hands than you realize.

So. I am conflicted, as to whether I.. Just ignore it, since nothing has happened thus far, and every response made to the companies before it lands them to whatever company this is now, collecting? Or, whether I get bold, and go mailing and DVing.. to some jerk company in California, where whoever yahoos work there has the fine idea of "Oh, a DV! Let's pursue this further."

 

I'm still tempted to just leave it be, and let it lie. It's still not on my credit. I check every other day. Matter of fact...

 

 

Sooo... Any worthwhile inputs?

 

[JunkBuyersWorstNightmare]

 

if your son’s only options in life are down to drug dealing, gangs, or working at Afni, you might have more serious problems on your hands than you realize.

 

 

:rofl:

[Sandscrit]

Joseph, What state do you live in?

 

Has the statute of limitations past?

[Guest]

Joseph, What state do you live in?

 

Has the statute of limitations past?

Massachusetts

 

And... Though I do not know, I am unsure. I am unfamiliar with this "debt."

 

I know this is at least the 3rd CA attempting. I wrote each of the others FOAD letters... Result, each time, has been hot-potato, to a new CA.

 

This one seems like a bunch of real, extra colorful characters, MO consistent with "nonsensical events of the past year" as to how I'm even still getting a letter, which could technically be a collections attempt.

 

Of course, nothing listed on CR.

 

Case study in how it could have come about: http://creditboards.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t68556.html

 

Anonymous7/18/2007

This article on CAMCO illustrates how access to consumer information on past addresses, as well as identity and credit report information, can be used to convince a consumer that an old debt is theirs. CAMCO used their access to lexis-nexis/accurint to obtain this information:

 

http://creditboards.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t68556.html

 

"...

Former employees describe using a sophisticated computer program called Accurint, which provides such detailed information as a person?s date of birth, phone number, Social Security number and three most recent addresses. Employees type a name into Accurint, and a list of people with that name or a similar name across the country pops up. From there, it?s whoever collectors can harass into paying.

 

Mike Perez, who worked at CAMCO from March to December 2003, told of a bill he once had for a Victor Colozzi in Syracuse, N.Y. The company couldn?t locate anyone with that name, but Accurint did spit out the name of Victoria Colozzi. When Perez called, he "noticed she sounded very old, so we changed the name on the bill from Victor to Victoria."

 

"When you're dealing with older people, especially older people who have a deceased spouse, their memory doesn't work too well with what they had in the past. They get something in the mail and call about it," Perez said.

 

"They hear someone saying their Social Security benefits are being looked into, their home is being looked into ... when you?ve got all this thrown at you and there's someone talking sly on the phone, you're forced to pay." ..."

 

Afni uses (or misuses) the same tool:

 

http://www.lexis-nexis.com/clients/afni/

 

Reply

 

Anonymous8/08/2007

Afni sent me a collection letter in in the wrong name - did have the name once, for a few years when I was married to my first husband over 17 years ago!

 

The charge is for a company I have never used, in a state I have never lived. And, I would have been remarried with a new name for 5 years and living overseas at the time they claim this charge - no way!!!

 

 

I want to know where they are getting our names and SSN's. I think someone, somewhere got a hold of old accts from possibly cable companies and phone companies and sold them the info and they just match up similar names and then attach bogus charges and say it's you.

 

They can't seem to confirm any of their so called collections to anyone's satisfaction and most bills seems to be outright bogus, or very, very old or already paid.

 

Afni are a bunch of high-tech fraudsters. A total scam!!! Why nothing is being done about these people and they are allowed to continuing operating, I just don't know!

 

I guess since they are giving jobs to those who would otherwise be drug dealing or in gangs, they are allowed to stay in business since they keep the crime off the streets and into the confinement of their building.

 

What a joke!

Afni uses (or misuses) the same tool:

 

http://www.lexis-nexis.com/clients/afni/

[Guest]

Joseph, What state do you live in?

 

Has the statute of limitations past?

Massachusetts

 

And... Though I do not know, I am unsure. I am unfamiliar with this "debt."

 

I know this is at least the 3rd CA attempting. I wrote each of the others FOAD letters... Result, each time, has been hot-potato, to a new CA.

 

This one seems like a bunch of real, extra colorful characters, MO consistent with "nonsensical events of the past year" as to how I'm even still getting a letter, which could technically be a collections attempt.

 

Of course, nothing listed on CR.

 

Case study in how it could have come about: http://creditboards.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t68556.html

 

Anonymous7/18/2007

This article on CAMCO illustrates how access to consumer information on past addresses, as well as identity and credit report information, can be used to convince a consumer that an old debt is theirs. CAMCO used their access to lexis-nexis/accurint to obtain this information:

 

http://creditboards.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t68556.html

 

"...

Former employees describe using a sophisticated computer program called Accurint, which provides such detailed information as a person?s date of birth, phone number, Social Security number and three most recent addresses. Employees type a name into Accurint, and a list of people with that name or a similar name across the country pops up. From there, it?s whoever collectors can harass into paying.

 

Mike Perez, who worked at CAMCO from March to December 2003, told of a bill he once had for a Victor Colozzi in Syracuse, N.Y. The company couldn?t locate anyone with that name, but Accurint did spit out the name of Victoria Colozzi. When Perez called, he "noticed she sounded very old, so we changed the name on the bill from Victor to Victoria."

 

"When you're dealing with older people, especially older people who have a deceased spouse, their memory doesn't work too well with what they had in the past. They get something in the mail and call about it," Perez said.

 

"They hear someone saying their Social Security benefits are being looked into, their home is being looked into ... when you?ve got all this thrown at you and there's someone talking sly on the phone, you're forced to pay." ..."

 

Afni uses (or misuses) the same tool:

 

http://www.lexis-nexis.com/clients/afni/

 

Reply

 

Anonymous8/08/2007

Afni sent me a collection letter in in the wrong name - did have the name once, for a few years when I was married to my first husband over 17 years ago!

 

The charge is for a company I have never used, in a state I have never lived. And, I would have been remarried with a new name for 5 years and living overseas at the time they claim this charge - no way!!!

 

 

I want to know where they are getting our names and SSN's. I think someone, somewhere got a hold of old accts from possibly cable companies and phone companies and sold them the info and they just match up similar names and then attach bogus charges and say it's you.

 

They can't seem to confirm any of their so called collections to anyone's satisfaction and most bills seems to be outright bogus, or very, very old or already paid.

 

Afni are a bunch of high-tech fraudsters. A total scam!!! Why nothing is being done about these people and they are allowed to continuing operating, I just don't know!

 

I guess since they are giving jobs to those who would otherwise be drug dealing or in gangs, they are allowed to stay in business since they keep the crime off the streets and into the confinement of their building.

 

What a joke!

Afni uses (or misuses) the same tool:

 

http://www.lexis-nexis.com/clients/afni/

[Guest]

These crooks (AFNI/The California address it came from, etc) seem easy enough to beat, maybe they smell blood in the water because it is Tax Season.

 

Timestamp: 11AM. Post 3

[Guest]

 

I may just ignore them. "Poking the bear" and relevance to credit file/report kind of thing.

 

[mk_378]

If the OC they claim is not anyone that you may have an in-SOL debt with, it's fine to just ignore them.

[TampaDude]

If the OC they claim is not anyone that you may have an in-SOL debt with, it's fine to just ignore them.

 

^ this

 

I received many letters from AFNI over the years. I just threw them away. They never reported. Just ignore them.