Palisades collection LLC Verizon 14 yr old bill? Palisades sending letter Jan of 2012 to tell me of a bill from 2000? Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

Jan of 2012 I recieved a bill from this Palisade's collections for a high amount(over 800.00) from a Verizon bill dated 2000.  Funny I know I closed this account when it was ATT or Bell Atlantic(actually) because I no longer needed this phone.  And in any case if I owed any money or was in collections back then wouldn't they say so back in 08 when I purchased Verizon FIOS?  They did a credit check and phone check to see if I owed any money to a phone company or another debt, etc.

This is why I feel this is a scam that I cannot understand why the FTC or FCC isn't investigating or if they are, it's not on the news of any kind. I don't have bills dating back that far anymore.....and this is what Palisade's is praying for, that they get a sucker or 10 to actually believe that they are in debt and  not know the law about statue of limitations in their state. 12 year old bills should have been delt with 12 years ago and NOT 12 years later!  I demand Palisades to claim this debt. Show all paperwork.
Verizon said they have the paperwork and we don't owe anything and yes the phone was canceled back at that time.  This is a scam.  Once again I highly doubt Verizon would have let us have FIOs with an outstanding phone debt.