Island National Group and Brady & Caruso

Welcome to the forum PKF.

I'm glad you came here, I just completed some extensive research on the entities you are dealing with. The first one Island National Group, I would suggest sending them a debt validation letter. Certified mail, return receipt requested. You can find a good template for the letter via my signature link, be sure to send the enclosure.

Now, moving on. Here is contact information for ING:

Name:
ISLAND NATIONAL GROUP, LLC
Address:
6851 Jericho Turnpike Suite 180
Syosset, NY 11791
View Location Map

Phone Number:
(516) 682-4300
Type of Business:
collection agencies

ING apparently has a very bad history of problems with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. I did some research on Brady and Caruso. I can't find a single thing about them. I think they don't exist and may be ING posing as this law office. I can't find anything on google, The Better Business Bureau, or the NY state Bar Association.

Lastly, he cannot freeze your accounts/assets, garnish your wages, or place liens on your property without filing suit against you and winning a judgment. (this all falls under the basic human right that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or personal property without due process) Also their contacts to other members of your family is very illegal as it is forbidden by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. At this point I would suggest filing complaints with the Federal Trade Commission, your state Attorney General's office, and the NY state Attorney General's Office. You may also wish to retain your own attorney for civil action for these gross violations of the fdcpa.

I just got a call from them stating I was a person of contact in a pending complaint and they needed to get a message to my neighbor (I don't even now them). Left a case # and told me to have them call. :?

Guess I should add he was also from David and Curuso with the phone # 716-696-6131

Oh they, Brady and Caruso, have a website all right but it's being worked on nothing on there,lol. I looked around and found nothing, I checked manta already too.

(516) 682-4300 you posted this number. I found these results


Grebe, Andrew
(516) 682-4300
51 CHARLES LINDBERGH BLVD
Uniondale, NY 11553


Clinton, Holly
(516) 682-4300
51 CHARLES LINDBERGH BLVD
Uniondale, NY 11553

Brady, Caruso & Associates, LLC
2858 Niagara Falls Blvd.
Amherst, NY 14228
(although USPS says zip is for Buffalo)
(866)717-0360
(716)696-6144 (716)696-6131 (716)691-6146
fax (716)696-6134

This is Kieth Marshall and Richard Ziolkowski and yet another new dummy corp they have set up.........
have gone by names:
Marshall Ziolkowski
Abrams Burke
Kingman Cole
and now Brady, Caruso & Associates

After doing research I would not pay anyone from these businesses. Report/complaint to FTC, to New York State Attorney Generl Office and to your own state's Attorney General's Office.

Collectors like this have no ethics/morals and use intimidation (extortion)to get payments that you may or may not legally owe.

May 2008 Brady, Caruso & Associates, LLC Amherst, NY

First call came to my work number on voice mail message left by a Miss Martin - stated she represented Brady and Caruso, and then stated the case was filed with my county and gave me a case number...stated it was important that I return the call immediately. I happen to do work that involves lots of court filings and as she did not say it was a personal matter, I assumed it had to do with my work and did not immediately return her call.

She then called again and gave her name as Miss Martin with Brady and Caruso and asked if I had received the message she left the previous day. I told her that I had received the message but that the case number she had left was incomplete and I did not know which file she was calling about..I still did not realize this was a personal call....she stated that the file she was calling about was me....and spouted my social security number at me asking me to verify it....I asked her what this was regarding and she told me they were verifying my information as a summons was being served and unless I wanted the summons server to come to my work, I needed to verify information....I told her to have the summons server sent as I would not discuss personal business at work and on the phone. I told her I did not want her or Brady and Caruso contacting me at my work number and I hung up.

She immediately called back and left another message on my voice mail stating that a summons would be served the following Monday at my place of employment unless I contacted her by 9:00 am the following day.

I then checked with the Superior Court and verified that there has been no filing against me and the case number is not a good number.

On Monday around noon, my supervisor received a call from a Russell Barr @ Brady and Caruso. My supervisor also did not realize this was not a business call and asked for the case number, which Mr. Barr was kind enough to give him, when he also told Mr. Barr that the case number was not coming up...he was then told that the case number was the legal filing number in a case against me in a collection matter over which I was being sued. My supervisor sent me an e-mail informing me of this and came to ask if there was a problem.

On Tuesday Mr. Russell Barr (or Barrity?) left a message on my work voice mail identifying himself as the "Senior Partner" of Brady and Caruso and stated that he understood I had discussed my account with Household/Orchard Bank earlier that day with Ms. Martin. He then again repeated that there was a "lawsuit" and my case number..he then gave me until 9:00am New York Time to call.

Now today, I received at work an unsigned letter which had been faxed to my work fax machine (but addressed to my home address) which states they are a collection agency and are attempting to collect a debt. The letter is not marked personal and confidential and gives information which all of my co-workers using the fax machine were able to view.

The good thing about the fax is that it did come on their letterhead so that I can send them certified letters requesting they not contact me and that they validate this debt which I believe to have been discharged in a bankruptcy/divorce in 1996!

[quote=Christie]Guess I should add he was also from David and Curuso with the phone # 716-696-6131[/quote]

While you're at it, you oughtta direct your neighbor to this website. We can help'em along as needed.

A rep from this company called and threatened me on a debt that wasnt even mine. I am reporting them to the BBB, NY State attorney, AZ state Attorney and FTC. This is illegal and they cannot do this.

A call came in to my VM an hour or so ago. When I called back this REALLY rude person tried to get me to give them money for a bill that I never had. This is not legal as far as I know. I will report them ASAP. Looks like these people are on the bad side of business.

first call was a case numer i called back and frank lucas said he was from brady and cruso and i was sent sumons in the mail wich i wasn't he sid he's not a mailman,then told me how much i owed i didnt even know what he was king about called ir nd if don't have this money im going to court, then called brother for the money insisting my broher was my father, and then called and asked me for checking info.and asked if i had a house i said no he said you will never have nothing we'll stop you..... 1866-717-0360 696-6143

Did he disclose any information about this debt to anyone other than yourself?

Also I would suggest checking with your local court clerk to see if anything has been filed. It sounds like they are trying to scare you and have violated the fdcpa in the process, which you can file civil suit for $1,000 in statutory damages.

Saw your comments re: non-legality of contacting family or friends for info on bad debt individuals. This in fact happened to us this week concerning our daughter's unpaid debt (carloan- reposessed). Somehow, they managed to get my wife's cell # !!! How do they do this? They also claimed that my wife is named as a "secondary" on a pending court action. When contacted by B&C, their SP said they misspoke, and of course if we gave them our bank acct #s they would withdraw what was needed and everything would "go away", or alternatively, they would "PUSH THE BUTTON" to activate the court filing!!!! Unbelievable! The audacity of these companies is historic... We assisted our daughter in researching the difficulties, and found a statement from the loan bank indicating that the loan debt was discharged (written off) and closed a year ago at least.
Legally, I am sure that we can dismiss their claims of payment owed them (they said they now carry the debt from the bank and are collecting on their behalf.) We will send them our own certified Cease and Desist letter and threaten THEM with action if they do not comply.
Thank you for all of your comments

TOMT

The Times-Record newspaper of Ft. Smith Arkansas published an article about the Kingman Cole scam on July 11. Here's a particularly interesting excerpt regarding the Arkansas Attorney General's take on this scam:

"'Arkansas Consumer Advocates attorney Chip] ton said Arkansas Consumer Advocates called the number given the woman and was told it had reached the New York-based Kingman Cole Law Firm. When the group asked for specific information about its attorneys, the alleged law firm employee refused to provide it and hung up, ton said. ton said no such law firm exists in the Buffalo area, and when the advocates called the Attorney General????????s Office, they found it knew of the scam. He said the Attorney General????????s Office advises anyone receiving a similar call to hang up and not provide the caller any confidential information."

Doesn't get more definitive than that. You can read the entire here: swtimesDOTcom/articles/2008/07/11/news/news01.txt

Thank you for the valuable information EC.

Wow, I had no idea when I started researching this company. First of all, Frank Lucas called my sisters house and left a message on her answering machine with a case number saying we needed to contact them in reference to a debt my husband owed. My sister gave me the message with the number of 1-866-717-0360 Ext 319. I called the number and gave the case number Frank Lucas left. I told him my my name of Mrs. so and so and he disclosed all the information about this debt from 1999 to me. I advised my husband was now permantly disabled and he was very rude with me. He threatened to freeze all my husbands assets and bank accounts and take everything we own. He stated he was looking at his credit report right now. I said so then you can see we pay our power bill and water bill late every month and all I can afford to pay you is $5.00 a month. He screamed at me that my offer was ludicris. I said look sir I work for the Sheriff's office and make 10.38 an hour before deductions. He said to me in a nasty tone "Being as you work for the Sheriff's Office i am inclined to believe that you make more then $10.38 an hour." I said believe what you want. He said i am giving you 24 hours to pay because we have already sent letters to your huose and a summons. I said we never received anything from you and I know we never signed for anything from your company. Then he threatened me with over $3,000 in attorney fees and kept screaming at me and told me to make him an offer. I said sir I am making you an offer all I can afford is $5.00 a month. So he continued to scream at me and was very rude. So I said in a calm voice can you hold a minute while I record this conversation? And he said fine record the conversation and let it be known it is against my will. I said noted. I said do you have a supervisor? And he screamed at me "I AM THE DIRECTOR OF THIS COMPANY!" So, then I said can I have your physical address? And he said it's too late I have already sent everything to your lawyer and ours and now it is going to cost you more to pay your lawyer and ours. I know this was a lie because I said to him I have a lawyer and for your information he does pro-bono work for me all the time. He then hung up on me. So I then called back and without giving him my name or my husbands case number I asked for the physical address. He did not know maybe I wanted to mail him a check but instead of think positive he was a jerk once again and said to bad your going to court and we are going to take everything and hung up on me. So I called back 4 more times and each time I was hung up on before they even said hello. So the 5th time I called back I used a different phone. I figured it was their dime not mine since it is a toll free number. This time, Frank Lucas answered the phone and I asked for the physical address again without giving my name or the case number. He said please hold really nice. I was on hold for like 5 minutes and then a man by the name of John Cole answered the phone and I did not give him any information I simply asked for their physical address and he was very nice and said sure and rattled it off. The address he gave me was 2858 Niagra Falls BL Amherst, NY 14228. I am glad I finally got it because now per MY RIGHTS I plan on sending them a letter to cease communication with my family members and if they do not I will call my lawyer. I will further request they cease communication with us other then in writing. Furthermore I am now, per everyone else's advise on this board, I am going to write to the Attorney General for my state, the New York Bar Association and to the FTC. I can not honestly believe someone claiming to be a law firm and threatening people like this guy did was professional which lead me to research them. Thank goodness my sister saved the call on her answering machine and sent it to my voice mail on my cell phone and home phone because now I have recorded it to my computer and as I type this out I am burning the message to disc and I think the judge will love to hear it.

I think I have been had, a guy by the name of Michael Capello called me at work about a debt that my husband had and offered me a half settlement I gave them one payment, but I never recevied a receipt or any kind of correspondence from them and when I asked him for something in writing to confirn the payment and what we had disgusted he said they had sent it out that day, but of course I have not seen it. Thanks for the warning, I am in a very bad position at the present time with my husband facing surgery and I cant afford to have money basically stolen from me.

Frank Lucks from brady and caruso called me today saying that i owe them money from an account that way paid off in 2004 from a credit card company account that i closed in 2004 and then they tell me that i owe some craft book co. money also and for me to give them a check number and the name of my bank so i agree to send them money and i go to my bank and tell me that they have closed my account because i have not used it in 6 mos. i tell them them what frank lucks told me and the bank gave me a phone number for a legal services and told me to call the state police so i tell
the girl that called me and she tells me that i gave them fake information and that they want to knew the legal service that the bank gave me and i told her that they must stop calling me right now and that the legal servces would call them about this matter that is when Frank Lucks got on the phone and demanded to knew who i talked to and i told him that i called the state police because i don't want to go to jail and that they must stop calleing me right now and that the legal services would be calling them then Frank Lucks called me a ****! and said that they would come and take all my clothes and what wver else i had thay they could sell and get money for this account so i hungup the phone. are they crazy why would they do this? i don't want to go to jail i knew i paid this account over 4 yrs. ago could i have missed a payment i don't think so

[color=Red]****Adult term removed - Jason[/color]

RJH and Fran, NEVER, NEVER send these scumbags a cent without them proving that they own the debt and that it is not out of SOL!!

To everyone having problems with debts get the book called
debt cures "They" Don't want you to knew about
by Kevin Trudeau at Walmarts this book will help it gives you information that credit card companys don't tell you and information on how to deal with collections that are years past due idi you knew that every state has a statute limitations and this book will give you that information
hang in there all is not lost

I just got off the phone with these people and by the end of the conversation it ended up in a yelling match and then they hung up. They basically told me I had to pay 10% of the bill that $25 every two weeks wasn't enough and I didn't use profanatiy but the guy Frank Lucas kept telling me that I needed to stop my inappropriate talking and he asked me to verify my ss# and duh I did and the county I lived in and my birthdate which the year I was born was incorrect and I just told him the dates were wrong but not which ones. He also threatened me with a summons and lawsuit and it costing me more than what I owed. I explained I have been sick and was not working and he basically said I don't care what your excuses are and when I wouldn't pay what he wanted he hung up on me. When I tried to check this law firm out this site is what I got so now I will contact the correct authorities. I also asked to speak with his boss and he said he is the boss and I told him no there is someone above you because I know all about that game as my husband works in customer care center and that is what they are told to say also.

My neighbor and I both received calls from "Brady & Caruso" over the past 2 days regarding a debt owed by our other neighbor. Their messages implied that our neighbor has been using our SSNs so we both called back. The people we spoke to gave us the most ridiculous lines - our neighbor is being sued, can we please put a note on her door, if we don't help them they will sue her without her knowledge, she is due in court at noon, etc. As an attorney, I knew that what they were saying was impossible, and when I pressed for further information, they became belligerant. So I am now going to submit written complaints to the FTC and the appropriate state agency. In the meantime however I have read everything posted on the web about these folks and I came across an ABC article about debt collection scammers using the names of Denzel Washington and Steve Martin. I also noticed that a lot of the posts say that the Brady & Caruso people use the name "Frank Lucas." Frank Lucas is the name of Denzel's character in the movie American Gangster. Haha, someone must think he's SOOOOO clever...

From what Ive read here it seems that the lawsuit filings are simply a scare tactic and that they never file them. I have been hounded by these douchebags for about two years now in myriad different incarnations- Marshall and Zachowski, Brady and Caruso, Bonnie and Clyde, Dumb and Dumber- whatever the nomme de plumme they choose. Theyre all talk. I have each incarnation of their "business" number in my phone saved as "Dont!" as in "dont answer". I let them leave messages and have gotten to the point that I listen to their threats with a chuckle and then delete the vmail. Every once in a while I'll answer on accident and then run them through the ringer with dumb questions, pretending like I cant hear them or I act like I'm impossibly old and misconstrue everything they say being the most difficult call they ever have.

These idiots are completely incapable of carrying out any of the threats they promise and are just a small group that falls under the radar of the BBB by using false company names and non-existent web addresses. Everytime you ask for something mailed it will not be, evertime you are told papers are filed they arent and everytime a deadline is missed failure to act on your part is met with a shiny new deadline and some random impending doom.

Dont fear these people, feel sorry for them and just remember as you deal with them that debt collectors have the highest rate of heart-failure, failed marriges and a pretty high level of substsance abuse.

I do feel for those that have had family members and work numbers harassed, for that I have no solution. Telling them to stop calling those numbers does not work but I have had that happen and was able to stop them by pretending that they had the wrong guy. I asked them what the last four of the social security number they had was and when they gave me the numbers I said, " oh,no- my last four is (insert random completely different number)... you got the wrong guy". I was polite about it and came off as genuine as I could which seemed to work.

Good luck.

(BTW- I have no idea what debt theyre trying to collect from me and I have never seen them or anyone claiming to be them reporting on my Transunion, Experian or Equifax report.)

Screw'em.

Just called and talked to Russell Barr! What a joke!!! Told him that some one from his Co., called my liitle girls cell phone and left a naste message. He informed me that they do not do these kind of things. Ha. He asked for the phone # I gave it to him and he could not find anything about the call! I told him I looked up his Co. , on the internet and it said it was a dummie corp. Boy did he get mad. You can tell they are con artist's!!!!! They have new Phone # 716-696-6142

I received a call for an account I never had. Threats were made to garnish my wages, put a lean on my home unless I paid $900.00 over the phone. Person was rude and threatening. They gave me the same address in Amhurst, NY as above. They also had my ss# as well as what sounded like my credit report. They identified themselves as a Law Firm which would be issuing me legal papers if I did not comply with this request. I was told I would have to pay in excess of $4,000. if I did not pay by phone immediately. I told them this was a scam, woman started yelling at me that I was irresponsible, a dead-beat, etc. How can these types of scams continue in this day and age?

Tuesday evening my Fiance' received a phone call saying that I needed to return call ASAP about contract I signed years ago. If I didn't call back right away they were going to take me to court on Wed. I did nothing I'm disabled and can't pay right now. Today Sat. Oct. 27th Thanksgiving week-end they called me and said I owed Bank of America Visa Card 1999.86 I told them that I had never had a Visa Card w/BOA they continued being persistent even getting the bill down to $800.00 if I paid right away. They told me to see if I could borrow the money and call them back with-in 45 min. or they would close. They wouldn't give me two business days to check into it. I called Bank of America on the 800 # they said I owed them nothing.
BE VERY CAREFUL!!

Same complaints. They have called my Ex husband and in-laws on debts not related to these third parties or even myself. Also threatened to have us in court and that they have sent out 5 affidavits to us (non recieved of course), etc. They could not give me their license number or website address (said it was currently down). They told the other parties that were contacted that they were listed as a reference on our personal finances as contacts. Not true! The amount of money they said we owed them was ridiculous. They told me they were hired by Worlds Foremost Bank and then later in the conversation he could hardly pronounce the bank name or spell it. That was suspicous! Be warned by these postings!!! We do plan to file suit and report them to the Attny. Gen. Office and BBB as well.

I just recieved a call from brady and caruso 1-888-211-0100
His name is shapiro, ext. 313
He says they are based out of NY. But he is in his motorhome on his way down to Florida to file with the police. Says we will have a lawsuit of involuntary payment and garnishment of wages if I do not give them our bank account number.Gave me a fake case number, I do remember having a collection agency call my neighbors last month. Also, I told him I wanted to google his name(which led me here) and contact my own lawyer to see if this is legitament. I called my husband, he says there was an article in the paper on exactly this and that it is a scam. Wonder what we can do to stop this company from doing this to people.

I should also add in that I called back to see if their address is the same and IT IS!!!
The name is Shapiro
1-888-211-0100 ext 313
2858 niagra falls blvd
amhurst ny 14228

THIS PLACE AND IT'S EMPLOYEES SUCK! THEY CALL 10 TIMES A DAY, THREATEN ME AND MY FAMILY I HAVE NOT LIVED WITH IN 30 YRS ALL OVER A DEBT THEY SAY I HAVE WITH A CREDIT CARD THAT DOES NOT EXIST ACCORDING TO THE INTERNET AND LEGAL AID, AND EVEN YET THE ONE TIME I DID SPEAK WITH THEM AND ASK THEM FOR PROOF OF THIS SUPPOSED DEBT AND A LIST OF CHARGES, THEY COULD NOT PROVIDE IT, THE RESPONSE WAS "WELL YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS, JUST OWN UP TO IT AND DON'T QUESTION ME"

Their new scam call back# 1-877-450-3710 and caller ID#716-650-5539

Don't worry folks, they'll be out of business soon! The NY AG is working on these guys now. If you have anything to share with them, I would contact them right away. I provided a statement for them a couple of weeks ago along with some great recordings -- we can call it the Best of Russell Barr!

West Virgina spanked them hard, too!
Attorney General McGraw Reaches Settles with Brady and Caruso; Consumers Receive $290,000 in Cancelled Debt. They were required to make every WV debtor's account a 0 balance and refund anything that was paid to them!

I could not find anything mentioning New York, but here is Bud Hibbs' listing:
"http://www.budhibbs.com/collectorpages/marshall_ziolkowski.htm"

They are rotten through and through.

giggggedy geeew

Has anyone been contacted by a Shuman & Taylor? they called my friends cell that I work with and I have no idea how they got it. They mentioned Brady and Caruso in their conservation with me.

I got a call three days ago from a guy saying he had a summons for me and where did i want it delivered at work or home? I said related to what and he says well I have a number here you can call 866-542-5990 and had a case #. I called it back and get this lady who says i owe money on a credit card that i defaulted on from 2007. They knew my SS# and alot of my current bills... I was shocked...After I told them it was not mine, they put another man on the phone named "Frank Lucus"...he tells me he can cut my pay off down from 1900.00 to 1500.00 and i could put it on a current credit card that he new i had...I told him know and he threated to summons me to court. I hung up on him.. and then yesterday a man calls my new husband just married this year.. and tells his boss they have a summons for him.. and don't they do background checks on there employees and all kinds of crazy stuff and give him the same number to call back.. and he does and they tell him they are going to garnish his wages for my debt before we were even married...needless to say.. he was not nice to them and i contacted a lawyer and they said to send them a letter telling them to cease call me or my husband at work and if they continued they would sent a letter themselves. What is wrong with these crazy people. How can they know so much about you business. Very scary..