The debts are assumed legitimate??  Then why do posters report that the company refuses to validate the debt?  Why are there so many other FDCPA violations reported here?

I quit working for this company in 2009. It's obvious they continued to slander my name after I left. I would never and have never been rude to anyone. To the credit of the agency...the debts are assumed legitimate as they were purchased under contract. On my own behalf,  I hope you discontinue business with them if you don't owe money.

They just tried the same bs with me.  Claiming that I have this huge lawsuit.  I began checking all the information out while she was on the phone talking and asking her questions.  She got all flustered and put this man on the phone.  I told him that if they are going to have a collector that gets flustered, then they need to train her how to lie better.  He got quiet and I hung up.

Over the past three weeks all weekdays and Saturdays multiple hours during the day and after 9:00pm from Monday, January 30, 2010 until February 20, 2012, a common friend of ours? has been receiving calls from a male with an African-American speech inflection threatening an affidavit has been filed against my wife for writing bad checks and owing a 'Pay-Day' loan. The male refused to identify himself during his 20+ threatening and intimidating calls, only providing an account number and phone number (305-914-6728). My wife returned the phone call on February 17, 2012 during the afternoon to this unnamed individual in order to end the harassment to our friend, a third-party with no affiliation to any of these matters. The receiver of the call told my wife he represents WOOD FOREST (WOOD FOREST is a fictitious name), refused to give his name, told my wife he was dispatching the police to our house, said to my wife that its her 'a** is in a sling, lady!', demanded a payment of $900.00 over the phone, refused to provide an address and refused to send any documents via post to our address yet offered to email the information, before refusing to take the information and hanging-up on my wife. We remained in fear my wife was going to jail for fraudulent allegations. Fortunately, that never transpired. I began researching these individuals via the internet and calling the provided phone number during non-business hours. The answering service associated with the aforementioned phone number is associated with AMY GRANT, INVESTIGATIONS DEPARTMENT, SOUTH FLORIDA GROUP. Other associated numbers include: 305-964-9434 and 305-918-4670 and 786-528-0314. According to internet searches revealing the illegal, unethical and deleterious practices of this company, it appears other individuals associated with South Florida Group are: MICHAEL SHAW, BRIAN MERCER, CATHERINE STREIN, SAMANTHA TAYLOR, THOMAS PIERCE and JOHN MONTGOMERY, all of whom reportedly employed the same tactics with other citizens to extort monies either illegally or in direct violation of the FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT. Other additional phone numbers include: (866) 629-9947, (888) 472-6781, (888) 313-9572, Through further research, it appears South Florida Group is an affiliation of BRONSTEIN, SHAW & ASSOCIATES (888) 701-0360, aka JENKINS, SHAW & ASSOCIATES (877) 863-5647, aka BRONSTEIN, SHAW & ASSOCIATES, INC., 814 KENMORE AVENUE, BUFFALO NY 14216. The individuals appearing to be affiliated with these 'law groups' are: MR. JONES (877) 863-5647 x493, fax (716) 691-3939 and MR. MYERS (888) 701-0360 x475, fax (716) 873-2700, RENEE WILLIAMS (888) 701-0360 x473 and MR. STONE (716) 533-1569. It appears JOSEPH STONE aka JOSEPH MARLETTE (716) 533-1569 is the owner/CEO. From research, it appears Mr. Stone (aka Marlette), also, owns and runs collection agency: ICS (INTERSTATE CHECK SYSTEMS, INC., 15 HAZELWOOD DRIVE, #102, AMHERST NY 14226, (888) 358-1120, (888) 832-9845, (877) 230-2988, (716) 691-2472 and fax (716) 691-2440.) Reportedly, it appears ICS employees (RAY PADILLA, SHAWN MICHAELS and JIM DOUGLASS x335)utilize the same illegal collection tactics, and litigation and arrests alleging fraud in the State of New York exists regarding affiliates and constituents of ICS (according to some reports, this agency has been shut-down by governmental interventions.) It appears Interstate Check Systems is an entity of Northtown Capital & Associates. Northtown's web site is: http://www.northtowncap.com. Northtown's address and location is (same as Interstate Check Systems): 15 Hazelwood Drive, Suite 102, Amherst, NY 14228 - Phone: 888.358.1120 - Fax: 716.691.2122 Corporate filings found at: http://appsext8.dos.state.ny.us/corp_public/corpsearch.entity_search_entry Selected Entity Status Information Current Entity Name: INTERSTATE CHECK SYSTEMS INC. Initial DOS Filing Date: NOVEMBER 16, 2009 County: NIAGARA Jurisdiction: NEW YORK Entity Type: DOMESTIC BUSINESS CORPORATION Current Entity Status: ACTIVE Selected Entity Address Information DOS Process (Address to which DOS will mail process if accepted on behalf of the entity) INTERSTATE CHECK SYSTEMS INC. 3047 MAPLE ROAD NEWFANE, NEW YORK, 14108 Registered Agent SPIEGEL & UTRERA PA PC 1 MAIDEN LANE 5TH FLOOR NEW YORK, NEW YORK, 10038 Current Entity Name: NORTHTOWN CAPITAL & ASSOCIATES INC. Initial DOS Filing Date: OCTOBER 23, 2009 County: ERIE Jurisdiction: NEW YORK Entity Type: DOMESTIC BUSINESS CORPORATION Current Entity Status: ACTIVE Selected Entity Address Information DOS Process (Address to which DOS will mail process if accepted on behalf of the entity) NORTHTOWN CAPITAL & ASSOCIATES INC. 1 MAIDEN LANE 5TH FLOOR NEW YORK, NEW YORK, 10038 Registered Agent SPIEGEL & UTRERA P.A. P.C. 1 MAIDEN LANE 5TH FLOOR NEW YORK, NEW YORK, 10038 Additional Corporate filings show: Selected Entity Status Information Current Entity Name: BRONSTEIN, SHAW & ASSOCIATES, INC. Initial DOS Filing Date: FEBRUARY 28, 2011 County: ERIE Jurisdiction: NEW YORK Entity Type: DOMESTIC BUSINESS CORPORATION Current Entity Status: ACTIVE Selected Entity Address Information DOS Process (Address to which DOS will mail process if accepted on behalf of the entity) BRONSTEIN, SHAW AND ASSOCIATES, INC. 814 KENMORE AVENUE BUFFALO, NEW YORK, 14216 Registered Agent SPIEGEL & UTRERA PA PC 1 MAIDEN LANE 5TH FLOOR NEW YORK, NEW YORK, 10038 This scam, perpetrated by these entities, is far-reaching and preys on those, such as my wife and I, who are attempting to find stable-footing, again, in life through responsible and reputable means. All of the aforementioned individuals and entities are, reportedly and experientially, are violating laws, complicit involvement in illegal scams, willfully and knowingly, thereby harming and injuring unsuspecting and innocent victims, such as my wife and I, by their intentional acts, aiding and abetting extortion through fraudulent practices and are in direct violation of the FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT. Contact the FTC (www.ftc.gov)

I've seen you've posted several comments, however told one of the individuals that they need to find something else to do with their time besides calling everyone. Seems like you need a job because all you do is go online and give advice that you shouldn't because you are not educated on the advice your providing. Now I can see why your a debtor because your too lazy to get a job! Before you give advice get it for yourself. Statute of limitations vary from state to state and if you lived in Fl. and had debt in 07it is still valid. Brush up on your laws with all the time you have on your hands besides trying to degrade someone and you don't even have all the facts. Certain states like Ky, Oh, and Il can prosecute up to 15 yrs on civil matters and everywhere else is usually 7 yrs, excluding a few states like Me are 3. Get a life TL

Haha! Your the reason collectors get bad names because lowlife scum like you intentionally take out lines of credit/loans knowing you never intend to pay it back. You knew how much the interest was when you signed the contract which means you had all intent of stiffing someone who helped you out. Well guess what? Karmas a bi*** haha and I bet you have more problems in your life then what you could handle. Get a life a job and some morals and ethics you dirtball. And you people have the nerve to talk about collectors.....its scum like this that the economy is in recession because the government has to bail the corporations out because of the low life cheatin scum that can't even take care of themselves w/out a pdl! hahaha get real loser.

i dont know if this is the number that they used to call me and told me that i owed them $900 from the bank that i did my loan for $250 and they want there money back and threatening me that they gonna send all the papers to osceola county court FL so  i got really scared , she said to settle everything and to not send the papers to court i need to pay $600 ,$113 amonth. Im so stupid that i pay the $113 and gave them my card number after a month that they took the money i haven't recieve any receipt from them or any papers from them so my husband said im stupid (i accept that one) then i called my bank and order another card then automatically the card that i gave to them is deactivated..now they try to take the next payment it didn't go thru so they start calling me again and harrassing me telling me that they gonna send the the papers that they talking about to court..I KNOW I OWED YOU GUYS BUT YOU GOTTA WAIT FOR YOUR'E TURN TO GET PAID..

They called and asked for my social security number and wouldn't give me their company name or website address.  I think they are a scam and fishing for social security numbers with intentions to perform Identity Theft.

Yeah, i wish is i read before they call me, they was after me for months, thinking was a real dept, i make a deal in February to close my account, today i just find out that is a scam, but i all ready pay to them $650.. i open a claim to the Federal trade commission.. i hope they can help me!!

maria.

I was contacted at 7:15 AM on a Saturday and they left me a message on my Cell phone.  They also called my parents and harassed them at the same time.  Giving a fake Case # and saying if I didn't return their call by Monday they would submit this to an attorney.  Obviously there is no CASE# because I've never been served or I would have filed a answer to respond to the court.  So I did my research seeing as how I actually work at a Law Firm in Legal Collections.  The practices this junk of a collection agency uses is illegal and immoral.  Just like somebody else posted I had my identity stolen and was forced to change bank accounts, moved, and just forgot about this.  Never received any Verification of Debt or documentation from anyone.  My number has always been the same so the payday loan company could have called me.  I contacted them and recorded the conversation all they did was talk over me and try to belittle me as I asked to speak to a manager in regards to their violation at contacting me before 8am.  They claimed to work in "arbitration" and were about as unprofessional as it gets.  Saying I will get what's coming, I take out payday loans, and so on.  I informed the last person after they hung up twice that I had them all on recording on top of the message left and he said good luck see you soon in court.  Over a 150$ pay day loan at that.  Needless to say I can tell all of these individuals are High School drop outs with Felony charges just by the conversation I had over the telephone with them.  I will never pay a company who performs business like this.  I will be filing a suit for violations of the FDCPA against ICS and any of their entities in the next week.

The tactics these guys are using are ILLEGAL...spell that, I---L---L---E---G--A---L, in and of themselves (any debt collector who wants to pretend to be a normal person on here and TRY to refute this can consult the FDCPA because ICS, JEC Law, Northtown Capital  breaks EVERY component of it, and I can provide MP3 labeled recorded files of their calls to back up everything I say)...THEY CANT *****AND WONT****** TAKE YOU TO COURT BECAUSE THEY ARE BREAKING THE LAW THEMSELVES, and their networth is not such to risk going to court...they are as broke as any normal person is right now!!!!!!!!!....save your voicemails and sue them for $1000 per call, because I can assure you with every call they make to you, they are breaking the law...they dont know how to collect debt without breaking the law to do it.  TOBIAS BOYLAND invented this type of collection...Google the name and educate yourself about this scam!!!!     This company is known as Northtown Cap, JEC "Law Firm", and ICS Interstate Check Systems...all of them are the same entity and all are a SCAM!!!!!!  Beware, dont pay them one single red cent!!!!!!!  Whether or not you owe a debt, DO NOT PAY THEM...go to the original creditor because its much safer and they WILL take the payment...anyone who says otherwise on this website is just a collector in disguise.

they have been at me as well... my brother, my dad, my grandmother, my deceased grandfather.  it is an illegitimate sphincter pumping out threat after threat.  now they started using folks with a mobster-like accent.  report them to the FTC and your state's Attorney General.  my lawer has contacted them and threatened a counter-suit.

I am in the middle off ICS trying to scam me out of money. Same thing hapenned with the phone call, stating that I am a person of interest. I talked to this lady and I told her I paid the debt. She did not give me the benefit of the doubt to prove it. Under duress,I gave her my credit card number. Aweek later I found the reciept (showing a zero balance) and faxed them the reciept. After a couple of days they called me back and said that the account numbers did not match. With that they gave me the option of paying the debt or go to court. Under duress again, I told them to take the money from my credit card again. After that I got on the computer and found this website with BING. Thank God. Now I have a leg to stand on against these S.O.B.'s.
    When a debt is owed then it should be paid. When a debt has been paid in full there should be no reason for scam artist to double dip on hard working Americans.

I worked for this company, ICS inc. for a little less than a month. They are located in Buffalo, NY. I honestly could not tell you if it is a scam or not. They are run by 5 attorneys. They say they buy the debt off of these Cash Advance/Payday Loan offices. But they call everybody and anybody to find these people that owe the money, then they harass them for information or sometimes try to make them pay the debt. They threaten them with summons, and wage garnishments and claim these people "bounced" a check. It's ridiculous and completely unethical if you ask me, and I'm glad I don't work there any longer. I don't know the owners, but one of the head supervisors is Aubre Murphy. They have another phone number also, it's 1-888-832-9845. Like I said, I don't if it's a scam or not but I do know they have been sued several times, so that has to tell you something. All they mostly hire there is a bunch of dumb ghetto trash. I'm a smart upstanding citizen and I guess I just didn't fit in. Sue the s**t out of them!

they have had 2 employees escorted off the premises in handcuffs both for stealing they really need to do a background check on these people but its sad that ligitimate collectors have to be classed with the scum of the earth that they hire tiffany tabor aka as liz frank was caught stealing money from another womans purse how sad is that

They told me that they were a law office and if I didn"t make arrangements to pay, the Sherriffs department would be contacting me on a Class C felony.  Plus, they are trying to say I owe $2600 on a debt of $550 from 2 years a go.  I thought I paid this, I'm contacting my bank and the original place they said the debt is from, first thing in the morning.  They had me scared out of my mind, I was thinking I'm a single mom, I'll lose everything if I go to jail.  I'm glad I found this web site, I feel a lot better now.

They told me that they were a law office and if I didn"t make arrangements to pay, the Sherriffs department would be contacting me on a Class C felony.  Plus, they are trying to say I owe $2600 on a debt of $550 from 2 years a go.  I thought I paid this, I'm contacting my bank and the original place they said the debt is from, first thing in the morning.  They had me scared out of my mind, I was thinking I'm a single mom, I'll lose everything if I go to jail.  I'm glad I found this web site, I feel a lot better now.

The number has now changed....it is 888-408-3144  It appears on caller id as 999-999-9999.  I will not fall for their scam.  I had it checked out by the BBB and Sheriff's Dept. about 5 yrs ago....they still call from time to time.  I ignore them, sometimes argue with them for the heck of it and they get furious.  I don't owe anything, or anyone so I don't waste my time with them. They are ididots.

They keep leaving messages and calling overr and over I tell them I do not know the person they are looking for they think I'm telling a lie...who do I report them to?

Got an initial call from a woman from an unknown number on my cell phone. She said that she received a fax stating there was pending court charges against me and that I needed to call the number above, ext. 330 and speak to Michael Mason. Called the number, got a man on the phone stating his name was Michael Mason, but didn't state the company name. But, when you dial the 888 #, it says "thank you for calling ICS". Of course, I was in a huff and demanded to know what this was about and wanted to know what court charges they were talking about. They said my SS# was attached to some old payday loan from '07 and had a lot of info about what bank I used to have an account with and my old email address. He said that I was yelling at him, and I was, so he put me on hold and got another man on the phone, who ALSO stated his name was Michael Mason, though you could clearly hear that it was a completely different person. I called him out on it, and he said that it was obviously a miscommunication from the other man and that his name was Michael Freeburg or something. Yeah right...Anyway, after sitting on the phone trying to figure out what was going on, he said that they had legal retainers waiting to take my case to court and if I didn't pay the outstanding amount, that I could be sent a summons and taken to court for up to 10 times as much. They had my address and my debit card # and wanted to take out money from my account for a "payment plan". I hung up and then went to my bank first thing the next morning to cancel the debit card. Absolutely ridiculous! BEWARE THIS PHONE NUMBER! They will tell you they are lawyers or a law office, but they are called Interstate Check Services or ICS and they are collectors trying to scam ppl off old debt. I reported them to my state attorney general and made sure I was still on the do not call list. Here is the address/phone:

15 Hazelwood
Ste. 102
Amherst, NY
Phone: 888-358-1120

I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPEN TO YOU BUT THIS HAPPEN TO ME AND I TOOK IT AS A SCAM AND GOT SUED. I WOUND UP PAYING 5 TIMES WHAT MY CHECK WAS WORTH, AND MY WAGES ARE BEING GARNISHED AS WE SPEAK. I GUESS TO EACH THERE OWN BUT I WASN'T AS LUCKY AS YOU.

I didnt believe them either! I googled the #, saw all the comments and just started ignoring them thinking it was a scam, even though i DO remember taking out the loan. Turns out my sister who took out a loan the same time i did got sued.  They froze her account as soon as her tax refund was direct deposited. Scary! I'm closing all my accounts and I'm going to ask my boss if I can start working under the table so they wont garnish me.

you can not be serious, this is definitely a scam.  they called my place of employment and asked for a gentleman who is deceased and refused to believe me when i called thee to tell them this as a courtesy.  the immaturity of these people is out of control.  These people are full of it.

I was contacted just a few weeks ago by an unavailable number. The lady claimed to be from a lawyers office, that I had to pay something now or risk going to jail on an old payday loan. I explained that I was visiting my grandmother, who is dying from lung cancer..small cell lung cancer, and that I would work with them to please call me back the following week...she got quiet rude and then hung up. I just got a call today from them again, claiming to be a lawyers office, that they have my call recorded that I will work with them, that I need to give them a credit card number for payment arrangements. Not sure what to do, I told them let me do some research first, asked for their number and I got 888-358-1120. I think I will call a lawyer after reading this blog.

Yeah, they broke several of the laws, just like with my case, that is listed in the FDCPA laws I posted above. You did the right thing by contacting your lawyer. This company needs to be eliminated and I am surprised that they are still a functional company after breaking the law so many times.

I received a call similar to the above. The phone number was different. 8882607636. Same company ICS or Interstate Check Systems. He called at 6:14am left a message representing himself as a lead investigator for a law firm who was ready to file check fraud charges and would have law enforcement come to my home or work. He said he had my SS# and would use it with law enforcement. He only left his first name, no last name or company name. I called and used a different extension number and found out the name of ICS. I looked up the name online and found this site. I found out that sometime between 1969 to 2005 the FTC has determined ICS violated FTC rules in Indiana and told the company to cease such practices. I guess they have moved on to NY? I filed a complaint with the FTC today as these are violations of the FTC.

lol... I love scumbag debt collector's who pose like debtor's speaking good about their shady company and post on the negative pages that are out there on their company... ps, don't forget to harass jakubec on his cell phone like he harasses us! number is on his facebook! seven-one-six-six-two-eight-seven-zero-five-nine!!!

Wow,  you guys clearly have way to much time on your hands...If you owe the money PAY IT BACK!!!!!!  Debt collectors are not skum bags the DEBTORS ARE!!!!!! PAY YOUR BILLSSSS AND YOU WONT HAVE THESE CALLS!!!!!!! DUH!!!

I have no problem paying a debt I owe,but they can not threaten you with jail! i will pay my debt to a normal person.

Also found online that they are a PayDay Loan Collection Agency.