On October 30, I answered a call at about 2:00 PM from a man identifying himself as Inspector Kamerowski from the Erie County attorneys office who asked to talk to my wife. The man stated to my wife that he wanted to talk to her about a missed court appearance that had been scheduled for my wife's daughter that morning. He said he was calling from the judges chambers and wanted to save my wife and her daughter the hardship of further court appearances and expense by giving her daughter an opportunity to respond to the subpoena. He stated my wife was listed as a co-defendant.
While my wife was responding to his questions, I could tell from her responses that he was probing her for information about her daughters place of work, phone number, etc. Which I believed should have been readily available to a trustee of the court or at least the judge. It didn't seem the type of information a man in a judges chambers would be asking. It all sounded very fishy to me.
While my wife went to get the phone number of her daughter's work place, she handed the phone tome so that I might address some of my concern with Inspector Kamerowski. When I asked Inspector Kamerowski for the name of the judges chambers or the phone number or how we could contact him, he refused to answer. On a couple of occasions, he asked if I was implying he was harassing me which sounded accusatory in his tone. He said at that point that he needed to change phones so he could record my conversations. This all sounded very officious and intimidating. Could I actually be offending a trustee of the court? At one point he threatened me with legal action. I gave the phone back to my wife when she returned.
Co-incidentally, my wife's daughter then called on the other line. Having one phone in either ear, my wife made arrangements between Inspector Kamerowski and her daughter for her daughter to take a call from this man in ten minutes. She had previously been rejecting calls from numbers she did recognize. Once that arrangement was complete, my wife handed the phone back to me saying Inspector Kamerowski wanted to apologize for raising his voice in our previous conversation.
I advised Inspector Kamerowski that there was no need to apologize as he did not raise his voice. I re-affirmed my suspicions of deceit and harassment by saying to him directly that he should be ashamed for trying such a tactic to get money he isn't entitled. He replied that he was trying to help and didn't I want him to take care of my wife and daughter. I replied I can take care of them myself. He then went on to say something to the effect that he has a long career in this type of business and that he retracts his apology. I told him to pound salt and gave the phone back to my wife.
Though subsequent conversations with my wife and her daughter, we discovered the mysterious Inspector Tom Kamerowski represented 716Services (aka 716 Services, seven-one-six Services) and that her daughter owed money for a magazine she had ordered some three years ago. It seemed to me the old bait and switch scheme where contrary to the original contract where there was to be little or no cost, her daughter informed us that a subsequent caller notified her at that time, that the particular magazine titles she had ordered were no longer available and requested she select from a different list. Unfortunately, it was not divulged to her that the other titles she selected were not included in the original contract. Additionally, she claims she never received any magazines, free or otherwise.
In subsequent conversations with her daughter, it was conveyed to me that the call she received after the arrangement made by her mother was from a man at 716 Services who stated, among other things, he understood she was a nice girl who had a brain between her ears. He stated that he would be willing to settle an expected $800 that included attorney discovery time and other expenses, for $208 if she were to give him a credit card number on the spot. The caller said this would save her the trouble of further court appearances and that it would restore her credit rating. She gave him her credit card number.
My suspicions were confirmed after she spoke to the Erie County Clerk asking if indeed there was indeed a subpoena issued for her appearance. The clerk replied there was not. She immediately called the bank to cancel her credit card.
I am proceeding with a complaint to the New York State Attorney General, the Erie county Clerks Office to investigate ownership of that company and the Erie County Bar Association to have the lawyers involved in this scam to be disbarred.
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