9/8/2009: received a call from someone who said she was named Nancy Wilkens. She dialed from 215-922-3273 but said the call back number was 215-294-0994. She said the company she represented was called AMA and she was calling about my recent car accident, and that the company had obtained my contact information from the Police Report!
After ascertaining that she did not represent the third-party company that my car insurance firm is using to obtain the police report, I told her that I did not expect to need any legal services because I have a family member who is an attorney. But she told me that her organization is a "victims' rights advocate" and that the services they provide are free. I pointed out that AMA generally stands for American Medical Association, and that I was not aware that the American Medical Association has a subdivision providing legal services. Her response was ambivalent, she was not so sure if the organization she represented was connected with the "American Medical Associates" (as she put it) or not. Then, I said that I might want to know more about her organization, despite having an attorney in my family. I asked her for a website address. She could not provide one. All she could tell me is her name and that the return phone number would be different than what she had called from, instead being 215-294-0994. I pressed her for more information about the organization. She said that she would have to transfer me to a "paralegal assistant" to answer my further questions. She proceeded to "transfer" me, but instead disconnected the call.
During the remainder of the day and evening, I received at least 5 calls placed from 215-294-0994. I did not answer them, and the caller did not leave a message.
9/9/09: After speaking to my attorney family-member, I decided that if I got another call I would tell them that I intended to report them to the Philadelphia Bar Association for harrassing calls and ambiguous communications with potential clients. I received a call, from 215-294-0994, at about 10am. I did not pick it up(because I had another call already in progress), but I called the number back. The person who answered only said "How can I help you?" when they answered.. they did not state the name of their business. The usual background sounds of a call placed to a call center were present. I asked to speak to Nancy Wilkens. The person who answered would not transfer me without getting my name first. I was not interested in giving my name out (again), so I hung up. Approx 25 minutes later, I got a call from 215-294-0994. The caller said they wanted to be absolutely sure they were talking to me, before telling me where they were calling from. But I was refusing to give my name. Finally I got some info from this caller (but not her name): She said she was calling from "Accident Recovery," which she described as being a "victims' rights advocates," and that the purpose was to provide "advice" to the "victim." However she said that "Accident Recovery" does not provide legal services! (Soooo utterly bogus- what other "advice" services to a "victim" would there be, other than legal counsel?) I told her that yesterday I had gotten a call from Nancy Wilkens, and that I had said I had a family member who was an attorney, so if I needed any legal assitance I would seek it from that person first. The caller this morning replied that she was surprised I had gotten a call from Nancy because she was with the other company in the same building, that called the people at fault in the accident, while in my case I was clearly not at fault (huh? how can she say that when she's not an attorney or a police officer?) I said I was very perplexed to be getting these calls on the basis of the police report and I wanted to know what personal information about me her company had obtained. She told me it was pretty basic: my name, phone number, address, date and time of the accident, location of the accident, and my insurance carrier info. So, that was kind of/rather re-assuring. I mean, if the Police had asked me for my SS# at the scene of the accident, I would have given it to them, not knowing that the Police Reports become so publicly available!
So anyway, she said she would remove my number from Accident Recovery's database, but she could not be certain if I might still here from AMA- Nancy Wilken's company/organization.
I think those are all the details. I will cross-post this report under the other phone number/company name.
9/8/2009: received a call from someone who said she was named Nancy Wilkens. She dialed from 215-922-3273 but said the call back number was 215-294-0994. She said the company she represented was called AMA and she was calling about my recent car accident, and that the company had obtained my contact information from the Police Report!
After ascertaining that she did not represent the third-party company that my car insurance firm is using to obtain the police report, I told her that I did not expect to need any legal services because I have a family member who is an attorney. But she told me that her organization is a "victims' rights advocate" and that the services they provide are free. I pointed out that AMA generally stands for American Medical Association, and that I was not aware that the American Medical Association has a subdivision providing legal services. Her response was ambivalent, she was not so sure if the organization she represented was connected with the "American Medical Associates" (as she put it) or not. Then, I said that I might want to know more about her organization, despite having an attorney in my family. I asked her for a website address. She could not provide one. All she could tell me is her name and that the return phone number would be different than what she had called from, instead being 215-294-0994. I pressed her for more information about the organization. She said that she would have to transfer me to a "paralegal assistant" to answer my further questions. She proceeded to "transfer" me, but instead disconnected the call.
During the remainder of the day and evening, I received at least 5 calls placed from 215-294-0994. I did not answer them, and the caller did not leave a message.
9/9/09: After speaking to my attorney family-member, I decided that if I got another call I would tell them that I intended to report them to the Philadelphia Bar Association for harrassing calls and ambiguous communications with potential clients. I received a call, from 215-294-0994, at about 10am. I did not pick it up(because I had another call already in progress), but I called the number back. The person who answered only said "How can I help you?" when they answered.. they did not state the name of their business. The usual background sounds of a call placed to a call center were present. I asked to speak to Nancy Wilkens. The person who answered would not transfer me without getting my name first. I was not interested in giving my name out (again), so I hung up. Approx 25 minutes later, I got a call from 215-294-0994. The caller said they wanted to be absolutely sure they were talking to me, before telling me where they were calling from. But I was refusing to give my name. Finally I got some info from this caller (but not her name): She said she was calling from "Accident Recovery," which she described as being a "victims' rights advocates," and that the purpose was to provide "advice" to the "victim." However she said that "Accident Recovery" does not provide legal services! (Soooo utterly bogus- what other "advice" services to a "victim" would there be, other than legal counsel?) I told her that yesterday I had gotten a call from Nancy Wilkens, and that I had said I had a family member who was an attorney, so if I needed any legal assitance I would seek it from that person first. The caller this morning replied that she was surprised I had gotten a call from Nancy because she was with the other company in the same building, that called the people at fault in the accident, while in my case I was clearly not at fault (huh? how can she say that when she's not an attorney or a police officer?) I said I was very perplexed to be getting these calls on the basis of the police report and I wanted to know what personal information about me her company had obtained. She told me it was pretty basic: my name, phone number, address, date and time of the accident, location of the accident, and my insurance carrier info. So, that was kind of/rather re-assuring. I mean, if the Police had asked me for my SS# at the scene of the accident, I would have given it to them, not knowing that the Police Reports become so publicly available!
So anyway, she said she would remove my number from Accident Recovery's database, but she could not be certain if I might still here from AMA- Nancy Wilken's company/organization.
I think those are all the details. I will cross-post this report under the other phone number/company name.