So I am a ****ing guy with a black **** who is going to shove it up your *** + phone call investigation lesson

This is part of my long running series on how telemarketing really works.

Serially successful Telephone Consumer Protection Act plaintiffs typically pick up a 'fan club' of angry telemarketers who, since they can't win in court, try to win outside of court.

This case offers some lessons in the best practices of investigating unwanted calls and callers.

Mark Dobronski is a successful TCPA plaintiff, and as he started getting the better of Savings Bank Mutual Life Insurance Company of Massachusetts, folks with an unnatural interest in that litigation allegedly went on essentially a terrorism campaign of threats against Mr. Dobronski.

Mr. Dobronski moved the court for an injection to stop solicitation calls benefitting Savings Bank Mutual Life Insurance Company of Massachusetts, and to stop phone threats of violence Mr. Dobronski felt were coming from Savings Bank Mutual Life Insurance Company of Massachusetts's agents.

To understand the overall situation, let's take a closer look at the allegations in the original complaint. It is a classic Dobronski canary trap case, where Mr. Dobronski received many unwanted calls, and used fake names to help catch the callers.

Call #1

On November 30, 2022, at approximately 5:41 P.M., Defendants or Defendants’ agent initiated a telephone call to Plaintiff’s cellular telephone number . . . Upon answering the telephone call by saying “hello”, Plaintiff heard a clicking sound followed by approximately 4 seconds of silence then heard a male individual ask “Is this Michael Overton?” Michael Overton was a “canary trap” name which Plaintiff had previously given during an unrelated telephone solicitation on August 13, 2022 during which the calling party sold Plaintiff a life insurance policy issued by United of Omaha Life Insurance Company. [This is why Mr. Dobronski uses so many fake names - one per caller it seems. When two seemingly unrelated callers ask for the same fake name, Mr. Dobronski can make a connection. Like when later in 2022, a telemarketer called asking for the fake name Dobronski gave another telemarketer earlier in 2022] Through the course of discovery in this case, Plaintiff anticipates being able to unmask how the “canary trap” name of Michael Overton managed to travel from one insurance carrier (United) to a competing insurance carrier . . . James then confirmed information he had on Michael Overton, including a false Social Security number, date of birth, address, and physical description, all of which was identical to information Plaintiff had provided to another individual on August 13, 2022 . . . James then lived transferred the call to his “associate” who identified himself as Tom Simkins . . . Simkins then attempted to sell Plaintiff a $10,000 life insurance policy issued by SBLI ("Savings Bank Mutual Life Insurance Company of Massachusetts") . . . During the course of the conversation, Plaintiff received an email from SBLI at the controlled email address which Plaintiff had provided to Simkins which included an SBLI application form pre-filled with the controlled information which Plaintiff had provided to Simkins.

Call #2

On May 9, 2023 [more than 3 months after Call #1] . . . Defendants or Defendants’ agent initiated a telephone call to Plaintiff’s residential telephone number . . . Up answering the call by saying “hello”, Plaintiff heard a “boink” sound, followed by approximately 5 seconds of silence and then heard a female identify herself as “Anna with Senior Benefits.” . . . The call was then licensed transferred to “Brian... a supervisor” who asked additional prequalifying questions. Plaintiff provided “canary trap” information, including a false name of Michael Douglas. The call was then transferred to “Steve Adams... in the Final Expense Department” who then attempted to sell a $20,000 final expense policy, with a monthly premium of $122.00, issued by SBLI, to Plaintiff.

Call #3

On May 9, 2023 . . . Plaintiff heard a click sound followed by approximately 4 seconds of silence and then heard the same “Steve Adams” from Call 2 come on the line and state that he was transferring the call to his “account (sic) department.” Plaintiff was then connected to an individual who identified himself as Phillip Brown in the accounting department at SBLI. Brown sought Plaintiff’s credit card number for payment of the SBLI life insurance policy.

Call #4

On May 16, 2023 . . . Upon answering the call, Plaintiff heard a prerecorded voice state “Hi, this is Amy with American Senior Citizens Car. How are you doing today”? . . . The call was then transferred to an individual who identified himself as “Steve Adams in the Final Expense Department” and sounded to be the same “Steve Adams” identified in Call 2 and Call 3 . . . Adams stated that he knew that Plaintiff’s telephone number was listed on the National Do-Not-Call Registry . . . Plaintiff provided a false name of Andrew Jackman. Adams then attempted to sell Plaintiff a $20,000 life insurance policy issued by SBLI with a monthly premium of $130.00.

Call #5

May 25, 2023 . . . Upon answering the call by saying “hello”, Plaintiff heard a “boink” sound followed by 5 seconds of silence and then heard a live telemarketer come onto the line and identify himself as “Mike with Senior Benefits.” Mike then asked pre-qualifying information or Plaintiff, to which Plaintiff provided a false name of Thomas Troy, and proceeded to sell Plaintiff a $25,000 life insurance policy with SBLI with a monthly premium of $151.84. The call was then transferred to a telemarketer who identified himself as Ali Crrosco, a licensed agent, who confirmed the information supplied to Mike and stated that a policy would be mailed to Plaintiff.

Call #6

On May 27, 2023 . . . Upon answering the telephone line by saying “hello”, Plaintiff heard a “boink” sound followed by approximately 6 seconds of silence, then heard a prerecorded voice state: “Hello, this is Jacks from Final Care. How are you doing today?”. Plaintiff then heard another “boink” sound and then a live telemarketer who identified herself as “Emma with Senior Benefits” came on the law and asked pre-qualifying questions. Plaintiff provided a false name of David Parker . . . Brown sounded to be the same person who identified himself as Ali Crrosco during Call 5 . . . Brown then attempted to sell Plaintiff a $20,000 life insurance policy with SBLI with a monthly premium of $122.30 . . .

Call #9

June 5, 2023 . . . Upon Plaintiff answering the call by saying “hello”, Plaintiff heard a clocking sound followed by approximately 4 seconds of silence followed by a female voice identifying herself as “Bella with Senior Benefits.” . . . Bella then began to ask pre-qualifying questions of Plaintiff, during which Plaintiff provided the faux name of Michael Keegan . . . The call was then transferred to a male individual who identified himself as David Parker, and who them quoted Plaintiffa $20,000 SBLI life insurance policy having a $122.30 monthly premium . . . The call was then transferred once again, this time to a female who identified herself only as “Rhonda.” Rhonda then continued to market a $20,000 SBLI life insurance product to Plaintiff . . . Plaintiff inquired of Bunkley as to the callers that had participated in the call prior to her, to which she responded that “they do the pre-screening to make it more efficient for us.” . . . Plaintiffreceived an email from SBLI addressed to Michael Keegan at the controlled email address which Plaintiff had provided to Bunkley.

Call #10

June 7, 2023 . . . Upon Plaintiff answering the call by saying “hello”, Plaintiff heard a clicking sound followed by approximately 4 seconds of silence followed by a male voice identifying himself as “Adam with Senior Benefits.” Adams asked pre-qualifying questions of Plaintiff, during which Plaintiff provided a faux name of William Lukas . . . Eakes then sold a life insurance policy issued by SBLI to Plaintiff . . . Plaintiff inquired of Eakes regarding the caller who identified himself as “Adam” who spoke poor English, to which Eakes responded that Adam works for a call center which Halosurance hires to find leads for Eakes to sell to . . . Shortly after the termination of the telephone call, Plaintiff received an email from SBLI which included an SBLI life insurance policy that had been issued to the faux name William Lukas. The insurance policy lists James Kevin Eakes, c/o Halosurance” as the producer and receiving a 60 percent agent split, and Duno Francis Joseph as receiving a 40 percent agent split.

Call #11

On June 8, 2023 . . . Upon Plaintiff answering the call by saying “hello”, Plaintiff heard a clicking sound followed by approximately 4 seconds of silence followed by a male voice identifying himself as “[unintelligible] with Senior Benefits.” The caller asked pre-qualifying questions of Plaintiff, during which Plaintiff provided a false name of Kevin Beltramo . . . Not surprisingly, subsequent investigation revealed that the telephone number provided did not connect to Austin Cooper, the license number of 16585113 was fake, and Austin Cooper (which is not believed to be his real name) is not a licensed insurance agent. Cooper then sold Plaintiff a $20,000 life insurance policy issued by SBLI with a monthly premium of $122.30.

Call #12

On June 8, 2023 . . . Upon Plaintiff answering the call by saying “hello”, Plaintiff heard a “boink” sound followed by approximately 4 seconds of silence followed by a male voice identifying himself as “David Parker... a licensed agent.” Parker did not provide a company name. Parker then asked pre-qualifying questions of Plaintiff, during which Plaintiff provided a false name of Bruce Morgan. Parker then quoted Plaintiff a $20,000 life insurance policy issued by SBLI. Parker then stated he was transferring the call to his “senior supervisor.” Plaintiff heard clicking, a telephone ring signal, and then a recorded message stating “Hi. This is Rhonda Bunkley...” The call then disconnected. Parker came back on the line and again connected Plaintiff to a recording stating “Hi. This Rhonda Bunkley...” and then again disconnected with Parker stating “hang on.” Parker kept Plaintiff on the line for approximately 3 minutes more apparently trying to transfer the call and then suddenly hung up without warning.

Call #13

June 20, 2023 . . . Upon Plaintiff answering the call by saying “hello”, Plaintiff heard a “boink” sound followed by approximately 4 seconds of silence followed by a male voice identifying himself as “Gilbert... with Senior Care Benefits.” . . . Cooper then continued to ask pre-qualifying questions of Plaintiff, and then quoted a $10,000 life insurance policy with a monthly premium of $63.24 issued by SBLI.

Dobronski v The Savings Bank Mutual Life Insurance Company of Massachusetts Dkt 1.pdf

Download PDF • 6.00MB

Where the case gets factually interesting is a filing in early 2024 where Mark Dobronski moved the court to enjoin Savings Bank Mutual Life Insurance Company of Massachusetts and its agents from calling him, prompted in large part by:

On January 11, 2024, at approximately 9:18 P.M., Plaintiff’s cellular telephone line 734-***-9671 rang, displaying caller identification number 609-***-0303. Upon Plaintiff answering the incoming call, Plaintiff was confronted by a male who was engaged in a profanity and racially-filled rage. The caller made numerous statements, including, by way of example and not limitation: • “You are the mother fucker that is trying to sue us?” [0:23] • Identified himself as “Thomas J. Troy, the senior mother fucker.” [1:01] • “You are the mother fucker who tries to sue companies.” [1:14] • “You are on the federal do not call list.” [1:17] • “You are a fucking red necked mother fucker.” [1:59] • “This is not a sales call. This is a call where I fuck a bastard.” [3:19] • “I am against those people who are fucking suing people.” [3:35] • “So I am a fucking guy with a black dick who is going to shove it up your ass. • “I’m fucking you.” ⋮ On January 11, 2024, at 9:18 P.M., Plaintiff received a telephone call from the same telephone number 609-***-0303 wherein the caller stated that he knew that Plaintiff was “trying to sue us”, identified himself as “Thomas J. Troy, the senior mother fucker” and engaged in a profanity-filled rage wherein the caller threatened to injure Plaintiff.

Dobronski v The Savings Bank Mutual Life Insurance Company of Massachusetts Dkt 28.pdf

Download PDF • 5.82MB

And he followed it up with more documentation of calls pitching Savings Bank Mutual Life Insurance Company of Massachusetts goods and services.

Dobronski v The Savings Bank Mutual Life Insurance Company of Massachusetts Dkt 40.pdf

Download PDF • 671KB

On September 18, 2024, Plaintiff received yet an additional call from an individual identifying with SBLI asking to speak with Timothy Braxton, which is the faux name provided by Plaintiff during the call on February 27, 2024. The caller knew that the prior policy had not been issued and reviewed the application information which Plaintiff had provided on February 27, 2024. The caller then transferred the call to a “licensed agent.” The licensed agent then confronted Plaintiff with the faux name that had been used during the calls on September 3, 13, and 17; to wit: Andrew Jackman. The licensed agent then confronted Plaintiff with Plaintiff’s true name, Plaintiff’s wife’s name, the name of relatives of Plaintiff, and Plaintiff’s true residence address, and made threats that Plaintiff was going to be arrested for cyber crimes, possession of illegal drugs, and possession of illegal weapons. The licensed agent was fully familiar with the fact that Plaintiff had sued SBLI and other insurance companies and demanded money from Plaintiff

Where the case gets legally interesting is the court's order denying the injunction and its view of the calls to Mr. Dobronski.

Dobronski v The Savings Bank Mutual Life Insurance Company of Massachusetts Dkt 71.pdf

Download PDF • 229KB

Recall that in Call #5 Mr. Dobronski used the moniker Thomas Troy:

Dobronski does not allege or argue that, in connection with Call 5 or that SBLI policy, he (Troy): (a) advised “Mike” or anyone else not to call him (Troy); (b) told “Mike” or anyone else to take him (Troy) off any list; or (c) communicated to “Mike” or anyone else that the number “Mike” called was on the Do Not Call registry. Dobronski also does not allege or argue that he ever complained to SBLI about the application stemming from Call 5, which application includes his electronic signature . . . The Court finds that, when Dobronski provided “Mike” with the fake name “Thomas J. Troy,” his actual cell number [the record isn't clear as to what if any phone number Mr. Dobronski "gave" the caller. In my own phone investigations I find callers will ask about the number they called me on, often some version of 'is this the best number to reach you at' and I respond it isn't, that I'm not suppose to get person calls to it, and I give an investigation phone number as my ONLY phone number. I highly recommend that folks in Dobronski's situation have an investigation phone and if making a 'controlled buy', give the investigation phone number as their actual and ONLY phone number. And/or follow up with a do not call requests (contact us for our thoughts on how best to do that)] and mailing address, and other pre-qualifying information to obtain an SBLI life insurance policy, Dobronski (Troy) gave—at a minimum—implied consent to future contact from SBLI at that cell number and mailing address. See, e.g., Dobronski v. Total Ins. Brokers, LLC, No. 21-10035, 2021 WL 4452218, at *4 (E.D. Mich. Sept. 29, 2021) (“Because Plaintiff concedes that he engaged in conduct designed to encourage the second call, he gave implied consent to that call.”). There is no indication that Dobronski took any action to revoke that consent prior to contacting one of SBLI’s attorneys (Perry) on January 10, 2024, and it is unclear whether Dobronski indicated to Perry that McAdams was calling Dobronski’s cell number for “Dobronski” or “Troy.” The same issues plague Dobronski’s assertions regarding many of the other calls identified above. He admits, if not brags, that he routinely “worked” the caller and provided a “faux” name, but he also admits providing his actual cell number [Did he? I didn't pull every document in the case but of those I saw, I didn't see Mr. Dobronski admit he provided his actual cell number. But again, all the more reason to use investigation phone numbers when making 'controlled' buys] and mailing address for purposes of obtaining SBLI insurance policies, i.e., he was baiting the SBLI agents. He then feigns surprise and claims harm when such agents called his cell number to sell Troy the SBLI insurance products Troy (Dobronski) for which Troy (Dobronski) had applied. . . . More specifically, the Court finds that Dobronski admits that he intentionally supplied false information to callers to create fraudulent SBLI policies [here is where the judge tips his hand - describing a 'controlled buy' to uncover the telemarketer behind unwanted as fraudulent shows his thinking - he's a patron saint of telemarketers pissed off that some deception revealed the telemarketers' true identity. But recognize that you might be in front of a patron saint yourself, and act accordingly. It can take a lot of work to undo the damage caused by a patron saint on a rampage, and some proactive choices on your part can greatly limit the patron saint's freedom of movement] . . .

Patron saints of telemarketing are a fact of life, and your case should be and can be built mindful of how to tie their hands. The facts of this case are not clear, but it will be interesting to see the outcome. Mr. Dobronski is very experienced and likely is way ahead of my thoughts.

Got a Case Like This?

If you’ve had similar problems with telemarketers, debt collectors, or bankruptcy-related harassment, we might feature your story in a future blog post. Email your situation or legal filing to peter@nwdebtresolution.com or nathen@nwdebtresolution.com.

Are telemarketers bothering you in Washington, Oregon, or Montana?

I handle TCPA lawsuits in Washington State and Oregon, and may be able to help.

📞 Call: 206-800-6000 / 971-800-6000

📧 Email: peter@nwdebtresolution.com

Note: The opinions in this blog are mine (Peter Schneider) and do not count as legal advice. If you're thinking of suing over illegal robocalls or Do Not Call list violations, contact me for a legal consultation.

Return to blog articles

Our blog articles organized into popular topics