Auto warranty scammers, the latest chapter

Today I got a call from one of the auto warranty scammers, with a caller ID of 516-858-7142. This is the first time these crooks have hit my home phone number. (I'm on the Do Not Call list and unlisted.) I've filed a report.

A comment on whocallsme.com says that these people demand that victims provide their name, address, and social security number to be removed from their list. This simply shows the operation is in the business of identity theft as well as fraud.

See also "An Auto-Warranty Scam Leads to a Solicitation Pileup" (Seattle Weekly) and "Warranty scam preys on auto owners' fears" (Columbus Dispatch).

The warranty scammers strike again

I'm not really using this blog any more, but it's a convenient place to leave my warranty-scam reports for whoever may find them with a web search.

An extended-warranty scammer left a message on my cell-phone voicemail telling me that this was the "last" message I would receive from them (I can only hope I'm so lucky, but the experience of others suggests they'll be calling my phone incessantly from now on.) The caller ID gave a Massachusetts number; one web page I looked up on this number states that it's a forgery, so that the angry calls will be directed at an innocent target. Given the likelihood this is true, I'm not posting the number, but I'll link to this page, which provides an excellent explanation of how these crooks operate. (I can't personally confirm the details.)

The message said that I could press 1 to talk to them and 2 to be removed from their list. They apparently believe in magic.

If you get a call or postcard from an unknown party claiming your car warranty has expired and that they can extend it, assume it's a crook unless you can definitely connect it with your manufacturer or dealer.

Motor Vehicle Warranty [scam] Notification

Postcard received today from Dealership Warranties, 12131 Dorsett Rd., Maryland Heights, MO 63043.

In big letters: MOTOR VEHICLE WARRANTY NOTIFICATION

Below it is a meaningless "Registration identification number" and the phone number 1-866-533-9966.

The message:

VEHICLE SERVICE NOTIFICATION
 
Dear Gary McGath:
 
This notification is to inform you that your factory warranty has expired or is about to expire. To avoid the high cost of automobile repairs, call us immediately with your Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) and exact miles to extend coverage on your vehicle.

In fact I never had a factory warranty on my car, since I bought it used, and even the dealer warranty expired long ago. In spite of what the postcard wants suckers to believe, "Dealership Warranties" has no connection with either the maker of my car or the dealer that sold it to me.

Maryland Heights isn't far from St. Louis. For some reason this area is a hotbed of automobile warranty scams. Click on the "scams" tag for earlier posts about warranty scams.

See also:

• Vehicle warranty sales pitch
• Dealer Warranty Services complaint. Scroll down to the comment titled "FORMER EMPLOYEE" for a detailed account of how these crooks operate.

Taking License

This blog is basically inactive, but in case anyone still drops by, I'd like to mention my new blog, Taking License. This is a one-subject blog, on user licenses which you agree to by opening a package or clicking a button, and which you might not even read. Some of those licenses have really nasty features, and I'll be reporting on them.

reunion.com

As long as I'm posting about scams today, in the hope that someone will find these posts with a web search and not be duped: reunion.com is the latest of the rogue "social networking" sites that asks users to give them their webmail passwords, and then of course spams everyone in their address book. The spam impersonates the owner of the account and tries to get the victim to sign up.

Any web site that asks for a third-party password is up to no good. Terminate any relationship you have with them. (I haven't followed this advice myself for LibraryThing, which started soliciting third-party passwords after I bought a lifetime membership; maybe I should. I've never heard of their spamming anyone, but it's inexplicable that they'd adopt such a practice.)

Some of the links I've found claim that reunion.com also bills people's credit cards without telling them in advance that they are incurring a charge.

Update: Lots of information here, especially in the comments. Reunion.com may be using some sneaky dodge to steal people's address books, possibly involving OpenID spoofing.

Links:

• Reunion.com Will Scrape Your Address Book, Then Spam Your Contacts
• Classic Spam: Reunite This!
• ReUnion.com complaints
• Reunion.com scam

Car warranty scam

Yesterday I received yet another automobile warranty scam postcard:

FINAL WARRANTY NOTICE
Call 1-888-963-6723
This is to inform you that this is your FINAL NOTICE to extend the warranty coverage on your vehicle. Call us immediately with your exact miles and VIN# to take advantage of this final offer. You have been pre-selected for this exclusive program.
 
Additional 20% discount off the already low price if you call within 48 hrs and use promotion code PC-327
 
Be advised your 20% discount expires in 48 ours so Call 1-888-963-6723 now.

The return address on the other side of the card is:

Dealers Warranty
745 Friedens Rd., Ste. 201
St. Charles MO 63303

Several points flag this as a scam:

• There is no information identifying my vehicle. The manufacturer that issued your warranty already has your VIN, yet the postcard wants you to supply it. (Some extended-warranty scammers do get this information, which is on public record, so its presence is no guarantee of legitimacy.)
• Nothing in the card mentions the manufacturer of my car. The sender in fact has no affiliation with the issuer of the warranty, and no power to extend it.
• Any piece of mail which claims that an offer expires in "x hours" or "y" days" is trying to rush you into a hasty response. The sender has no way to start a timer when you pick up your mail.
• The return address is in St. Charles, which is right next to St. Louis. The large majority of extended-warranty scams are based in St. Louis or its immediate vicinity.

Here's a little more information on the scammer. Dealers Warranty has reportedly been making auto-dialer hangup calls to cell phones, which is illegal several times over.

Spam host kintera.com

I'm not using this blog regularly any more, but will occasionally use it to post items which someone might find with a web search, but aren't permanent enough to go on my regular web site.

I've been getting considerable spam at my work address for the past few months from the MIT Alumni Association. Since they take in money, they're allowed to get away with it. Much of the spam was sent through kintera.com. After repeated complaints, I got a response today saying "Your request to be removed from the MIT mailing list has been taken care of."

I had not requested to be removed from the list. I had insisted, in strong terms, that the account which was being used to send spam be terminated.

Kintera.com is a knowing spam host and doesn't terminate spammers' accounts.

Cory Maye update

The only handwritten letters I get these days are from people in jail, it seems. The letter I just got from Cory Maye was a surprise; I hadn't written to him in well over a year. He mentions that his direct appeal is due September 25 and hopes his attorneys will have everything completed on time. The Mississippi Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal, giving it over to the Courts of Appeals; he's asked the Supreme Court to reconsider. He's also trying to get a transfer to another prison so that his family won't have so far to travel.