Vehicle Warranty Scam

After searching for the phone number that appeared on the postcard I received (1-800-376-7044), I discovered this site and this site. This scam has apparently been going on for a while. A company that sells auto warranties sends these postcards that are made to look official (despite the atrocious grammar) to mislead people into calling the phone number and “renewing” their expired factory warranty. Mine didn’t even have a return address! Nice try.

As an aside, I can’t tell you how happy I am to see that my Department of Motor Vehicles has sold or given away their database of personally identifiable information for presumably every driver in the state of Missouri. Thank goodness they don’t have my real address either.

[Update July 25, 2007] I just got another one of these scam letters in the mail. This one was on letterhead that said “Dealer Services” and was signed by a “Russell Garland, Senior V.P.” Same deal, different phone number — this one was 1-800-607-8786. The fine print on the back did have a couple real addresses though. I guess it’s possible this one’s legit, but unfortunately for them, there are too many scammers in their line of work.

[Update Nov 1, 2007] It appears the fine folks at Dealer Services in Wentzville, MO are a busy lot. If these comments are to be believed, they are also behind a huge phone scam centered around another phone number (1-609-948-0971) which has called my cell phone twice in the last two days.