I’m no rocket surgeon.
There might be other reasons, but we as a society no longer answer phone calls unless our smart phone knows the person (even then it’s iffy)
I assume people in the law enforcement community get these calls too. Why can’t they do some sting operation? Answer the call, say yes I do want to extend my car warranty, here is my credit card number. Then follow the money.
I assume offshore accounts are involved, but this doesn’t seem insurmountable.
Because, in this specific case, it’s not a scam. And for some it might be worth it. It’s not really worth it for the vast majority of car owners so that makes these calls a nuisance, but there’s nothing illegal about it.
At the very least they are violating the FCC “Do not Call” rules.
And while there may be some legit “extended warranty” companies, I believe Ice T is doing commercials for one, whoever is behind these massive spam phone calls is not one of them.
Maybe, maybe not.
There are exceptions to the do not call rules:
First and most important, numbers are not added automatically to the registry; you have to add your number yourself.
Next: a company that you’ve recently done business with or one that has your written permission is excepted from the rules.
Some believe this extends to parent and affiliate companies.
And do you know what every word of those online permissions (that we’ve all signed) says? What companies are listed?
Alot of these phone advertisers are walking a very fine line between what is llegal and what is not.
It is a scam. Those “warranties” (actually service contracts) are worthless. It’s illegal in that they’re calling in violation of the Do Not Call list and robocalls from a company that you have no business dealings with is illegal. Add in the spoofed number and you’re dealing with criminals, plain and simple.
I get those calls on a regular basis and I haven’t owned a car in 11 years yet when I give them a fake name and fake car, they “find” my file within seconds.
They want an immediate answer, no website to read over the contract and a claim that email will take 3-5 days and regular mail will take two weeks.
Well, that’s really the problem. Some are and some aren’t.
As I wrote above. Maybe, maybe not. If the call really is a scam then they are either calling from another country where our laws do not apply. Or, since they’re already breaking the law by selling you a worthless contract, then getting on the FTC’s shit list is probably not a concern of theirs.
Please let me know which legitimate car warranty companies make cold calls?
What makes you so sure?
I should have said, not necessarily a scam.
If they call you up and, without first identifying you and/or your vehicle, tell you you warrantee is expired or in danger of expiring it is always a scam.
Every single one I have received over the years has been a scam.
These are actually my favorite scammers. I insist that they tell me which vehicle while they are insisting that they already have all my info in front of them, but they need me to tell them for security reasons.
If I do it right, we will go round and round for a good 5 minutes before I give in and tell them its for my '65 Chevy pick-up. Over half the time, they will get back to me with some sort of bullshit story about not being able to find the warranty at the moment, but they will call me back later. They never do.
And before you roll your eyes at me, the way I figure it, anyone who feels free to use my phone to try to scam me will do the same thing to anyone. Waste my time and resources and I feel free to waste yours. Plus, while I’ve got them going around in circles, they aren’t hassling anyone else.
And I bet you’ve never fallen for one. See how smart you are!
It is rather obvious that the vast majority of them are scams, so I am curious as to why you keep defending them?
For the same reason they don’t bust every clown who comes up to you and says “I bet you $5 I can tell you where you got those shoes”?
Priorities, plus they would have to build more jails…
The vast majority are from overseas.
There is this. Even if there is the tiniest chance of the scammers working out of your own town, the time and money needed to investigate would be prohibitive.
Those scam calls give me a few brief seconds of fun. I like to answer with “which car, I have three?” or “Do you mean the Porche or the BMW?” or to act randomly senile … “eh? Speak up, sonny, I can’t hear you!”
They know instantly I’m yanking their chain; I’m sure they’ve been trained not to waste time on someone who isn’t going to fall for the scam, and they hang up quickly.
Really? When I give them a fake name or car make and model, they just hang up. Then again, they must not have a record for “Jack Mehoff” and his “69 Dildo Explorer”.
Last time one called I was bored and did the same thing, saying they had called me and should have the info up already. I lasted only about two minutes before dropping into the Does your Mama know what you do for a living? Is she proud of her daughter? mode and they hung up.