# Phone Rage At "Extended Auto Warranty" Scammer

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-rage-at-extended-auto-warranty-scammer/503777>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [July 21, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-rage-at-extended-auto-warranty-scammer/503777 "2009-07-21T20:45:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 6

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**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-rage-at-extended-auto-warranty-scammer/503777/101 "2009-07-27T18:36:43Z")

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I only mark the email as spam because I am ASSURED that my email won’t go onto any marketing lists. I only give out those addresses when I get such assurances. Thus, they lied to me when I signed up. I feel no guilt whatsoever. I would vastly prefer to only give out my snail mail address. The companies don’t need my email for a buyer’s reward program…a snail mail address would work just fine, if they didn’t want to sneakily spam me. If they’re going to use my email as a way to send me countless unwanted emails, then they should be up front about it, and let me choose whether or not I want to delete several emails a week from them.

I have a different email address that I give out when I WANT to receive email from a company. I can’t remember exactly which companies I’ve given that address to, but one of them will let me know when an author has a new book out, and ONLY sends me an email when a new book is coming out. This is information that has value to me.

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**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-rage-at-extended-auto-warranty-scammer/503777/102 "2009-07-27T18:45:49Z")

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> [@runner pat](#):
>
> The problem with this is that spammers already spoof their numbers. How can you be sure the spammer is actually being billed and how do you collect?  
> Double hard as a lot of these are overseas.

1-800 and 1-900 numbers use ANI, automatic number identification, which is not spoofable in the way that caller-ID display is. Plus, they aren’t accessible from overseas.

Hmm. Might be a solution there.

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