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Did You Receive an Unexpected Call from 918-375-2671 That Said Your Auto Warranty Had Expired? It's a Scam!
Have You Received an Auto Warranty Expired Phone Call? It's a Scam!
Did you receive a call from 918-375-2671 telling you that your car warranty has expired and you need to renew it? Scammers are not just busy on the internet, they are burning up the phone lines in attempts to scam people. See below for a consumer report of calls of this type.
In mot cases, the callers can not even tell you the make, model, or year of your car, so it is clearly a scam. Before you tell them ANYTHING, ask them: "OK, YOU say my warranty has expired? How do you know? Prove it by telling me the make, model and year of my vehicle"
We have a report of such a call (received at 5:11 pm EST, May 1, 2008) from 918-375-2671. The victim's phone number was an unlisted business cell phone. This indicates that the scammers may be dialing numbers at random or from grossly outdated lists.
The recording said that "your factory vehicle warranty had expired", but you could renew it, press 1 for more information. A male voice came on and asked the make, model and year of "your vehicle".
The victim said "You tell me! You called saying it had expired, you must know"
The voice on the other end refused to divulge any information, but kept pressing for the victim's information. Since the scammers do not actually have any details about you or your vehicles, this suggests that this is phone spam; random dialing in a blind attempt to sell extended warranties; in violation of the national do-not-call list, for those have registered their phone number.
We looked up the number of the caller. According to Google, it belongs to:
April Stol - (918) 375-2671
614 Grant St, Agra, OK 74824
As you can see from the Google Earth satellite photo, this appears to be a residential address
This appears to be one of several possible scams:
- Individual contractors on commission sales, working from home, cold calling random numbers in an attempt to sell extended warranties.
- Companies selling extended car warranties without any knowledge of your situation, just using a phone list (in other words, phone spam or junk telemarketers)
- Scammers who don't even represent a real company, merely trying to get you to divulge your credit card or bank information so they can clean out your account.
We instructed the victim to file a complaint with the State Attorney General's Office.
Information About Specific Phone numbers
There are several websites that focus on reports of scam phone calls. See these:
There are a number of common telephone scams, such as:
and some new and as yet, uncommon scams.
Automobile Extended Warranty Scam Tips and Warning Signs:
- Beware of any mailings that appear to come from your automobile
manufacturer offering extended warranty coverage.
- Never give out personal financial information such as bank account
numbers or Social Security Numbers over the phone.
- When considering an extended warranty, or any other telephone or mail
solicitation, always insist on getting the complete terms and conditions of
your agreement in the form of a written contract before you agree to sign
up, pay any money or provide your credit card information.
- Never give out personal financial information such as bank account
numbers, credit card numbers of Social Security Numbers over the phone,
unless you are absolutely positive that you know the party with whom you are
dealing.
- The Federal Trade Commission says consumers, before signing any extended coverage
contract, should fully understand its terms and coverage. The agency also
stresses that what consumers are actually buying is not an extended warranty
but a "service contract." "A service contract is a promise to perform, or
pay for, certain repairs or services. Although a service contract is
sometimes called an extended warranty,' under federal law, it is not a
warranty," the FTC said. "A warranty comes with the original price of the
car, whereas a service contract costs extra. It is mainly this separate and
additional cost that distinguishes a service contract from a warranty."
- There are many things to consider when you're offered an "extended warranty" or service contract." Consumers should beware that certain "extended warranties" do not always provide the peace of mind and financial protection that consumers expected. Many of these contracts, when closely scrutinized, exclude so many items that they really provide very little coverage for outrageous prices.
- Check out a business with your state Attorney General's Office and your local Better Business Bureau before you agree to do business with them.
Further Information
See this page for contact information for your state attorney general's office.
The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, click here or call 1-877-382-4357. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 1,600 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
- MEDIA CONTACT:
- Frank Dorman,
Office of Public Affairs
202-326-2674 - STAFF CONTACT:
- Karen Jagielski,
Bureau of Consumer Protection
202-326-2509
To see a list of other product cases click here.
And please let us know about any suspicious calls or emails you receive. We look for patterns so that we can alert the authorities and victims to new scams, before it is too late!