Extended Auto Warranty Scams: The New look in Fraud

Scammers go from one scheme to another as state attorney general's close down one type of scam. The latest scam that has been especially targeting senior citizens recently are phone calls for extended vehicle warranties. These calls appear to come from the auto manufacturer and are somewhat official sounding, usually claiming that their auto warranty is about to expire, but almost always come from some fly by night boiler room phonebank that has little real intent to actually cover any repair costs for victim of the scam.

Without any real information in their hand, victims of these scams pay for expensive warranty plans that actually cover little or nothing of the normal repairs that many car owners will experience during the life cycle of an automobile. Since these scam warranties do not originate from the manufacturer, little quality service will actually be covered as well. The reality is that victims of this scam give out sensitive credit card, bank account or social security number information over the phone to some unknown source and only open themselves up to massive fraud or theft.

Criminals always seek new ways to steal from honest folks. And senior citizens are often their most common targets. Unfortunately, law enforcement is usually involved in a game of catch-up with the latest criminal scam to rob the public and is always one step behind the thieves.