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Everything you need to know about car warranty scams

Your shows you a local number, and you pick up to a guy named 鈥淏rian鈥� 鈥� who suspiciously sounds a lot like he鈥檚 calling from a busy office in Kolkata 鈥� with some important news about your car warranty. Do you listen, or bail out?

While most people are generally going to hang up immediately, some people might be a lot more susceptible to this common type of scam call. In fact, these sketchy calls have topped the Federal Communications Commission in recent years. It seems like as long as cars exist, so too will car warranty scams.

details what to look for so you know exactly when to pump the brakes.

What Are Car Warranty Scams?

The most common car warranty scam takes the form of a phone call, and the contents of that call can range from crude to convincing. At the lower end of the spectrum, an automated voice 鈥� reading from a script but claiming to be your car dealer, manufacturer, or insurer 鈥� tells you that your car warranty is due to expire soon (or something along those lines). They then ask you to follow a few button prompts to get more information and, of course, eventually make a payment. Spoiler: That payment will not be going to anyone remotely responsible for your vehicle鈥檚 warranty.

The trickier, more subversive phony car warranty calls come from real, human callers (i.e., scammers) who might even share accurate details about your car鈥檚 make, model, mileage, insurance, and current warranty. Using high-pressure sales tactics and some , they鈥檒l typically ask you to confirm your private information (such as your social security number, credit or debit card details, or other banking info) and try to get you to purchase something like an 鈥渆xtended warranty.鈥�

These human con artists will often use emotional tactics to drum up guilt or pile on pressure. They鈥檒l often claim to have already sent you numerous requests by mail or urge you to seize a tempting 鈥渙ne-time-only鈥� offer that you can cancel easily 鈥� or they may threaten to close your file altogether. No matter the tactic car warranty scams employ, it鈥檚 all a ruse to get the private information or money that the scammers ultimately want out of you.

Car Warranty Calls: Red Flags

The bad news is that car warranty scams are a tale as old as phone scams themselves. The good news is, when a scam is this played out, we know all of the regular red flags that give it away as a con. Sketchy car warranty calls share a lot of red flags in common with general scam and phishing calls, but they also have some specific traits to keep an ear out for.

• If you don鈥檛 have an auto warranty to begin with, hang up immediately. If you鈥檙e shopping for one, it鈥檚 safer for you to make the call to them.
• Be wary of any automated messages claiming to be from your car dealer, insurer, auto loan company, or manufacturer. It鈥檚 virtually unheard of for any of these organizations to request payment from you via a .
• Likewise, note any suspicious generalities. If it鈥檚 a real car warranty call, it鈥檒l tell you exactly what company it鈥檚 coming from, rather than a generic, completely unbranded call 鈥渞egarding your warranty.鈥�
• That said, don鈥檛 take caller ID at face value. Sophisticated scammers sometimes use simple tech known as to display local numbers, or even the number or company name of trusted warranty providers, on caller ID.
• As always, if a deal you鈥檙e being offered sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Buckle Up Against Car Warranty Scams

For the most part, you can stay safe from in the same ways as you can from similar phishing attacks or general scam calls.

• Let suspicious or unknown numbers (or even car warranty calls in general, given the proliferation of the scam) go to voicemail.
• Cross-reference the information in said voicemail 鈥� like the number, the name of the company, your warranty鈥檚 expiration dates, coverage, and other details 鈥� with the real deal in your contract or the warranty provider鈥檚 website.
• Ignore instructions from robocalls that prompt you to press a number on your keypad, as this is often a tactic used by scammers to confirm that they鈥檝e reached an active number ripe for the taking.

The golden rule is: Never give out your valuable private information over the phone unless you鈥檙e absolutely certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that you鈥檙e talking to the legit business entity you鈥檙e trying to give money to.

What To Do If You Miss the Exit

At the peak of their dubious popularity, criminals made about scammy car warranty calls per year. While that number has fallen to the single-digit millions in recent times, it鈥檚 still an incredibly popular scam, which is all to say that there鈥檚 nothing to be ashamed of if you fall victim to it. Rest assured, you鈥檙e not alone.

If you realize you鈥檝e given out your private financial information or otherwise made a payment to scammers, contact your bank immediately. In most cases, especially if you haven鈥檛 abused the privilege in the past, they鈥檒l allow you to stop an in-progress transaction or reverse a charge that has already gone through once you explain the situation. Even if there鈥檚 a fee involved, it鈥檚 likely that fee is cheaper than paying whatever the scammers ransomed from you.

Your bank can also advise you on whether or not it鈥檚 necessary to or debit card, or to change your account numbers. Additionally, you can file a complaint with the online. Sharing your story might just help others avoid the same hassle in the future.

Stay Safe Down the Road

Once you鈥檝e confirmed a number as a car warranty scam, block the number and mark it as spam. Likewise, don鈥檛 forget to dive into your phone鈥檚 settings to make sure that your scam call protection features are fully enabled (here鈥檚 how to do it on and on ). These features get more effective at filtering out bogus car warranty calls and all sorts of other phishing attacks and grifts as time marches on, so don鈥檛 sleep on them.

And if you鈥檝e got a phone number for a car warranty call that seems a little fishy, a tool can help you determine who the number belongs to.

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