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GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. — Al Sholz said he's received calls from three customers in the past two weeks regarding auto warranty scams.
Currently a salesman at Berthod Motors, Sholz has sold cars in Glenwood Springs since about 1988 and thought people should know about fraudulent letters and phone calls involving auto warranties.
As he describes it, people who bought cars receive phone calls or letters designed to look like they're from an official manufacturer. They'll come a year or a few years after the purchase, essentially warning people their auto warranty is about to expire and asking for money to extend it.
"The problem is, when they sell it, a lot of times it's a fraudulent deal," Sholz said. "The letterhead makes it look like they're affiliated with the manufacturer when they're not."
He said one client's elderly mother was recently convinced to pay $2,000 for a warranty she already had.
There are probably some legitimate warranty companies out there besides the manufacturers, Sholz said, but he estimates 99 percent of those unsolicited offers are scams.
"It's just becoming more evident to those of us in the business what's going on," he said. "I'm on the verge of calling the postmaster and seeing if there's something they can do on the mail fraud angle."
Sholz suspects people who make the fraudulent offers collect personal information from public records.
"When you go in and register your car, your name, address and type of car are public information," he said. "It goes into a database and can be mined by people with things to sell."
Contact Pete Fowler: 945-8515, ext. 16611
pfowler@postindependent.com
Post Independent, Glenwood Springs Colorado CO
Currently a salesman at Berthod Motors, Sholz has sold cars in Glenwood Springs since about 1988 and thought people should know about fraudulent letters and phone calls involving auto warranties.
As he describes it, people who bought cars receive phone calls or letters designed to look like they're from an official manufacturer. They'll come a year or a few years after the purchase, essentially warning people their auto warranty is about to expire and asking for money to extend it.
"The problem is, when they sell it, a lot of times it's a fraudulent deal," Sholz said. "The letterhead makes it look like they're affiliated with the manufacturer when they're not."
He said one client's elderly mother was recently convinced to pay $2,000 for a warranty she already had.
There are probably some legitimate warranty companies out there besides the manufacturers, Sholz said, but he estimates 99 percent of those unsolicited offers are scams.
"It's just becoming more evident to those of us in the business what's going on," he said. "I'm on the verge of calling the postmaster and seeing if there's something they can do on the mail fraud angle."
Sholz suspects people who make the fraudulent offers collect personal information from public records.
"When you go in and register your car, your name, address and type of car are public information," he said. "It goes into a database and can be mined by people with things to sell."
Contact Pete Fowler: 945-8515, ext. 16611
pfowler@postindependent.com
Post Independent, Glenwood Springs Colorado CO
