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Behind a Massive Robocall Scam, Four Human Faces
FOXNews.com ^ | Monday, June 15, 2009 | By Joshua Rhett Miller

Posted on 06/15/2009 11:24:44 AM PDT by metmom

You answer the phone, and it's a recorded message:

"By now you should have received your written note regarding your vehicle warranty expiring. This call is to give you a final opportunity to extend coverage before it is too late. Press '1' now to speak to a warranty specialist regarding your options on your vehicle."

Upon pressing "1," you are transferred to a "warranty specialist" who lies to you, telling you he is affiliated with an automobile dealer or manufacturer and that your warranty is up. And before long, you may have agreed to put $450 down on an extended service contract that costs up to $3,000, the balance to be paid in monthly payments.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Government
KEYWORDS: ftc; robocalls; scam; telemarketing
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To: SoCalRight

No, my elderly parents have died a while ago.


21 posted on 06/15/2009 11:43:16 AM PDT by stuartcr (Everything happens as God wants it to...otherwise, things would be different.)
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To: metmom

I give them my ex-wife’s phone numbers and tell them she is the one that makes all the vehicle decisions.

I also am nice enough to inform them that she works nights and is asleep during the day, so she is only available to talk between midnight and 4 AM on weekdays.


22 posted on 06/15/2009 11:44:01 AM PDT by commish (Freedom tastes sweetest to those who have fought to preserve it.)
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To: metmom

Hey I LIKE those calls. It is better than hearing Ahnold’s voice on my answering machine asking me to vote for a better Kaleefornia.


23 posted on 06/15/2009 11:47:15 AM PDT by Cyman
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To: metmom
Time for a...

RoboCall Czar!


24 posted on 06/15/2009 11:47:21 AM PDT by kromike
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To: metmom

Has anyone here had any luck contacting an attorney general about bad telemarketing practices? Any luck with complaining to the FTC about robocalls to cell phones?


25 posted on 06/15/2009 11:51:36 AM PDT by posterchild (Endowed by my Creator with certain unalienable rights.)
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To: metmom
Behind a Massive Robocall Scam, Four Human Faces

Close: "fAces" is not the word I think of in connection with these crooks.

26 posted on 06/15/2009 11:51:55 AM PDT by steve-b (Intelligent design is to evolutionary biology what socialism is to free-market economics.)
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To: metmom

I kept the guy on the line until I told him that I owned a 1978 Yugo. He hung up.


27 posted on 06/15/2009 11:51:59 AM PDT by steve-b (Intelligent design is to evolutionary biology what socialism is to free-market economics.)
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To: theDentist
I hit ‘1’ and start dragging the call out, maybe I will, maybe not... how about transmisions?.... I dunno.... how about steering column...?... how much is that?...

One of my twins finds great pleasure in screwing with telemarketers. She will keep them on the phone for well over a half hour, and talk about all kinds of stuff. She has several voices she can use, too, so it sounds like they are talking to about 4 different people.

With the extended warrantee people, she got them to list just about every part and system they claim to cover. She then asked them if they cover the "johnson valve in the exhaust carburetor" or something like that, and they said yes. She called them a liar, because she just made it up. That pretty much ended the call.

She's pretty quick for a 13 year old.

28 posted on 06/15/2009 11:52:55 AM PDT by Travis T. OJustice (I can spell just fine, thanks, it's my typing that sucks.)
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To: Travis T. OJustice

LOL

I also ask about replacement Klien rods.

These folks are, indeed, scum. TElephone version of the Travelers.


29 posted on 06/15/2009 11:59:07 AM PDT by ASOC (Who IS that fat lady, and why is she singing?????)
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To: Travis T. OJustice

LOL

I also ask about replacement Klien rods.

These folks are, indeed, scum. TElephone version of the Travelers.


30 posted on 06/15/2009 11:59:19 AM PDT by ASOC (Who IS that fat lady, and why is she singing?????)
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To: Tanniker Smith

I must’ve gotten a dozen “final call before we close the book” calls in addition to the other “your warranty may be expiring”. Ya think??? My car is 12 years old!

***
We have gotten about 20 or so, including a few on my cell phone. One time I actually did press to get the “specialist”. Had to hold forever. When he finally came on the line, he said, “What make and year is your automobile?” When I said, “You tell me; you’re the one that called me”, he hung up.

My car is 17. BTW.


31 posted on 06/15/2009 11:59:46 AM PDT by Bigg Red (Palin in 2012)
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To: metmom
I was getting calls like that all the time. I asked which car? Model please? Silence. < HANG UP >
32 posted on 06/15/2009 12:00:13 PM PDT by Myrddin
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To: stuartcr

Yes, people fall this sort of scam. Especially older people who don’t have a clue what it will cost to keep up their cars after the warranty runs out.


33 posted on 06/15/2009 12:04:25 PM PDT by WashingtonSource
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To: Myrddin

The SOB’s were calling my cell phone at all hours. They had an official sounding message designed to frighten the old and stupid. I’m old but not so stupid, yet.


34 posted on 06/15/2009 12:04:36 PM PDT by Luke21
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To: stuartcr
“Do people really fall for these things?”...
Barak Obama is President of the United States, QED.
35 posted on 06/15/2009 12:05:35 PM PDT by Old North State
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To: Myrddin

I finally spent about an hour..while I was reading FR..wasting their time on getting the details and then negotiating for a lower price..then talking to their “closer”..etc etc. But the calls haven’t stopped.
You figure that they have some congresscritter in their pocket who somehow gives them cover with the FTC and other agencies. They probably even get an earmark and get paid for giving the Rats there “sucker list”.
The Rat organizations exchange their lists of the little old ladies who can persuaded to give or buy anything.


36 posted on 06/15/2009 12:07:09 PM PDT by Oldexpat
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To: stuartcr
Do people really fall for these things?

Yes, they prey on the elderly.
37 posted on 06/15/2009 12:11:03 PM PDT by BJClinton (One Big Ass Mistake America)
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To: metmom

Is that what all those calls were, eh? The scam’s stupid robo-caller voice talked over my answering machine’s robo-voice and all I could understand as the two robot voices struggled for supremacy was something about a warranty. That musta happened a hunnert times. Saved by my crappy answering machine I reckon...

Freegards


38 posted on 06/15/2009 12:12:19 PM PDT by Ransomed (Son of Ransomed Says Keep the Faith!)
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To: metmom

“Nobody ever wants to send me free money.....”

I am getting a part of the 787 billion. All I have to do is send $399 dollars to get my place in line.


39 posted on 06/15/2009 12:20:40 PM PDT by EQAndyBuzz (Climate change alarmists are Warm-Mongers. Now that's funny right there. I don't care who you are.)
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To: Luke21; Oldexpat
My elderly mom has macular degeneration in one eye. She sold her cars as she no longer felt should could drive them safely. All the other elderly in the family are room temperature already.

The SOB’s were calling my cell phone at all hours. They had an official sounding message designed to frighten the old and stupid. I’m old but not so stupid, yet.

I turn my cell phone off when I crawl in the rack. It goes on the charger for the next day. If the call is really important, my colleagues have my unlisted land line. The land line and all cell phones are also on the do not contact list. The only exception to that cell phone practice is when I'm on a business trip.

40 posted on 06/15/2009 12:30:23 PM PDT by Myrddin
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