The Extended Car Warranty scam has been popular for quite a while. Most everybody who’s gotten a car - and even some people who haven’t - have been greeted by a robocall or a printed ad in their postal mail telling them that their car warranty is about to expire. This warning is often dire, warning that if your vehicle is not covered then accidents will be costly.

Thing is, most people don’t pay attention to their auto warranty expiration dates and therefore this scam catches people by surprise. In addition, since it’s a legal contract, it’s often full of legalese that most peoples’ eyes will just glaze over and miss the fact that very few things are actually covered. And this is assuming that it even is a legitimate company that will stay in business - more than one “extended warranty” company has “gone out of business” with consumers’ money.

Some versions of this scam aim to get you to give personal information as well as money.

How to protect yourself
Since this scam comes via two sources, I’ll cover both.

Phone: In general, avoid answering phone numbers you do not know unless the circumstances are such that you can’t (you’re expecting an urgent phone call or are a freelancer with their own buiness, for example). This will not prevent them from leaving a voicemail, possibly with a phone number to call them back.

Mail: Scrutinize anything that claims to deal with your warranty. Often these companies are required to mention that it’s advertising, and sometimes that it’s advertising for a third-party service. On rare occasions, there are check-like items to catch your attention, though they aren’t cashable checks.

In either case, you want to check your actual warranty expire date - if you don’t have it, your dealership should. Check with them also to see if this is related to them (almost certainly isn’t). If you’re interested in an extended warranty, you may wish to go through them just to avoid fly-by-night firms that only want your money and never give you anything worthwhile.