More Mail Scams

I got a nice postcard in the mail today. It came from:

Dealership Warranties
12131 Dorsett Rd., #106
Maryland Heights, MO 63043

It had "VEHICLE SERVICE NOTIFICATION" splashed across the top in bold, capitalized text. Below it informed me:

This notification is to inform you that your factory warranty has expired or is about to expire. To avoid the high cost of automobile repairs, call us immediately with your Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) and exact miles to renew.

Now this isn't exactly a scam. But it is certainly deceptive. The last sentence suggests that I can "renew" my warranty. But they want my VIN and mileage. An actual warranty holder would already know the first part, and any service appointments with a dealership would record the second part.

The phone number included with this mail is: 1-866-533-9966. A Google search for this number shows quite a few more instances of this dubious sales practice.

Mail Scam

Yet another scam for you. This one through the good, old-fashioned post.

I got one of those mass mailer letters with the perforated edges. It said "Happy Birthday!" on the front. Inside there was a Southwest Airlines logo, which included the text, "Plus other major airlines".

Further down it said that I had won a free trip for my birthday! Hooray! All I had to do was call 1-800-813-6994. I even had a reservation code! PB007.

There was another piece of paper that I ripped out that looked like a Southwest Airlines boarding pass. On the back in small print was written:

Travel Provider:
Global Travel
8500 Leesburg Pike
Suite 306
Vienne, Va 22182

*Certain restrictions may apply.

*This promotion is not sponsored by or affiliated with Southwest, they are a major supplier

Now let's put on our thinking hats... What makes this appear as a scam?

1. Postage paid in West Palm Beach, Florida. Permit #: 3950.
2. Suspicious travel agency that I can't nail down on the web. They claim to be in "Vienne", Virginia. There is no "Vienne". But there is a "Vienna".
3. Possible use of Southwest registered trademarks without permission.
4. Again, poor grammar and punctuation.
5. The desire for me to contact them.

Aaaannndd... SCAM!

Text Message Scam

Got this text message on August 14th:

Your Finance Center F-C-U services was suspended for suspicious activity, call us at 6197934988

The message was from "dept@fcfcu.com". When I first googled this I didn't get any results. But now, two days later, quite a few results are popping up. Here are some clues that this was a scam:

1. Poor grammar and punctuation.
2. Real banks don't text you if something's suspicious. A real human will call you.
3. 619 is a San Diego area code phone number.
4. The Whois results returns an IP in Chicago, Illinois.

My recommendation: don't call that phone number!