|
August 7, 2009
This scam, which we have reported to you several times in the recent past, unfortunately seems to be thriving; association members have reported being subjected to these scam attempts each week!
June 24, 2009
Phone Relay/Towed Car Repair Scam
Continues To Be Widely Reported in NH
What do you get when you add these together?
- A telephone call through an IP relay phone service for the deaf,
- A request to repair a car that will be delivered at some future date, and
- The promise of a cut in a larger credit card payment for the future work.
It all adds up to a SCAM, and, at this point, a relatively old one at that.
Read a good report on this scam, reported by KPTV in Portland, OR. Body Shop Business has also provided good information and advice on where to complain of these scams, including links.
We originally reported this scam in March. Since then we've had a number of new reports from body shop owners who received the infamous call.
Essentially, the scam promises auto body repair shop owners a chance to earn some quick dollars by charging a credit card for work that has yet to be performed on a vehicle that has yet to be seen.
The telephone conversation involves numerous pauses and very stilted English from the caller. A followup e-mail was received by one shop owner also; it was written with extremely poor grammar and punctuation. Many scams in the past have involved similar calls and e-mails.
In one case, the shop owner was promised $1,000 if he charged the credit card $3,500 for a future (fictitious?) repair order on the mystery car. In another case, $600 was promised if the shop owner charged a credit card $2,100 for future repairs. Of course, the remainder of the money was to be sent to the caller, who promised subsequent delivery of the vehicle; the make and model of the alleged vehicle seems to vary.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me at 800-852-3372 or at pmcnamara@nhada.com. For past Scam Alerts, click here or to go the left side of the Home Page and click on Scam Alerts.
|
