{"id":737,"date":"2021-02-22T02:25:07","date_gmt":"2021-02-22T07:25:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.pirg-test.com\/edfund\/resources\/sick-robocalls-about-car-warranties-and-business-loans-here-are-some-tips\/"},"modified":"2022-08-06T07:23:09","modified_gmt":"2022-08-06T11:23:09","slug":"sick-of-robocalls-about-car-warranties-and-business-loans-here-are-some-tips","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/dev.pirg-test.com\/edfund\/resources\/sick-of-robocalls-about-car-warranties-and-business-loans-here-are-some-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"Sick of robocalls about car warranties and business loans? Here are some tips"},"featured_media":13339,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":false,"_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":""},"campaign_tax":[153],"display_option":[],"issue_tax":[],"resource_type":[67],"region_tax":[],"state":[5,7,8,9,12,13,16,18,23,24,25,28,29,2,32,33,34,36,38,40,41,42,46,50,52],"topic_tax":[124],"class_list":["post-737","resource","type-resource","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"details":{"helper_taxonomies":{"topics":[124],"collection":false,"press_type":false,"person_type":false,"resource_type":67,"event_type":false,"campaigns":153,"department":false,"level":false,"states":[2,5,7,8,9,12,13,16,18,23,24,25,28,29,32,33,34,36,38,40,41,42,46,50,52],"act_option":false,"display_option":false,"primary":{"topic":124}},"subtitle":"","excerpt":"Fraud from unwanted calls totals about $10 billion a year. In addition, illegal robocalls cost $3 billion a year in wasted time. Here's how to do your part to stop them.","featured_image":13339,"caption_override":"","updated_on":null,"sidebar_action":null,"related_event":null,"hide_hero_image":false,"location":"","external_link":{"publication_name":"","url":""},"file":null,"sidebar_action_query_string":""},"helper_people_group":{"title":"Authors","entities":null},"helper_downloads":{"title":"Downloads","files":null},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

by Teresa Murray, Consumer Watchdog<\/em><\/p>\n

March 4, 2021<\/em><\/p>\n

It used to be that we were plagued by Rachel, the friendly woman calling from \u201cCardholder Services,\u201d who said she wanted to help us reduce the interest rate on our credit card. If you took the bait, you\u2019d be charged a fee for Rachel\u2019s efforts to reduce your interest rate. Or she might just steal your card number It\u2019s illegal for companies<\/a> doing business by phone to guarantee loan approval or a certain interest rate in exchange for an upfront fee<\/a>. There are no indications that Rachel ever helped anyone get a lower interest rate. It was a massive, infamous robocall scam. And annoying.<\/p>\n

Robocalls are defined as calls made by an automated system, with a recorded message, not a live person. Most robocalls are illegal unless you\u2019ve opted in to receive them from a particular entity.<\/p>\n

1 in 3 calls is a robocall<\/h5>\n

Robocalls are the No. 1 consumer problem in the United States and have been for years. About 5 billion robocalls are placed every month nationwide. More than one-third of all calls are robocalls, according to Nomorobo.<\/p>\n

Fraud from unwanted calls totals about\u00a0$10 billion a year<\/a>, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In addition, illegal robocalls cost $3 billion a year in wasted time<\/a>, the Federal Communications Commission says.<\/p>\n

Most illegal robocalls want to get your money or get your information, which they can turn into money.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They may be trying to sell a real product; they may be trying to rip you off. In either case, a robocall aimed at selling you something is illegal unless a company has your upfront, written permission, the FTC says. A few types of robocalls are allowed without your permission, the FTC says<\/a>, such as charities asking for donations or political calls on behalf of candidates running for elected office. Others that are allowed without upfront permission include messages that are strictly informational: from your pharmacy telling you your prescription is in, from your airline informing you your flight will be delayed or a delivery company telling you your shipment has arrived.<\/p>\n

Everyone is peddling a car warranty<\/h5>\n

These days, calls about supposed car warranties seem to have replaced Rachel. Just about everyone is getting robocalls about car warranties<\/a> that are expiring, or some such nonsense. (I get calls all of the time that my warranty is about to expire on my car. They don\u2019t know I have a 2005 Chevy, which I bought two years ago from a private seller, and I never had a warranty on it.) In other cases, the nice warranty callers say you can buy a warranty, even if you never had one, for a fee. According to complaints, the service contracts some consumers buy are virtually useless. Even if you figure that out, you have almost no chance of getting your money back.<\/p>\n

The goal of illegal robocallers is to get you to pick up or return the call. The scammer can\u2019t scam if they don\u2019t talk to you.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They may impersonate \u2014 spoof \u2014 a number to make it look like it\u2019s a local call or coming from a business you know. They may leave a message so enticing or alarming that you\u2019re lulled into calling back. With many of the scam calls, they almost always require immediate action or else the offer is going to expire.<\/p>\n

The scammers want you to act quickly, before you have a chance to think about it or bounce it off of a family member. In some cases, the caller may be trying to extract personal information. In the case of the car warranty calls, if you say you don\u2019t have a warranty on your car, the caller may ask what kind of car you have so they can check their records, or they may ask for your VIN, or your mailing address, or your date of birth so they can cross-check their records.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here are tips for handling robocalls:<\/h5>\n