It seems as if the supply of scam artists out there is never ending and law enforcement agencies are running into more and more of them.
Kimberley RCMP Sgt. Laurie Jalbert is trying to raise people’s awareness of these scams and get people’s attention about these too good to be true deals.
Last week it was a tax scam, this week’s scam involves extended vehicle warranties and has been tried on some Kimberley residents in recent days.
This new scam is a phone solicitation from a U.S. firm representing itself as “Warranty Center,” or “World Wide Warranties, Inc.” and also doing business under a number of other names. The sales pitch begins by advising a consumer that their vehicle warranty will expire in two days. The caller then claims the customer information was provided by the vehicle manufacturer. Consumers are then offered the chance to purchase a five-year extended warranty for $175 and a credit card number is requested.
A Saskatchewan industry report stated that the sales effort is “. . . to the point of being very rude and harassing (consumers) for a credit card number. The telephone prefixes that have been appearing on customers’ phone are 732, 203, and 603.”
“This is a scam and falls under the too good to be true category in that no extended warranties will ever be offered for a period of 5 years for $175,” Jalbert said. “In addition it requires you provide your credit card number over the phone to an unknown person/corporation at the other end. If you get a call like this and you believe there is some validity to it, contact your dealer to confirm as you should with any bank or other entity that requests personal information.”










