I recently registered a car I BOUGHT in Fairfax County. Today I received a Post Card "VEHICLE ALERT NOTICE" Please respond within 5 Business Days. I figured it was a SCAM.

More: On the back it reads, This notice is to inform you that the factory warranty on your CAR may have expired or is about to expire. Please call within 5 business days as this notice will expire by the deadline date listed on the front. Call to confirm receipt of this notification as soon as possible. Yes, definitly a SCAM.

The real concern:
How did they get my last 6 digits of my VIN number listed on the front?
How did they know the exact model of my car?

My best guess is the DMV (the official place, where you actually transferring your car's title) is selling or neglectfully NOT protecting our identity/information. Its obvious the state's Department of Motor Vehicles is selling lists of newly registered cars. Its the only way they could have known about my automobile that I just registered 12 days ago here in Virginia.

How can this be legal?

Check the dealer.

Did you buy the car from a dealer? Dealers sell customer lists to scammers.

Many dealerships sell customer info to different companies for a tidy little profit.

It is legal, and in the buyers order you signed, you will see you granted permission to the dealership to do exactly that.

ALWAYS READ BEFORE YOU SIGN.

Louie Chevrolet Wrote:
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> Did you buy the car from a dealer? Dealers sell
> customer lists to scammers.

I bought a vehicle from a private party and still received similar cards. I think someone from the DMV (Dept. of Motor Vehicles) is selling out the lists.

Not a DEALER. Bought it from a family member so the DMV had to have their hands in this. This cannot be legal in any way giving up this private info.

Is the DMV also selling info about my Driver's License? How can they be trusted.

That happens all the time to everyone.
Stop being paranoid.

Is there some reason to believe that the car title records or the registration at the DMV are private information? Maybe the plate records are private, but probably the titles are public records. Just like housing titles.

If you want to keep your car purchase a secret, have a corporation own it.

I bet there are corporations that (do nothing other than) will "own" a car for you, just for this purpose.

The DMV web site says something about certain information being private -- they will not release it to the general public. However, that does NOT mean that it is unavailable to corporations who are allowed to purchase it.

It is typical for all manner of "private" information held by state governments to be for sale to corporations.

A good example is voter records: name, address registration and party affiliation history, and actual voting history.

Also, the insurance companies know what cars you have insured. Do you think they keep that a secret?

I did tax systems for local counties years ago. We got tapes from the county and then matched their values with NADA tapes. We had to go through a process of getting the taxpayer VINs.

I doubt it was the county or DMV. BUT... I'm sure if somebody really wanted to.. they could easily make a copy of the DMV database and sell it.

OP Big Brother is watching us. Always. He is telling people not only your VIN number, but your income, purchasing habits, health insurance information and the size of your wiener. If you don’t want this to happen, recommend you go off the grid and stop masturbating.

One of the biggest SCAMS still operating on the planet. I just got one of those fear-porn official-looking notices sent from a left coast state for my car that was bought on the east coast way back in 2007, saying that my "warranty" was about to run out and I needed to "renew" it. Who ever gets a warranty for parts etc on a new car, a warranty that lasts for 12+ years?

Only those who buy into the scam and when the car breaks down, they discover that the fake "warranty" is not a warranty at all. Report them to the better business bureau and spread their game, name and phone number off your letter all over the internet for others to see before they make the same mistake.

No, we do not owe criminals their living. If you need a new warranty agreement go to the dealer where you got your car and try to get a real one there.

Goddamn, the OP is some kinda' bitch...

Benny.The.Grifter Wrote:
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> Goddamn, the OP is some kinda' bitch...

Spamming is illegal in the USA

Bill Clinton made a spamming law due to OVERWHELMING PUBLIC PRESSURE. However he cheated the public: he shut down ALL private email servers and made Microsoft Google Verizon "the only people allowed to do email" (he said, to prevent the illegal spam)

shortly after a lull in spam: the same companies who got this miracle gift of an email monopoly began selling rights to be THE SOLE SPAMMERS

TODAY - WE STILL GET A HELL LOAD OF SPAM DAILY

w6wl4 Wrote:
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> Spamming is illegal in the USA
>
> Bill Clinton made a spamming law due to
> OVERWHELMING PUBLIC PRESSURE. However he cheated
> the public: he shut down ALL private email
> servers and made Microsoft Google Verizon "the
> only people allowed to do email" (he said, to
> prevent the illegal spam)
>
> shortly after a lull in spam: the same companies
> who got this miracle gift of an email monopoly
> began selling rights to be THE SOLE SPAMMERS
>
> TODAY - WE STILL GET A HELL LOAD OF SPAM DAILY

The only part of this that's accurate is the last line. But it's not news.

Drugs can be scary.