The letter was from “Motor Vehicle Services.” It warned Serra that his car’s manufacturers warranty is expiring. It accurately listed the monthly payment he was making on his car, and the number of payments he had made. It was even written in that typewriter font beloved by mechanics and bureaucracies. But it wasn’t from the Department of Motor Vehicles, it was a piece of extended warranty junk mail gussied up to look official. Here’s the letter:

I guess they’ve gotten bored of robodialing people?

Serra writes, “After making faithful car payments for two years I came home, went to my mailbox and found this. While I was aware it was a junk mailing, something that caught my eye quickly is the part in the upper left. It’s blanked out and replaced, but before that happened it accurately showed the number of car payments I’ve made and the payment amount. This is disturbing.”

Very sneaky guys. I can see how someone not thinking clearly could fall for this. And it seems that the extended warranty marketer had bought Serra’s car payment history and tried to use that as a hook to make their offer look more legitimate.

Serra adds, “The punch? The car’s factory warranty doesn’t expire until 2018.”

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