Scam Alert: Bogus Mail From CarSafe

I got some mail that looked "important." It was one of those papers where you have to remove the edges to open it. It said the following on the front:

Make: Ford

REQUEST FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION - TIME SENSITIVE MATERIAL ENCLOSED

WARNING: $2,000 FINE, 5 YEARS IMPRISONMENT, OR BOTH FOR ANY PERSON INTERFERING OR OBSTRUCTING WITH DELIVERY OF THIS LETTER. U.S. MAIL TTT.18 U.S. CODE

TO BE OPENED BY ADDRESSEE ONLY
PLEASE RESPOND WITHIN FIVE DAYS

The first thing that's wrong with this is although it had my mailing address, there was no return address. Anything without a return address should be discarded, regardless how important it looks.

The second thing wrong with it is the period of time they give you to respond. Anyone who wants a response within five days for something you receive in the mail is being unreasonable and doesn't deserve a response as far as I'm concerned. Any reputable company would give you at least two weeks, but most likely a month.

Since I knew I had something good to write about in my blog, I went ahead and took the bate and opened my mail. Inside it has the following:

CarSafe
PHONE: 866-364-3336

Make: Ford

IMPORTANT

CALL 866-364-3336 TO EXTEND YOUR VEHICLE'S COVERAGE

** EXTREMELY URGENT AND TIME SENSITIVE **

SERVICE CONTRACT EXPIRATION - THIS IS NOT A BILL

EXPIRATION: 11-DEC-2009
COVERAGE: AVAILABLE

STATUS: PENDING

NEW COVERAGE:
PLATINUM COVERAGE
POWERTRAIN COVERAGE

MINIMUM FINANCE RATE AVAILABLE: 0%

Business Hours
MON-FRI
8:00 AM TO 7:30 PM

SAT
9:00 AM TO 2:00 PM

SERVICE CONTRACT EXPLANATION
REQUESTING:

1. EXTENSIONS AVAILABLE TO 2015
2. UP TO OR ADDITIONAL 150,000 MILES
3. NEW CAR COVERAGE / POWERTRAIN

COMMENTS:
THIS LETTER IS TO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR FACTORY SERVICE CONTRACT HAS EXPIRED OR IS ABOUT TO EXPIRE AND YOU MAY EXTEND YOUR SERVICE CONTRACT COVERAGE ON THE VEHICLE. YOUR EXTENDED SERVICE CONTRACT COVERAGE OFFER EXPIRES ON 11-DEC-2009

PLATINUM:
ENGINE, TRANSMISSION, TRANSFER UNIT OF 4X4, DRIVE AXLE ASSEMBLY, FRONT AND REAR SUSPENSION, STEERING, AIR CONDITIONING UNIT, ELECTRONICS, SEALS, GASKETS, BRAKE SYSTEM, HIGH TECH ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, AND MORE.

POWERTRAIN:
ADDITIONAL 100,000 MILES OF COVERAGE.

CALL TODAY: 1-866-364-3336
PLEASE HAVE YOUR MILEAGE AND VIN # READY SO WE MAY BETTER ASSIST YOU.
MON-FRI: 8:00 AM TO 7:30 PM - SAT: 9:00 AM TO 2:00 PM

If the coverage expires on December 11, 2009, why do I need to respond within five days? More important yet, who is CarSafe?

Never sign up with anything with a company you have no past relationship with. Through my research, it seems these people are the same (though the last digit of the phone number is 1 instead of 6.) The also seem to be tied to "Dealer Preferred Warranties" and "Edge Companies." In addition, several people have reported 636-757-7700 and 720-407-0465 in association with the number listed in my mail. I found this individual's solution quite amusing (although I can't claim that it actually works like that, but feel free to try!)

Recent News With Me

People have been asking about ProSonic lately, and with that in mind I decided to go ahead and do a full update on my life at this point.

First off, ProSonic was supposed to have a Windows release in September, which got delayed to October. In case you didn't notice, that didn't happen either. The truth is I made a promise to a group working on another project you may have heard of called Sonic 2 HD. I decided I really had to keep my promise to them and do what I said I would do. So lately, I've been programming an editing utility for that project.

That's the reason I haven't been discussing ProSonic lately. I'd like to have ProSonic released for Windows (and perhaps Linux) before the end of the year. I can't promise that will happen, but I'll try for it. My main concern behind ProSonic is quality. I want to make sure it's truly ready to be released. I've been scared of deadlines since last year's release when I took a huge amount of flack for that release. I'd like to avoid that this time around.

In other news, I got a job at a grocery store as a cashier back in October. It took a while for it to become official due to a few complications, but I'm working the lines now. It's a lot to learn, but I'm getting better each and every day. The pay isn't the best, but I'm happy to have a job regardless.

Outside of work, I recently applied to Shepherd University. The only step I haven't taken is to send my official transcripts from my community college (which I'm expecting in the mail within days.) I'm hoping to be able to start there in the spring if the time frame works out (assuming they accept me.) If they don't, maybe I'll get accepted elsewhere, but Shepherd is where I'm most interested in continuing my education. I am also looking into some student loans which I will need to pay my way. Since I'm out of state, it will be way too expensive to pay for right now.

Finally, this isn't as important as the other stuff I mentioned, but I figured I'd put it out there anyway -- I got a haircut today. The lady who did my hair was obviously trying to pitch a sale, but I decided to take the bait anyway and had her put highlights in my hair. I have to say, I have never had anyone put as much effort into my hair as she seemed to do. She did a terrific job on it, and if she's still at the same place the next time I need a haircut, I think I would definitely consider having her do my hair again. I really like it.

That is all there is to say about me at the moment. I'll post more when some new stuff comes up!

Internet Issues

I've been wireless internet accessless (like my wording?) for nearly a week now. I've trying everything I can think of to get my internet connection back. I've tried using my dongle on several computers around the building with no luck getting the thing to even see the router. The computers that are directly connected to the router all access the internet fine.

Tonight, I tested my dongle at my friend's house to see if he could access his router, and it succeeded. I accessed the settings for the router here to see if it was being shared, and it was. So my conclusion is that the most likely scenario is the router is going bad. This is not good for me. I'm unable to directly connect to the router from where I am. This hampers my YouTube ventures, as well as communication between people I have been working with on some side projects of mine.

It appears my ability to do much of anything online is going to continue to be crippled for the time being. I may have to buy a new router. I'm hoping that isn't the case, but it isn't looking good.

Anyone want to share their horror stories of routers failing on them? It seems it's all too common unfortunately.