It’s amazing to contemplate, but scammers are responsible for making at least a billion phone calls per month—and maybe far more. One study says it is more like 100 billion so far this year. That’s billion with a B.The most common scam type attempted to get people to purchase fake vehicle warranties. Health care and Social Security were the second- and third-most common topics.After the FCC sent cease-and-desist letters last month, the number of vehicle warranty scam calls dropped by 60 percent. But don’t expect this relief to last.Last month, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) told phone companies in the U.S. to knock it off with the auto warranty scam calls. In a related action, the state of Ohio has filed suit against a small group of people, as first reported by Fortune, claiming they are the force behind a massive operation making robocalls about vehicle warranties. Despite this kind of government action, scammers aren’t going to quietly stop now, as a new report covering the most common types of scam calls and emerging scam trends showed.

The National Consumer Law Center says “more than a billion” scam calls go out every month to U.S. consumers and that there were more than 50 billion in 2021. But a company called First Orion, which provides scam protection solutions, thinks the number could be far higher. First Orion recently issued its “2022 Mid-Year Phone Scam Report,” which estimates that U.S. consumers were on the receiving end of 101 billion scam calls during just the first half of 2022. First Orion projects that this resulted in over 80 million successful scam attempts and cumulative financial losses of up to $40 billion. According to a customer survey done together with the report, First Orion found that 53 percent of people said they received more scam calls in 2022 than they did in 2021. Young people were hit hardest, First Orion said, with two-thirds of 18-to-34-year-olds surveyed reporting some sort of financial loss because of a scam call. The most popular type of scam call was about vehicle warranties, followed by health-care and Social Security issues. According to Kent Welch, chief data officer at First Orion, this lines up with historical trends.”Vehicle warranty scams traditionally rank at the top, especially in 2022,” Welch told Car and Driver. “However, in July, the FCC sent cease-and-desist letters to eight voice service providers to warn them to stop carrying this suspicious traffic. In July, vehicle warranty scam calls dropped by 60 percent compared to June.”Don’t Tell Them AnythingThat welcome decrease isn’t likely to last long. Warranty calls can be effective for bad actors and, since around 66 percent of Americans purchase legitimate warranties, it would not be surprising for the drop only to be temporary, Welch said.Scammers have made investments in learning more about you in order to trick you. Just because the person on the other end of the call knows some accurate information about you—like the year, make, and model of the car you’re driving—doesn’t mean they got those details for legitimate purposes.”Bad actors will use whatever information they can get in advance to make their interaction with the victim seem as legitimate as possible,” Welch said. “Accessing public records is definitely one avenue for that information. However, scammers can also purchase people’s information through a third party.”Even if the scammers don’t get your money this time around, they might be just as happy to build up your profile for a future call. “It’s safe to assume that bad actors want to pull whatever information out of their victims that will result in a financial loss for the victim,” Welch said. “If they can’t manage to make that happen, they will use whatever information they can get from you to attempt to scam you in the future.”First Orion also calculated a list of the top-10 cities for scam calls and found they were clustered in Texas, Oklahoma, and Ohio. Welch said it is difficult to pinpoint the exact reason for the high scam call volume in these areas and that bad actors are likely using different tactics in different states. “However, with health care and health insurance ranking near the top of all scam types nationwide, it’s a possibility that scammers target Texas with those scams due to the state’s high rate of uninsured adults,” he said.
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• This 2010 Saab 9-3 SportCombi is up for sale on the Bring a Trailer auction site, with bidding currently at $5500 with five days left on the auction.• This 9-3 SportCombi looks to be in very good condition with just 31,000 miles on the odometer.• The turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four sends 210 horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque to the front wheels through a five-speed automatic.It’s been about a decade since Saab’s demise, but we still find ourselves thinking about the oddball Swedish brand often. There are many dedicated Saab owners still out there, keeping their 900s, 9-3s, and 9-5s alive and running, despite the fact that the company hasn’t sold a car in the United States since 2011. If you want to join them in maintaining Saab’s legacy, then you’ll be interested in this 2010 Saab 9-3 SportCombi that is up for sale on the Bring a Trailer auction site—which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos.

Bring a Trailer

Bring a Trailer

This 2010 wagon model represents the 9-3’s second generation, which was facelifted in 2008 with a sleeker front-end design. While the refreshed 9-3 had been offered with a turbocharged 2.8-liter V-6 pushing out either 255 or 280 horsepower, in 2010 the engine lineup was reduced to only the base turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four. That motor was good for 210 horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque, delivered to the front wheels through a five-speed automatic in this example, although a manual transmission and all-wheel-drive were also available at the time.

This 9-3 SportCombi has just 31,000 miles on the odometer, and it shows. The Snow Silver Metallic bodywork looks pristine and the cream leather interior looks to be in equally good shape. The Saab also has goodies such as an electric sunroof, heated front seats, a power-adjustable drivers seat, cruise control, and a dual-zone automatic climate control. Luckily there’s also an aux port, since we imagine most people won’t have use for the CD player. The factory 16-inch wheels are fitted with 215/55 Pirelli Cinturato P7 All-Season tires, but with date codes from 2015, you’ll probably want to replace them. And while it might take some wrenching to keep a Saab going for years to come, this low-mile example would be a strong place to start. Bidding is currently at $5500 with five days remaining on the auction.

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Mercedes-Benz’s facelifted E-class sedan will get new 48-volt hybrid engines. There will be several plug-in-hybrid variants. Biggest change is the switch to the new MBUX infotainment. The finished car won’t be on display until the Geneva auto show in March, but Mercedes-Benz has released these pictures of disguised versions of the facelifted E-class, as well […] More

Mercedes-AMG has confirmed an even higher-performance GT four-door, and it could have upward of 800 horsepower.
There’s a “V8 BiTurbo E Performance” badge on the fender, meaning it should use AMG’s twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 paired with a more powerful hybrid system.
The new model is rumored to be called the GT73, and we expect it’ll cost close to $200,000.
Mercedes has a lineup of electric vehicles on the way under the EQ name, and its AMG high-performance wing will dabble with them as well. However, Mercedes-AMG also plans to have its entire lineup employ hybrid powertrains soon, including this upcoming electrified version of the GT four-door, likely named the GT73, which will be targeted straight at the 690-hp Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid.

Mercedes-AMG

AMG hasn’t shared any details on the GT73’s powertrain yet, but we expect it to use a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8, which makes 630 horsepower in the GT63 S, in conjunction with a more powerful electric motor totaling around 800 horsepower. The 73 will need to have different type of hybrid system than the lesser GT four-door models (GT 53/GT 43), which use a 3.0-liter inline-six assisted by a small electric motor—and, in the GT53’s case, an electric supercharger—that adds no additional peak power. In our testing, the V-8-powered GT63 S hit 60 mph in 2.9 seconds, so it’s safe to say the 73 will have acceleration that borders on reality-warping. As with other GT four-door models, we expect all-wheel drive to help more of the power get to the ground.

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A “V8 BiTurbo E Performance” badge (pictured above) adorns the front fender, and AMG says that the rest of its upcoming high-performance hybrids will fall under that E Performance name as well. Besides that, the GT73 should look similar to the current top-spec GT63 S with a gloss black front fascia. It’s also wearing AMG’s black cross-spoke wheels, which are available on the 63 and 63 S.
We’ll know more about the Mercedes-AMG GT73 soon, and it should arrive by the end of the year. The current top-of-the-line GT63 S starts at $162,950, so expect the 73 to approach $200,000.
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Dodge created a special 50th-anniversary edition Widebody version of its Charger Hellcat to pay homage to the legendary 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona. The 2020 Daytona Edition Hellcat is limited to 501 units, which has created some crazy high markups. The cheapest of these special editions we found in a dealer search has a price of […] More