carleton

Yeah, they get that info from public records. Basically, they "scrape" government websites that publish such data then combine it with other data then use it as sales leads. It's messed up.

Also, all of these store "rewards programs" simply harvest your data to sell to Data Brokers who then sell them to companies like this. Again, messed up. It goes a little something like this:

- You register your 2015 Honda Accord with the DMV.
- The DMV may publish your Address, Name, VIN, Make, Model, or Year info
- You give your address, email address and phone number to your grocery store for "rewards points" tracking (never worth it. You should never do this).
- Data brokers buy this data for $$ from the grocery stores (including your name, email, phone number, address, and shopping habits)
- Data brokers then sell this data for $$$ to companies who use them as sales leads.
- A warranty company will take the data from the DMV mate it with the data from the Data Broker (joining on address) and they now know the name, email address, and phone number of the person who has a 2015 Honda Accord...who's factory warranty is about to expire.
- Then they robo dial you to hell and back hoping that you are elderly and will fall for such a (legal or illegal) scam.

One way to get ahead of this: Stop giving out your personal info for "rewards points". Seriously. Stop.

Sad part: Insurance companies are buying this data to. So, they know how you eat and if you smoke, no matter what you put on the forms...all because you want to save $4 on groceries every 2 weeks. Not worth it.

Oh, and never, ever install a car insurance company's mobile app on your phone. They track your driving speeds (in relation to the posted speed limit where you are), where you drive (parked at the pub for 3 hrs), when you drive (3AM after the pub). You could be a designated driver or playing guitar at the pub. The insurance company will probably flag you as a "high risk driver".