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An Auto-Warranty Scam Leads to a Solicitation Pileup

Continued from page 1

Published on January 22, 2008 at 9:04pm

Auto One is located in Irvine, Calif., and is a subsidiary of Credexx, a loan consolidator. It caught the attention of the Better Business Bureau last year due to the high number of complaints about its warranty expiration notices and difficulty processing claims. The Bureau rated the company an F.

According to Bureau records, the president of Auto One is David Tabb, 41, a man with a history of dicey consumer practices. Another of Tabb's companies, Hollywood Dreams, was listed at an address next door to Auto One. Hollywood Dreams was a company used as a front for selling sports and Hollywood memorabilia with forged signatures. In 2002 Tabb pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and one count of tax evasion for his part in a scam to sell the forged merchandise. According to the indictment filed in U.S. District Court, Tabb arranged to meet an undercover federal agent at a Chevron gas station in Irvine to sell him basketballs and other sporting items with forged signatures and fake certificates of authenticity. He continued to sell undercover feds forged merchandise, usually in parking lots, over the next year. Tabb did not respond to messages left at his last known home number or Auto One offices.

Investigation into the recent rash of car warranty solicitations in Washington, both by phone and mail, is just getting under way. But in the meantime, the best thing consumers can do to protect themselves, Kallmann says, is "just hang up."

lonstot@seattleweekly.com



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