Beware of the CodeKase scam
CodeKase is a deceptive marketing device delivered through traditional mail that is used for promotional purposes. CodeKase is a plastic oval object with a small LED screen that shows a series of 6 or 7 numbers. Over the years many desperate car dealerships have used CodeKase as a deceptive promotional tool. A car dealership will send a promotional voucher in the mail with the CodeKase piece attached to it. The vouchers will instruct targets to reveal their CodeKase number and compare it with the winning number. The CodeKase number will be identical to the winning number and the voucher will suggest that the target won a certain amount of cash or other prize even though the target did not win.
One of the most recent CodeKase scams uses a VerifyAndGo voucher to trick unsuspecting victims into thinking they’re winners. A person will receive the VerifyAndGo voucher in the mail with the CodeKase piece attached to it. The voucher states that your CodeKase number (such as 701657) matches the winning number and you won a prize. In order to verify your prize status you must visit VerifyAndGo.com or call a phone number (such as 1-888-612-5865); However, you did not actually win anything.
If you visit VerifyAndGo.com and input your zip code and pin number the website will say “Invalid code or this offer has expired, please try again. If the offer has expired, please contact the dealer directly.” It is simply a marketing scheme to persuade targets to call or visit the car dealership who sent the item in the mail.
There are many car dealership “scams” like this including The King of Cars Cash Game,Money Carlo Match to Win, and others.
While researching a similar marketing plot we spoke to several employees and ex-employees of certain car dealerships who strongly suggest that these marketing tactics are scams and baiscally a deceptive marketing ploy. They described it as a deceptive marketing scheme used to acquire potential customers. The car dealerships that utilize these tactics want you to visit their location and sell you a car. In order to get you to do this you must visit the location with your game piece in hand.
I would not go as far as most people to classify CodeKase as a “full-blown” scam, but I would say that it is a very unethical marketing technique and car dealerships who participate in this marketing scheme should be punished. Telling people that they won a large amount of cash when they did not is dishonest and unethical. It’s a terrible thing to do to people, and these bad car dealerships should be ashamed of themselves for utilizing this promotional method.
If you receive these types of games in the mail in the future you may want to throw them away before you end up wasting your time visiting a dishonest and greedy car dealership. I also recommend to leave the car dealership a bad review online, on various websites like Yelp and Google, in order to put an end to this type of marketing scheme once and for all.
Poop in the car
I guess every dealership in the Valley does this. Same number, same story, AutoNation Toyota Tempe.
Got the same number, 701657, from Earnhardt Toyota in Mesa, AZ.
I think they owe me a new RAV 4 just for putting up with this sh-t!
Same number from Larry H Miller
Yay! I just got a 701657 from a car dealership in the mail nearly three years after this was mailed lol.
If we all have to split the prize there’s going to be nothing left!
Thank you Sean Doyle
You are welcome, Anonymous.
I got the same code as everyone else from Earnhardt Hyundai in Scottsdale. What a shame to do this
Received from Right Toyota Scottsdale AZ November 2019. The plastic oval had THE SAME NUMBER as pictured above – 701657. Recycling the batteries and pitching the rest.
mcglaughlin chevrolet whitman mass. but there not just trying to sell cars there sending an atowola virus to u, their main objective is to get this malware onto your pc s phones ect ect..
Honda 1330 E Camelback – same scam!
701657! Yes! I guess we are all part of an exclusive club. Got mine from Camelback Ford in Phoenix, AZ. Not the first time either.
I agree with all of the above EXCEPT DON’T THROW THEM OUT! The stupid gizmos contain lithium ion 3 volt batteries which should NOT go into landfills. (The good news is they may fit some car key fobs and oral thermometers, etc. They’re also rechargeable.) The whole thing’s an OBSCENE waste of resources. Most of this junk is going straight into the trash, and that means a lot of heavy metals (and perhaps some mercury, depending upon manufacturer) are winding up in the landfills, not to mention all the resources to make and transport this junk from China…
Bell Ford
Got the same number in Las Vegas, 2019 from Automation Toyota. I like this dealership but do not like marketing schemes like this.
got the same thing from Surprise Toyota in Surprise Az.
Got the exact same number from Krause Family Ford in Woodstock, GA – but if you enter your verification number on the website, it then sends you to the auto dealer website and asks for alllllll your info. Yeah, no.
Robert Horne Ford in Apache Junction just sent me this piece of crap
this is really a stupid thing to do wow
just received one from Berge Ford in Mesa AZ. Same “winning” code 701657….Unbelievable! Should be ashamed of themselves. I will never ever shop Berge Ford and I’m telling all my friends and family about the scam!
I also got one from Camelback Ford in Phoenix Az is a shame that the authorities don’t do nothing about this greedy individuals
Just got the same thing from San tan ford of Arizona……Do they really think that people are so ignorant????….Unbelievable!! There should be some kind of punishment for this kind things. Greedy ,dishonest bastards!!…
I received one from Chapman Chevrolet of Philadelphia. I’m researching the environmental impact of this thing. It has two batteries that, if you read the fine print in the gaudy over-the-top mailer, “Batteries are included in attached Combination Box device and must be disposed of properly per state regulations.” So, the onus is on me to find a way to safely dispose of something I never requested? How many of these batteries wind up in a landfill? I don’t even have a drivers license, never have!
The same thing has just hit Las Vegas Nv. TOYOYA At 3255 E Sahara Ave. 89104
I`m glad I bought mine at the mall. 3/15/18
How can they do this? Isn’t it considered faults advertising? I would think that would be illegal. Yes a shame if they are gonna advertise like this then they should at least make someone a winner
I also got the number 701567 from Chapman Hyundai Scottsdale.
Same nmber
I am laughing so hard I have the exact code 701657 from Chapman Hyundai of Scottsdale.
You can add Toyota of Huntington Beach to the list of dealerships that have sunk this low. If I had gone down there and discovered this scam after sitting there listening to their speil, I’d probably have gotten myself in big trouble! Don’t these vultures know the public is getting fed up with this kind of cowardly marketing?
We had exact same thing happened to us by Arrowhead Honda.
While you access the web address it says the offer has expired.
This is a scam.