Shooting down claims by affiliates of Narc That Car, the U.S. Department of Justice said this morning that the Amber Alert System is in “no way affiliated” with the Narc That Car multilevel-marketing (MLM) program.
The denial comes on the heels of repeated claims by Narc That Car affiliates that the company, which says it pays “independent consultants” to write down license-plate numbers and enter the information into a database, had ties to law-enforcement agencies and the Amber Alert system.
Narc That Car is in “no way affiliated with the Amber Alert program,” said Kevin Jenkins, a Justice Department spokesman who works with the component of the agency that coordinates Amber Alert.
Narc That Car says it sells license-plate numbers to banks and companies in the business of repossessing automobiles, implying that it also has government clients for the license-plate data entered by its affiliates.
Information on Amber Alerts, which are issued when a child goes missing, scrolls across the bottom of Narc That Car’s website, and affiliates have said the company was started in part to provide information to Amber Alert.
Amber Alert is referenced in a promotional video put out by Narc That Car. It also is referenced in a video by an apparent Narc That Car downline organization known as Team Trinity International.
Team Trinity International makes the claim that the Narc That Car program was started “to provide historical location data for lien holders, law enforcement and other entities such as the Amber Alert System.â€
A Team Trinity video promotion for Narc Thar Car says affiliates should go to the parking lots of famous companies such as McDonald’s, Best Buy, Piggly Wiggly and 27 other famous firms to find a ready supply of license-plate numbers to enter into the company’s database.
Whether Narc That Car affiliates are required to obtain the permission of companies into whose parking lots affiliates venture to mine license-plate numbers is unclear. Also unclear is whether Narc That Car affiliates are required to obtain the permission of the vehicle owner before recording the license-plate number.
Another open question is how Narc That Car affiliates are expected to behave if a person who does not want his plate number recorded calls police or an attorney. Yet another open question is how Narc That Car affiliates are expected to behave if a store manager calls police or shoos the affiliate off the premises.
Jenkins said companies and individuals were not permitted to cite nonexistent Amber Alert ties in advertisements and promotional materials.