Have you ever actually tried to report a vehicle using the 1-800- how's my driving number on the back ?  I did once, and I immediately realized the thing was just a publicity scam.  Companies pay for the 1-800 advertisement, but then?  The 800 number answering service wanted so much information it is highly unlikely most people would actually be able to report -- license number *and* vehicle number ?

In the same vein, I worked for a company once that had an 800 number to report fraud or misconduct within the company.  Unfortunately, if a supervisor was the problem, the investigator would simply ask the supervisor if there were any problems, and the supervisor would reply, "No."  End of investigation.

Do any of these 800 reporting numbers actually do anything besides act as publicity?