Of late we have noticed a seed change in the way scammers are asking for money. The scam remains the same but the amounts requested have gone down dramatically. As is usual the victim is presented with fake court documents mostly from Spanish courts, although the odd Greek one appears every now and again.
The supposed court case has gone in the victims favour and an award of many thousands has been made, as we know with 100% accuracy there has been and never will be such a court case. In the past substantial funds were requested to pay for either Spanish tax or some nonexistent form needed due to Brexit and often ranged between £3,000 and £6,000. When talking these sorts of numbers it’s hardly surprising that most of these scams fell over at the first fence. Not deterred by these failures, the scammers came up with a plan B.
Supermarket psychology
A well worn phrase in the world of supermarkets is pile it high sell it cheap and this is exactly what the scammers’ next trick is. The fake court case together with its fake documents remain the same but the monetary demand has dropped dramatically. Instead of thousands, hundreds have been requested. Faced with a gain of multi thousands and only a request for a small outlay, this would certainly get the attention of most victims. The scam remains exactly the same and the outcome is the same, whether its hundreds or thousands there has been no court case and there is no money.
We should add a word of warning, initially the amount requested may be small but there will almost certainly be additional requests for small amounts for a variety of spurious reasons. When added together the overall sting could add up to thousands.
Be on your guard
Although we receive numerous reports of the fake court scam and are able to nip quite a few in the bud, we have to wonder how many victims fall for these scams and duly pay up only to find the whole thing was an elaborate sting. The prime targets are those who had holiday club ownership with the likes of DWVC, Incentive Leisure Group, Club Class and Leisure Alliance. All these companies went out of business many years ago with no court cases then, and certainly none now.
Other target companies are known former scam operators who once again went out of business years ago the corollary of which is no court cases.
As we have pointed out on many occasions, for a court case to take place there are at least two components, the plaintiff and the defendant. If you have had no prior notice of the case and have had no input, how can you be a plaintiff? Furthermore, the scammers cite company names in their fake documents, these types of court cases take place against individuals, not companies as may be demonstrated by the recent announcement surrounding Monster Travel.
Don’t be their next victim
At the point of sounding boring, once again it’s worth saying that if it seems to be too good to be true, then it almost certainly is. You can’t win a lottery if you haven’t entered one. You can’t win a prize at bingo if you don’t play bingo and you certainly aren’t in for a settlement from a court case you have had no previous knowledge of and have not been involved.
As the majority of these scams take place from Spain with monies requested paid to Spanish accounts, the chances of ever getting any money back will be zero. Even if the financial loss doesn’t hurt, the stigma of falling victim to fraud often causes much mental anxiety for a long period.
If you are in any doubt get in contact with us and we will advise you. A simple phone call could save you thousands and avoid significant heartache.
For more information regarding this article or assistance in any other timeshare related issues please contact the TCA on 01908 881058 or email: info@TimeshareConsumerAssociation.org.uk