Catching up with the current scams
Following on from part 1, given the current level of enquiries we are receiving there is a definite pattern immerging with the same basic stories being told. We thought that this would be a good opportunity to look at the common scams that being perpetrated.
The first question to answer is how on earth did these scammers get so much detail about you? Well if its timeshare, you may be told that you are listed on a global timeshare owner register, we can categorically state that no such register exists. Realistically the only people who should know you own a timeshare are you, the developer and/or the resort and anyone else you chose to divulge the information to. If it’s one of the failed holiday clubs then no doubt somehow the data has found its way into the public domain, probably illegally. Below we look at the most popular current scams.
False Claims
The Court Case
This scam follows the line of a phone call out of the blue, mostly directed at former holiday club members, such as EZE Group. The good news is that a court case has taken place in Spain and as a former owner you have been awarded thousands of Euros, all you have to do is pay various fees such as court fees, translation fees, Spanish tax, after that your money will be transferred. These fees are relatively small and normally asked for at intervals but when added up can amount to some serious money.
Let us state with 100% accuracy that there has been and never will be any court case in Spain, or anywhere else for that matter relating to compensation. The only possible route to obtain a refund is via a Section 75 claim under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, and this will be dependent on whether you used a credit card for part of the transaction.
The past owner
Again, using stolen data, calls are being made to ex timeshare owners scaring them into believing that although they have not been involved with their timeshare for many years, have had no resort communication or paid any maintenance and in many cases have had confirmation of their exit but according to the caller, they still own. The prime targets appear to be ex Diamond owners and ex RCI point owners, although like the plague this is rapidly spreading to other developers.
For a fee, the kind caller will ensure that you are legally out of your ownership even though you have been out of it for years. A number of our enquirers have contacted the resorts to have their cancellation confirmed and guess what? They had confirmation of their exit. Perhaps Diamond, RCI, in fact all developers need to carry out an audit of their data protection security.
The Spanish Abogado
This one is quite elaborate, first off contact is made normally to former holiday club members, again by cold call or sometimes email. Much similar to the scenario above it revolves around a court case; the main difference is the supporting evidence. These rogue lawyers, who aren’t lawyers in the first place, send out fake court documents in Spanish to convince the unsuspecting target of the reality of the claim. They also send out a genuine Spanish tax form that has been doctored with the targets details. They even send out a copy of a cheque payable to the target to prove they have won their claim. Unfortunately, the cheque is also fake.
To finish this scam, a letter is received from the fake law firm enclosing the cheque but the envelope has been tampered with and the cheque is not there. On contact with the scammers they say they are aware of the theft and have reported it to the Spanish police so whilst investigations are ongoing they cannot issue another cheque. Thing is, there was never any real cheque and no report to the police was made, the upshot is there is no money ever paid out. Very elaborate scam but a scam nevertheless.
Fake compensation claims
Similar to the Spanish court claims, a cold call will inform the victim that they can reclaim all their timeshare expenses for mis selling. This scam knows no geographic boundaries so it could be resorts in America, Mexico or wherever you can supposedly get compensation, for a cost.
Claims that won’t happen
- Mis selling – Almost impossible to evidence this. Most untruths that are told at the point of a timeshare sale are verbal; therefore it is your word against a mighty timeshare company. Any form of mis selling will be vehemently denied by the resorts and as nothing was in writing the case will almost certainly fail. Another point is that, if you have owned for a good number of years, it will be argued that any problems, untruths or otherwise should have been raised long before.
- Court Claims – outside of contracts issued by timeshare companies operating in Spain, there are no other court cases for compensation. Even in Spain these claims relate to specific points of illegality and are date sensitive.
- Claims relating to: Eze Group, ABC Lawyers, Monster Travel, DWVC, Incentive Leisure, Club Class, Leisure Alliance, Blue Chip, Excalibur, and many more we could mention. With the exception of credit card claims under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, there is no chance of any financial recompense and certainly no court cases anywhere in the world.
TCA comment
You must remember the people who work for these criminals are very adept at spinning a web of deceit in such a way that it has all the right reasons in all the right places to motivate you to engage their services. An unfortunate facet of this is that most victims only find out they have been duped when it’s too late.
Because 99.9% of timeshare fraud is conducted by phone and video meetings (Zoom) the above regulations are in place to protect you. These regulations dictate that if you are not actually present in the offices of the company or if a representative visits you at home, then you must be given 14 days to withdraw from any contract signed and at the same time pay no money.
Ethical companies will abide by these rules but scam companies will completely ignore them. Some may try to use a loophole whereby if you confirm you wish for work to commence immediately then you forfeit your right to the 14 days, this is not correct. In order to forfeit the 14 days you must have had your loss of rights clearly explained and placed in writing. If asked, never agree. In the global sphere of things does 14 days delay really matter? It certainly does because it is the difference between paying money on the spot or being able to change your mind and/or carry out your own due diligence.
Most scam companies pretend to be in the UK so UK law applies but what about if they are somewhere else in the EU, such as Spain. The EU consumer directive regulations on distance selling include a cooling-off period of 14 days so the same applies.
If you smell a rat and either don’t have the ability to research yourself or alternately would like someone else to do this for you then contact us. We are only a phone call away and will always give you an honest opinion based on fact and research, and guess what? We won’t ask for any money!
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