Last week we published an article on the subject of the “are you in or are you out” scam, this may be viewed here. As we write this scam is reaching pandemic levels, so what is it? Put simply the con revolves around those former timeshare owners who have correctly exited their timeshare and furthermore have had written confirmation of the fact but are persuaded by the scammers that this is all false. Let’s take a closer look how this one pans out.
In or out, that is the question
Fear is the key, not the novel by Alistair MacLean but the method used by the scammers to get your money. Basically, even though you have had no contact with the resort or developer for years, no letters, no maintenance bills and a letter to prove you are out, this is all incorrect. Apparently your exit never involved the land registry, the trust company and the new buyer, which it should have done, obviously your multi million pound developer doesn’t know how to legally terminate a contract, but for a fee the scammers will put all that to rights.
The real sting come with the scare tactic used by saying because the exit was not performed correctly, you are still liable for all the unpaid maintenance. Everything is a lie, no truth, you are already out and will never be dragged screaming back in. In our previous article mentioned above, the insinuation was that Diamond Resorts lied to our enquirer in the letter of confirmation that he had exited the timeshare. Even before the takeover by Hilton, Diamond Resorts were one of the big five global timeshare developers. If they don’t know how to provide legal exit solutions then no one does.
The cold call
All of the scams relating to timeshare start with a cold call, this week we had a further tale that started that way. Our enquirer received a cold call from the Fraud Action Passport Line. Straight away one has to ask what timeshare has to do with passport fraud. That aside the regular pattern emerged for passing over to a trusted third party; in this case it was A.M.L. As per usual we carried out some research and could find no reference to either entity.
The set up for the scam was a mirror image of the Diamond story covered in our previous article.
The story
After the cold call, our enquirer arranged a “home sit” meaning allowing an individual who you have no prior knowledge of to come to your home then begin to defraud you. Might as well throw the front door open and put a sign up saying “take what you like”.
Luckily for our enquirer we were able to nip this one in the bud before any real damage was done. There was an element of scepticism surrounding our advice, in fact it took an email chain of six to finally convince our enquirer that he was about to be scammed, that’s how convincing this sting had been set up. The icing on the cake was a copy of the resort cancellation letter sent to our enquirer which couldn’t have been clearer:
As we said, the wording couldn’t be clearer. Still confused by the plethora of cold calls being received saying he wasn’t out, he again contacted the developer. The email from the developer just last month confirms that the ownership is cancelled; note the date, 25th July 2022. And yet just over one month later our enquirer was questioning the authenticity of the cancellation due 100% to the convincing lie told by the scammers.
The final line of the email says it all:
“Please do not listen to them they only want money from you”
TCA Comment
Here we see an example of ignoring reality and falling for the lies and deceits of the fraudsters. In this case our enquirer had a lucky escape, the evidence we received couldn’t be clearer, the timeshare ownership contract was cancelled nearly a year ago. We stated earlier that this particular scam is becoming a pandemic with all the scammers jumping on the same band wagon, so be on your guard.
The data relating to your previous ownership has obviously found its way into dubious hands illegally. The first alarm bell should be the fact that you didn’t instigate contact, in other words you were cold called. Secondly, how does the caller know so much about the fact that you owned a timeshare but not only that but exactly what you owned? Don’t be fooled by the “you’re on the international database of timeshare owners” We can state with 100% accuracy that no such database exists.
There is no substitute for thorough investigation, don’t simply take things at face value, if you can’t investigate, we can. Don’t agree to allowing complete strangers into your home, if you do we are certain that you will find the hard sell very similar to when you purchased the timeshare, in fact it might even be the same person!
The evidence of a bona fide exit in this, and the previous case we investigated is plain to see, if you have evidence as per that reproduced in this article and are still in doubt; firstly, you shouldn’t be but if you are contact the developer for confirmation.
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