Well we suppose it had to happen, Silverpoint scams we have reported on many times in the past are getting old hat and worn out now, so the brains in the scammer HQ had to come up with a new one. And this is what they have come up with.
The new scam
This time cold calls are being made to mostly Silverpoint owners who have terminated their ownership. A supposed debt collection company called Crawford are making the calls. The threat is that debt collectors and/or bailiffs will come to your house for collection of unpaid back maintenance, but the contract is cancelled; however this may be avoided for a payment of £4,000 to the appointed law firm. First question; what law firm?
The calls emanate from a dialling code located in Skelmersdale, Yorkshire, however when checking the number it is not allocated by any main stream provider such as BT but is supplied by Magrathea Telecommunications Limited. This company are known to TCA as a provider of Voice over Internet Protocol (Voip) services. Although looking as if the call is from Skelmersdale, the location of the caller could be anywhere in the world. Our best guess would be Spain and specifically Tenerife.
This telephone number is very active and has been looked up 82 times, see below:
As we can see, this number is associated with timeshare scam activity, are we surprised? No. It would appear that not only are Silverpoint in the frame but also MGM Muthu:
OnaGrup debt collection
Yes it’s true that the OnaGrup in Barcelona took over the maintenance fee and management company that worked with Silverpoint being Excel Hotels & Resorts. Excel was responsible for the collection of maintenance fees. Ona have a procedure they follow, first they pass the debt to Else Credit, a debt collection company based in Barcelona. If this fails they pass the debt to their corporate lawyers also in Barcelona, they do not employ the services of UK based debt collection companies.
TCA comment
We would dearly like to flesh this one out a little more because we have scant information to investigate further. Suffice to say, if you receive a call from 01695 768614 and the content is anything to do with timeshare, notably Silverpoint, MGM Muthu (ex Petchey Leisure) or any other timeshare related issue, our suggestion is to terminate contact immediately.
This all begins with a cold call, which in turn came from stolen data. These callers have obtained your personal information illegally, remember that! Also take note of one particular talented female scammer:
Once again we will repeat the TCA Mantra:
NO ONE EVER LOST MONEY PUTTING THE PHONE DOWN ON A COLD CALLER!
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