Contract Advocates – A new scam company?

A friend of TCA who lives in Gran Canaria alerted us to a Facebook posting on an employment group in Gran Canaria, nothing unusual about that except the content of the advert. Very few companies in Spain employ English speaking tele marketing staff, and when the advert specifically had the word “timeshare” in the text, we thought it needed a little bit more investigation.

We will start by reproducing the advert below:

The content of the advert has all the traits of a scam call centre “The role entails calling timeshare owners” first question, where has the timeshare ownership data come from? Timeshare developers are not in the habit of sharing their client data because that would be a serious breach of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) which could involve them in a very substantial fine.

“Headset, good internet, laptop or computer is a must” From this it can be gathered that there is no office, because the indicators are that the successful applicants have to supply their own equipment and internet access, basically working from home, no corporate expense spared here!

Of interest is the payment package, will the lucky few get a contract of employment, a legal requirement of working in Spain, we doubt it. The Spanish Social security can, and do make unannounced visits to offices to ensure staff are working legally, no problem, as everyone works from home, hey presto, no office to visit.

Although not unique to timeshare, there is a reference to “spiffs”. First point is there is one too many of the letter f; it’s actually SPIF (Sales Performance Incentive Fund). Spifs are very common motivation tools used across the timeshare industry and go something like, “the first person to get 5 qualified tours today will receive €200”

No doubt all remuneration will be paid on what is called “the black”, meaning illegally paid because there is no contract of employment, no tax, no social security just cash in hand.

The website

Easy, there isn’t one…yet. For email response there is a domain name quoted; contractadvocates.com. When checking this domain it can be established that the first date of registration was 23^rd June 2021 and has an expiry date of 24^th June 2024. This would indicate that the domain has recently been for sale and has been purchased by whoever is behind this.

The name “Contract Advocates” is in line with the current modus operandi in timeshare scams. Rather than produce a website specifically relating to timeshare, scammers hide behind contract resolution sites. We reported on this back in September last year.

TCA comment

If we are on the right track, and we believe we are, the tele-sales staff won’t be calling from Contract Advocates but some other spurious name, this is an attempt to get round GDPR which is a sure sign that calls are being made to potential victims using stolen data.

So here we have a new organisation with no website and of course with a check of Spanish Companies House, no registered company, employing telemarketers to work from home, indicating no business premise with a salary package that will no doubt be paid on the black.

Its early days but rest assured we will be following this rather closely and of course will update as and when further information is obtained. In the mean time, if you are contacted by a cold call and roads lead to Contract Advocates, we advise extreme caution.

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