# Saved From a Scam - Be aware



## JohnPaul (Sep 4, 2021)

I have purchased one time credits from other Worldmark owners a number of times.  I have also been in contact with some folks that I didn't end up buying from.  I have also successfully done the same with VI points.  Probably why I let my guard down.

I received a text that addressed me by name and claimed to have 40,000 WM credits to sell all or part of at $0.06 per credit.  That's a very good price but not ridiculous.  I've paid that little recently.  They even had a screen print showing the 40,000 credits.

The person claimed we had spoken before.  I agreed to buy 10,000 credits at half up front and half on transfer.  Half was $300 so not a fortune but not money I'd want to throw away.  BTW I stated half and half which they accepted.   They didn't suggest that probably hoping I'd pay the whole amount.

I should have done my normal request to show the full page with their owner name, etc as well as the credit info but I didn't.  They said they accepted Zelle or Venmo.

When I went to set them up in Zelle it at first said the email wasn't in the Zelle system.  That was a minor red flag.  I wasn't even sure if they were set up and logged out without sending any money.  When I tried to log back in my banking ID had been disabled.  Upon calling the bank they did say it was the Zelle situation that flagged the disabling and that it can't be cleared until the next business day.

I texted back asking for the screen I should have seen originally.  I expect the I will hear nothing.  The phone number it came from is 919-628-0698.   The Zelle name was Kathleen Phillips.

Thanks to my bank I didn't lose anything.  This is a pretty sophisticated scam in knowing exactly what I would be interested in.

BE AWARE.  I was foolish in letting my guard down after successful transactions.


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## davidvel (Sep 4, 2021)

JohnPaul said:


> I have purchased one time credits from other Worldmark owners a number of times.  I have also been in contact with some folks that I didn't end up buying from.  I have also successfully done the same with VI points.  Probably why I let my guard down.
> 
> I received a text that addressed me by name and claimed to have 40,000 WM credits to sell all or part of at $0.06 per credit.  That's a very good price but not ridiculous.  I've paid that little recently.  They even had a screen print showing the 40,000 credits.
> 
> ...


I'm confused as to why your banking ID was disabled?


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## RX8 (Sep 4, 2021)

Good news is that you didn’t lose any money. Curious though, all you did was search their email address but that was enough for Zelle to lock your banking ID?  Does that mean that email address had already been identified as a scammer?


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## JohnPaul (Sep 4, 2021)

Something about the transaction (setting up the recipient) alerted their fraud department.  They disabled my ID to prevent a possible fraud transaction. It turns out they also immediately called me but I didn’t realize until checking VM a bit later.

Having now talked w fraud they are reactivating my ID.

I texted the person asking for a screen print of acct details that show name and address along w credits.  They said they would send “when home at their computer “ but I don’t expect to hear from them again.  Actually a bit surprised I got a response but that’s probably trying to buy time before having to adjust details of the scam.


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## davidvel (Sep 4, 2021)

JohnPaul said:


> Something about the transaction (setting up the recipient) alerted their fraud department.  They disabled my ID to prevent a possible fraud transaction. It turns out they also immediately called me but I didn’t realize until checking VM a bit later.
> 
> Having now talked w fraud they are reactivating my ID.
> 
> I texted the person asking for a screen print of acct details that show name and address along w credits.  They said they would send “when home at their computer “ but I don’t expect to hear from them again.  Actually a bit surprised I got a response but that’s probably trying to buy time before having to adjust details of the scam.



The scammer didn't send you any links that you clicked on I hope.


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## JohnPaul (Sep 4, 2021)

davidvel said:


> The scammer didn't send you any links that you clicked on I hope.



Definitely not.  None sent and I definitely wouldn't have clicked.


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## davidvel (Sep 4, 2021)

JohnPaul said:


> Definitely not.  None sent and I definitely wouldn't have clicked.


Good to hear!


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## nightnurse613 (Sep 5, 2021)

Phew!! I had a similar experience (except on wmowners) but my transaction went thru with flying colors (except it took an extra day to transfer). Thanks Mokjo!


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## sherakay (Sep 6, 2021)

JohnPaul said:


> I have purchased one time credits from other Worldmark owners a number of times.  I have also been in contact with some folks that I didn't end up buying from.  I have also successfully done the same with VI points.  Probably why I let my guard down.
> 
> I received a text that addressed me by name and claimed to have 40,000 WM credits to sell all or part of at $0.06 per credit.  That's a very good price but not ridiculous.  I've paid that little recently.  They even had a screen print showing the 40,000 credits.
> 
> ...



OMG I got a text from that person too! I posted an ad to rent credits on WM Owners and got two texts and two emails and all were suspicious. The one text I responded to asking for a screenshot sent me an obviously fake screenshot. I’m so over it I will never post an ad to rent credits again. I was dubious to begin with and now it’s been confirmed. The fact that they post that the credits expire not an the end of the month is a dead giveaway.


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## sherakay (Sep 6, 2021)

Gmail flagged this one for me thank goodness!


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## sherakay (Sep 6, 2021)

I don’t know what this person was trying to pull!


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## Eric B (Sep 7, 2021)

sherakay said:


> OMG I got a text from that person too! I posted an ad to rent credits on WM Owners and got two texts and two emails and all were suspicious. The one text I responded to asking for a screenshot sent me an obviously fake screenshot. I’m so over it I will never post an ad to rent credits again. I was dubious to begin with and now it’s been confirmed. The fact that they post that the credits expire not an the end of the month is a dead giveaway.
> 
> View attachment 39674



I actually have credits in my account that don’t expire at the end of a month from using Exchange Plus.  They’re labeled as trade credits on the detail page.


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## sherakay (Sep 7, 2021)

Eric B said:


> I actually have credits in my account that don’t expire at the end of a month from using Exchange Plus.  They’re labeled as trade credits on the detail page.


I'm not quite sure what that is, but I doubt three different people would have credits that expire on the 20th in 2022 and 2023


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## HudsHut (Sep 10, 2021)

Thank you @JohnPaul  for the information and @sherakay for the screen shots. I'll add a warning to the Credits Wanted section of WMOwners.


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## allenke (Dec 7, 2021)

To avoid scams, I never send money prior to receiving the credits in my account. Personally, I believe that is the way all renting of credit transactions should go. Less likely scams will happen that way.


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## geist1223 (Dec 8, 2021)

There are many Worldmark Owners that will not Transfer Credits until they have the money.


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## chemteach (Dec 8, 2021)

Does Worldmark charge members to transfer credits from one account to another?  I have purchased credits in the past, but I have always been a bit nervous about it.  This posting makes me know I should never post that I am looking for credits.  I've only ever responded to people who have posted that they have credits to rent out, and I have only purchased credits from people who have lots of reviews from other renters.


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## markb53 (Dec 9, 2021)

chemteach said:


> Does Worldmark charge members to transfer credits from one account to another?  I have purchased credits in the past, but I have always been a bit nervous about it.  This posting makes me know I should never post that I am looking for credits.  I've only ever responded to people who have posted that they have credits to rent out, and I have only purchased credits from people who have lots of reviews from other renters.



No. WorldMark does not currently charge for the transfer.


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## easyrider (Dec 15, 2021)

I only buy credits from those I'm somewhat familiar with. If I want the credits quick I use Timeshare Angels @ 7.5 cents a point. I know its not the least expensive option but it is a very safe option.

Bill


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