# Newspaper Article - feedback needed!



## TUGBrian (Jun 19, 2013)

So I was approached by a local news outlet to write up a story about Timeshare scams.  We have this article already here:

http://tug2.net/timeshare_advice/timeshare_scams_revealed.html

however I wanted it to read a bit better in print format, than what is listed on that page.  (I also left out the pcc part for length, ill see if they will let me add that section in and extend my length stipulation)

anyway, feedback/changes/etc always welcome..and I need another Title other than the "Timeshare scams and other fairy tales" thats already taken by the first article.

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It is unfortunate that there are folks out there who exist only to take advantage and prey upon others Misfortune and Desperation, sadly the Timeshare Industry has attracted so many of these folks, that Timeshare Resale Scams have become the most reported scam in the State of Florida for the past few years running!  It is my sincere hope that this article will reach many of our residents who are Timeshare owners before they encounter these Scams.  Or at the very least (as in the case of at least one of my neighbors) ensure they are not ripped off a second time!

While this article will describe a number of Scams in this industry, there is one fundamental mantra that we repeat perhaps 50 times a day to individuals who look to us for help either after being scammed, or being approached by a potential scammer.  

This mantra is: "Never ever pay anyone any money upfront to Buy, Sell, Rent, etc your Timeshare".

I would venture more than 90% of the Scams in this industry involve individuals contacting Timeshare owners and spinning a wonderful tale of being able to rent or sell their timeshare right then and there, if only you would pay them a fee to "get the ball rolling" so to speak.  While this sounds completely obvious as a scam as you read it here in this article, rest assured these scammers are far more creative in their sales pitches, they have been practicing it successfully for years and have mastered it as an art form.

The upfront fee can be called an "appraisal fee", a "marketing fee", an "advertising fee", "prepaid closing costs", for "a title search", the list of legitimate sounding names for this upfront fee goes on and on!  However in all of these situations where you are contacted by someone claiming to have a buyer or a renter for your Timeshare, this upfront fee is guaranteed to result in nothing more than you being ripped off!  

We read and report numerous times a day these "organizations" that contact Timeshare owners (of which ownership lists are readily available) and serve up a pitch that is exactly what many of you are desperate to hear, in that they have someone "lined up" ready to buy or rent your timeshare, and to sweeten the deal, the pitch usually involves an price way higher than you were looking for in the first place!  I cannot stress more how smooth and convincing these individuals are (remember, they are trying to extract money from you, and they practice all day every day to have a reply for every possible response you can have). Many even offering "Guarantees" that your timeshare will sell or rent.

Now just ask yourself, if someone is currently trying to rip you off, and conducts a business that exists only to rip others like yourself off, what are the odds that said "Guarantee" is going to be of any sort of protection to you at all?  It is amazing that this single word convinces more owners to fork over hundreds if not thousands of dollars to a complete stranger, only to never see it again!

Fact is, selling most timeshares is not an quick or simple process, and there is no guarantee even in legitimate sales entities, much less someone cold calling you over the telephone, or sending you a random letter or post card in the mail!

Just how creative and despicable are these scammers?  Some even keep their list of successful victims that sent them money in the first place only to call them again a few weeks or months later only to claim that they "discovered" that the previous company they worked for was actually ripping off owners, and they felt so sick about it they started their own NEW company for the sole purpose of helping the victims they ripped off get their money back!  Sounds great right?  Except in order to get your money back you have to pay them yet another upfront fee to "file the paperwork" and get the refund!  Viola, the previous victim is scammed a second time!

A large percentage of these victims are seniors, who sadly are a more trusting generation than those working the other side of these scams.  Many simply cannot believe such a seemingly helpful individual can want nothing more than to rip them off.  Sad times indeed!

Each one of these pitches are variations of the same, and are all targeted towards owners who need to Sell or Rent their timeshares and have been unsuccessful in doing so in the past, and sadly in nearly every single instance of the above, the outcome of this transaction is that the Timeshare owner has now lost hundreds if not thousands of dollars more, with nothing to show for it.

The old adage of "if its too good to be true" applies here without exception!  Its simply not possible for these scam artists to get you to part with so much of your hard earned cash without telling you exactly what you need to hear about your Timeshare.  In many cases, individuals simply want to believe the pitch is true that its worth it for them to fork over $500-2500 dollars on the off chance that their timeshare will get sold for the overinflated price quoted in the pitch.  This is why these scams are so successful, and why TUG has existed for going on 20 years now educating Timeshare owners to avoid them!  

Given that finally many Attorney Generals offices and other mainstream outlets have targeted these upfront fee scams and many owners are becoming wise to it, they have resorted to reinventing the "fake check" scam to fit the Timeshare industry.  In this scenario they will claim to act as a broker between you and the buyer, and will send you a check for more than the sales price of your timeshare, then ask you to send their "commission" in the form of a legitimate check paid by you.  Of course while your check is valid and will be cashed quickly, their check will eventually be discovered as fake, or fail to clear and the funds removed from your account by your bank.


Yet another increasingly popular scheme these days are companies posing as legal entities or even law firms offering to "get you out of your timeshare contract" for an upfront fee of course.  These scams just like the one above promising a "buyer" prey on the desperation of Timeshare owners who want nothing more than to be rid of their timeshare.  Sadly the only "service" you get from these organizations are letters sent/emailed/etc to the resort demanding they cancel your timeshare contract.  

There is absolutely no legal basis for cancelling a legitimate Timeshare contract you signed ( in most cases many MANY months if not Years ago).  Despite the salesman lying to you, despite you not getting one or more things you were "promised" during the sales presentation, the fact is you signed your sales agreement of your own free will, and I can assure you the resort developer has spent a ridiculous amount of money on their own actual lawyers drafting up said contract.  Any "attorney" offering assistance to you in getting out of your contract is merely looking to collect an upfront fee and should be avoided at all costs.

Many of these organizations claim to have ties to state or federal law enforcement agencies (Atty Generals offices, etc etc), rest assured this is also yet another ploy to gain your trust, and ensure you will send them money with zero chance you will have any success.  

Another ploy similar to this are organizations that claim the same "legal assistance" to recover funds that you have already paid to an upfront fee scammer!  Ever wonder how they knew you were scammed in the first place?  You are exaclty right!  The very same people that contacted you before claiming they had a buyer for your timeshare and took your $500 bucks, are now contacting you under a different name claiming they can recover that scammed money for you...wait for it...FOR ANOTHER UPFRONT FEE! Are you sensing a pattern here yet?

I will repeat again, if you follow the rule of never paying anyone any significant money to do anything with your timeshare, you will protect yourself from the VAST majority of the scams in the Timeshare Industry.  No matter how good the pitch sounds, no matter how convincing the individual is, as soon as you are asked for money upfront, that glass house comes crashing down!

You may be asking yourself at this point how or why Law Enforcement has such little effect on these obvious criminals.  Sadly its because many of these folks are not actual "entities" or storefront operations, instead just a small group (or in some cases just one individual) with prepaid cell phones or a small boiler room type office making calls all day long.  Once they get reported to Law Enforcement, they simply shut down and open up somewhere else.  You will find in the news that the State of Florida is going after many of these companies, and has successfully shut down a good number of them, however sadly, its just a drop in the bucket compared to how many different folks are involved in these scams due to it being such easy money.  Many simply set up shop in a different state to avoid the wrath of the Florida Attorney General and its newly drafted laws that target these scams.

The only real chance at putting a dent in these scams is educating owners and getting to them before you are scammed out of your hard earned money!  The Timeshare Users Group has existed for nearly 20 years in this effort, and yes, upfront fee scams have been around that long if not longer!  Our original "scam" article was written in 1998 and while revised over the years to add the new creative ways scammers have changed, the fact they are all looking for money upfront has not changed and still exists as the easiest way to identify someone looking to part you from your money with nothing to show for it.  After all, you wouldn't pay your realtor up front to sell your house would you?  

There are actual legitimate Timeshare Real Estate Brokers in this industry, and every single one of them works on commission or a flat fee AFTER the sale is completed.  Sadly with the extremely depressed resale market (a story for a different article), you will find your Timeshare is worth only between 0 and 20% of what you originally paid for it new from the developer.  Many folks these days resort to giving their Timeshare away at no charge to simply be free of the annual maintenance fees.  We have hundreds of Timeshares listed by owners for a single dollar, and you will find hundreds more listed on ebay for $1 no reserve auctions.  Sadly there has likely never been a worse time to try to sell a Timeshare, and thus why these scams have never been more prolific!

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