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Ibibo wanting to purchase/resell my RCI membership

JoeSetness

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"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." I get that.

Ibibo is a huge Indian travel company. I've spoken with the guy live and exchanged emails at an goibibo.com.mx domain (our "home" resort is Pueblo Bonito). He is not Indian - he sounds like 30 year-old guy from the eastern US. He is NOT asking me to pay any money up front, and was very clear that he works on commission and doesn't get paid until I get paid. If I agree to the price, he's asking me to accept the price in writing, and then send him proof of ownership of our membership, which he said is the front page of our contract packet.

We're not looking to get out of our RCI membership, but the amount he's offering is over 2x what we paid for it, which strictly from an investing standpoint is obviously attractive. However, that high of a price makes my alarm bells go off, and also the fact that I can't find anything online about Ibibo doing this type of work. Anyone seen something like this before?

Thanks!
 

Passepartout

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We hear of it every day or two. It's a scam. If it was real, why wouldn't they just buy from the developer? They will ask you for money for 'taxes', 'appraisal', something, and then disappear.

Run, don't walk away.

Jim
 

Karen G

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"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." I get that.
This is certainly some kind of scam. Don't fall for it. Go with your gut instinct--it really is too good to be true. While this guy claims there is no upfront fee, there will definitely be some kind of fee asked for later. There also won't be a sale because there is no buyer for a Mexican timeshare at twice the price you paid.

Another clue that this is a scam is the part about selling your RCI membership. That makes no sense at all. RCI is an exchange company and has nothing to do with your ownership of the timeshare at Pueblo Bonito.

I second Jim's recommendation above: Run, don't walk away.
 

DeniseM

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It's a scam - after they have you hooked they are going to collect some bogus fees from you, steal the fees, and disappear. We literally hear about offers like this every day.

Also - you should stop communicating with them immediately. Continuing to have contact with them identifies you as an "easy mark," and then you will get lots more offers from scammers.
 

magmue

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...send him proof of ownership of our membership, which he said is the front page of our contract packet.
Perhaps the planned scam is using your proof of ownership to pose as a owner and "rent" your unit out?
 

JoeSetness

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Thanks, all. Funny that I couldn't find any other reference online to Ibibo doing this. Much appreciated!
 

LannyPC

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Funny that I couldn't find any other reference online to Ibibo doing this.

That's likely because it is an old company popping up under a new name. This happens all the time with these scammers. Once they get called out or caught under one name, they start out with a new name.
 

tschwa2

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Thanks, all. Funny that I couldn't find any other reference online to Ibibo doing this. Much appreciated!
That's because it isn't Ibibo doing it. They just picked a legitimate business that it would be difficult for you to verify directly with the company if the offer is legitimate. Just because the email address says its from a company doesn't mean that it is. As soon as a specific scam starts picking up complaints they change the name. I have heard the exact same scam where the person thought they were being contacted by RCI, or by the mexican division of expedia or some other company.

Why would anyone pay owners twice what they paid, when they could just go to developer and purchase it at retail? Even paying owners 80% of retail would indicate scam because if they were looking for a bulk purchase they could get it from the developer at a discount.
 

LannyPC

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Why would anyone pay owners twice what they paid, when they could just go to developer and purchase it at retail? Even paying owners 80% of retail would indicate scam because if they were looking for a bulk purchase they could get it from the developer at a discount.

Bingo! However, many of the scammers see owners who bought at these sales presentations as gullible and uninformed. After all, didn't the original sales people convince the buyer that he was buying appreciating real estate? Who in his right mind would buy something for tens of thousands of dollars knowing that the resale price would drop down to about zero after the rescission period expires?
 
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