• The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 30 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 30th anniversary: Happy 30th Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $21,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $21 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    60,000+ subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

Is this a scam?

paulandsheila

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2008
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
Ohio
Here are the e-mails that I received. Has anyone dealt with this guy?

Hello Sheila,

Thanks for your response,the price time share is okay by me and I will like you to understand that the payment is from my associate in United States who buy our products and he ready to pay me back the outstanding money which he owe to our company, i will be given you a commission of 2% for the payment made through you to me and he also explained further that he paying the sum of $18, 800.00 for me.Which i will like you to get the cost of your time share out of it and the necessaries payment am to pay as well.After these has been done,directives would be give to you on how you will be handling the remaining balance of the funds.After these i will contact my lawyer to come over to United States for the signing of the documents on my my behalf. If that is okay by you i will like you to get back to me with your name and the address you want your check to be mail to and including your contact phone number.As soon as i receives your response to this mail,i will contact my associate to make the payment to you.
I will highly appreciate your urgent response.
Very respectfully
Mr.James Rhodes.


On 9/15/08, SHEILA FULKS <sfpandas@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
Cost I want is $6899 plus the transfer fees. 2008 maintenance fees are paid, no loans or mortgages. I would get deed when sale is completed.

--- On Mon, 9/15/08, Rhodes Mc James <rhodesmcjames@googlemail.com> wrote:

From: Rhodes Mc James <rhodesmcjames@googlemail.com>
Subject: Re: Your Time Share For Sale...
To: rhodesmcjames@googlemail.com
Date: Monday, September 15, 2008, 8:34 AM

Hello,
I am Mr. James Rhodes, I will like to purchase your time share you have post for sale, i will like you to get back to me with the asking price of these time share and reason you want to sell the shares before i make out my payment to you.

And before we can proceed i will like you to get back to me with answer to the following questions ok.

QUESTIONS
Have the maintenance fees been paid for the current year?
Are there any mortgages or loans against the property?
Do you want me or you will obtain a copy of your recorded deed me?

I will highly appreciate your urgent response.
Regards,
James Rhodes.
 

vacationtime1

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2006
Messages
5,159
Reaction score
2,750
Points
649
Location
San Francisco
Resorts Owned
WKORV-OF (Maui)
WKV x2 (Scottsdale)
The odds are 99.999+% that it is a scam. Perhaps higher.
 

paulandsheila

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2008
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
Ohio
Guess that doesn't leave much odds that he could be legitimate. I am not comfortable with this guy but wanted to be sure before I ignored him. Have had NUMEROUS calls from agencies that want to sell my unit by "advertising." Extremely tired of those sales tactics so this e-mail was a little unique. I really want to sell this unit but not to the point of losing more money in the deal. Thanks for your response. Sheila
 

gatkerson

newbie
Joined
Sep 15, 2008
Messages
11
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
Nashville, TN
I have been through this same instance with a sale of a car. This person insisted on me cashing their check which was made for $5000 more then what I was asking for. I told him I was not interested in doing that and he kept insisting, even sent me a check for me to cash. But I would not and will not. This is a scam, stay away!
 

Blondie

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
1,540
Reaction score
18
Points
398
Location
New England
Resorts Owned
Raintree Blue, Raintree Resorts; Sudwala Lodge, SA; Hollywood Sands, Hollywood , Fla
Of course it is a scam. Anyone who offers to buy something and indicates he doesn't know the name of the resort or price you are asking is trying to scam you. Further he cannot construct a grammatically correct sentence, obviously knows nothing about what you are selling and speaks in complete generalities, so, how many red flags do ya need? I got this same email myself today. Anyone who contacts me regarding what I am selling needs to reference the resort by name so at least I know they are responding to an actual ad. Anything less than than that I delete. :doh:
 

Rent_Share

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2005
Messages
5,091
Reaction score
3
Points
473
Location
SOCAL (562)
1. By the time you type the words "is this a scam" you should have figuered it out - At least you asked before giving up any persoanl information

2. You have posted your email in your post - There are programs that search the web for the cobination of "@" and .com to add to their spamming lists

3. You are certainly vulnerable to a Phish - Which is where a fake email is broadcast to as many email addresses as possible - A few follow the link and disclose personal information since they may have a relationship with the entity being spoofed . . .
 

sjuhawk_jd

TUG Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2005
Messages
1,659
Reaction score
10
Points
398
Location
Philadelphia
Play along!

Sometime I play along with these Scammers. I ask them to send the cashier's check to:

123 Scammers Lane
Jailtown, ND
USA

Do you think they actually mail the check to these types of addresses?
 

Talent312

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2007
Messages
17,462
Reaction score
7,277
Points
948
Resorts Owned
HGVC & GTS
... At least you asked before giving up any personal information.

[1] You have posted your email in your post - There are programs that search the web for the cobination of "@" and .com to add to their spamming lists

[2] You are certainly vulnerable to a Phish - Which is where a fake email is broadcast to as many email addresses as possible - A few follow the link and disclose personal information since they may have a relationship with the [real] entity being spoofed . . .
-----------------------
Sage advice.
I get phished from time to time from scammers who imitate well known merchants like Amazon, Chase, CitiBank, PayPal, etc. The best thing to do is copy the "properties" of the sender, sign on to your real-account and e-mail them to their fraud department, which is likely too overwhelmed to cope.
 

tlsbooks

TUG Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2008
Messages
204
Reaction score
2
Points
228
Location
Scottsdale, AZ
Not to burst your bubble but Mr. Rhodes is not particular in his attentions...he sent me the same email this morning.

I asked him what timeshare he was referring to and where he saw the ad and he has failed to respond.

The odd thing is that Mr. Rhodes as contacted me before asking the very same questions and also failed to tell me to which timeshare he was referring. :doh:
 

krissydee

newbie
Joined
Feb 25, 2008
Messages
116
Reaction score
0
Points
16
Location
Florida
This is certainly a scam but let me just let you know how it'll probably play out.
They have different variations, but this is a typical version of how the scam works.

You agree on a price, lets say $5,000
He'll send you a check for $15,000
You deposit check
He asks for the remaining $10,000 to be wired to him immediately
You wire the money
In a week or so, your bank calls
His check bounced!
You're on the hook for the full $15,000 and must repay the bank
 

tlsbooks

TUG Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2008
Messages
204
Reaction score
2
Points
228
Location
Scottsdale, AZ
Just for fun, I sent this guy the following email from a new email address:

Dear Mr. Rh0des -

I am so excited that you want to buy my timeshare. It's in a great location - right on the beach in Kansas yet really close to snow skiing. The only reason I am selling it is because my kids and I have formed a band and will be traveling the country in a custom painted school bus.

My asking price is very cheap - only $55,000. The maintenance fees are all paid and there is no mortgage. My lawyer, Reuben Kincaid, will handle getting the deed once everything is taken care of.

I hope this meets with your approval and I hear from you soon.

Best regards,
Shirl3y Partridg3


Guess what - he wants to buy my desirable Kansas beach front timeshare!

His response:

Hello Shirl3y Partridg3,

Thanks for your response,the price time share is okay by me and I will like you to understand that the payment is from my associate in United States who buy our products and he ready to pay me back the outstanding money which he owe to our company, i will be given you a commission of 2% for the payment made through you to me and he also explained further that he paying the sum of $128, 800.00 for me.Which i will like you to get the cost of your time share out of it and the necessaries payment am to pay as well.After these has been done,directives would be give to you on how you will be handling the remaining balance of the funds.After these i will contact my lawyer to come over to United States for the signing of the documents on my my behalf. If that is okay by you i will like you to get back to me with your name and the address you want your check to be mail to and including your contact phone number.As soon as i receives your response to this mail,i will contact my associate to make the payment to you.


Look at the big chunk of money he wants to send me. That's going to pay for a lot of velvet jumpsuits for me and the kids as we travel in our converted school bus. :clap: :clap:
 
Last edited:

Sail7seas

newbie
Joined
Sep 16, 2008
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
Oakland, CA
I have been through this same instance with a sale of a car. This person insisted on me cashing their check which was made for $5000 more then what I was asking for. I told him I was not interested in doing that and he kept insisting, even sent me a check for me to cash. But I would not and will not. This is a scam, stay away!


Yeah -- scam -- my daughter was approached on one of these. It is called the Nigerian car (or whatever) sales scam. They give you a check, you put it in your account, they ask for some of the money back (usually a child having emergency surgery), turns out the check is bogus and if you sent money already then you get stuck with the money you put out. It takes banks a couple of weeks to figure out when a check is bogus when they are drawn on legitimate banks.
 

jdb0822

newbie
Joined
Nov 22, 2005
Messages
283
Reaction score
0
Points
16
Location
Rhode Island
its the ol' nigerian check scam.

I always tell them sure, send me a check, then I give them the name and address of my state attorney general to send the check to (of course I don't tell them its the AG)

That way they waste THEIR time just like they wasted mine.
 
Top