Timeshare scam

[DA Cops]

I was recently scammed. I was called by a person that claimed to be with Paradise Timeshare Resale and had a buyer for my TS. He said his name was Alex and was the assistant to Mr John Morgan. Mr. Morgan then provided me with the company's name. address and telephone number and stated that they were rated A+ with the BBB.

I checked the BBB and it was true, so I called him back and it went to his voicemail which said he was currently away from his desk........and close with a statement like "God is truly good, Amen. He called back shortly after and then it all started. He emailed an offer to purchase my timeshare and a contract to sell it. He then said that the buyers were at the resort and ready to buy.

This is where I made the biggest mistake of my life. He said in order for the sale to go through I had to send $2200 via Reloadit cards and he would send a receipt as soon as they got the money proceeded by the title company on site. He sent the receipt as promised with a breakdown of the charges. Everything seemed legit. Then two days later he called again and said he needed me to send the money to cover the luxury taxes and pointed out that in the contract that I was responsible for the taxes. $2800 more in Reloadit cards.

This is when I got suspicious (too late :-( ) He gave every excuse in the book why I couldn't pay the taxes to the IRS or why the funds couldn't be taken from the sale. Since then I found out from the BBB that this was a scam and apparently it is hitting a lot of people.

HINT: when you go to the BBB site be sure to check out the complaint page. The fraud alert doesn't show up on the first page. Also call the number for the company listed and verified on the BBB site to see if the caller is legit.

PS Scammer get your information from sites that you advertise on that why they know so much about your property.

 

[TUGBrian]

I am truly very sorry you were scammed...but

I had to send $2200 via Reloadit cards

how on earth does this even sound remotely like a legitimate transaction?

 

[Jason245]

File a police report and contact reloadit telling them that your card balance was stolen.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

[silentg]

Sorry this happened, but thanks for letting us know. Timesharing can be fun, until a few unscrupulous people ruin it and make it hard to trust.
Silentg

 

[LannyPC]

Scammer get your information from sites that you advertise on that why they know so much about your property.

First of all, I will join the others in extending my sympathy for falling for this scam. But, FWIW, your last statement is not entirely true.

There have been many discussions and speculation here on TUG about how these scammers get TS owners' info. The evidence seems to point to employees at the resorts and/or exchange companies who have access to owners' information and then sell this information on the side. As for getting information about owners from their ads, that seems less likely because usually the ads that owners put up (such as here on TUG's Marketplace) do not have the owners' phone number in the contact info. If a prospective buyer sees an ad he likes, he contacts the owner through the TUG delivery system. Then the owner gets the message through his e-mail, not a phone call!

So if you received an unsolicited phone call regarding the sale/rental of your TS, it's likely a scam. Couple that with an offer for way above market value and that adds up to 100% scam.

 

[theo]

Two brief (and admittedly unsympathetic) observations on this matter:

1. BBB is a powerless, paid membership organization. No more, no less.
2. To quote Dr. Philip McGraw: "There are no victims, only volunteers". OP volunteered --- twice.