jeffrey
09-14-2006, 08:29 PM
Unfortunately there are a number of scams out there that you need to be aware of if you are trying to sell your timeshare. If you do any type of advertising of your timeshare (especially online) there is a good chance that one or more of these scams will be presented to you.
One of the more common scams going around is one where a person pays your asking price (or sometimes a bit more). As payment, they send a check which is usually a certified check or foreign bank check of some type that is significantly more than the price agreed upon for the timeshare. They tell you to cash the check and when the check clears, send them the difference. What happens is that your bank will clear the check, but the check will be found to be counterfeit at a later date and will bounce. You will then be stuck with your timeshare plus out whatever money you sent.
Another common scam is receiving an invitation to a local hotel in your area where a meeting room has been reserved. Once there, you will receive an offer of several thousand dollars for your timeshare. In addition, they will do a hard sell of a vacation package which is usually a couple thousand more than they offer for the timeshare. The value of the vacation package is minimal - a couple of hundred dollars at most (although it will sound wonderful, there will be a lot of hidden fees and it is nothing as it is described - remember the promises on your timeshare in the first place and why you are there trying to sell it?) - meaning that even if you pay the difference between what they offer for the timeshare and the vacation package, the scammers still come out far ahead and you may even still be stuck with your timeshare.
As with most scams, the people trying to part you from your money are playing on your hope that you found the perfect solution to your timeshare problem. If anything sounds fishy or a bit too good to be true, step back and search (or leave a question here) to get more information (if they say the offer is only good at that instant and the offer is withdrawn if you leave, then you know it's a scam).
One of the more common scams going around is one where a person pays your asking price (or sometimes a bit more). As payment, they send a check which is usually a certified check or foreign bank check of some type that is significantly more than the price agreed upon for the timeshare. They tell you to cash the check and when the check clears, send them the difference. What happens is that your bank will clear the check, but the check will be found to be counterfeit at a later date and will bounce. You will then be stuck with your timeshare plus out whatever money you sent.
Another common scam is receiving an invitation to a local hotel in your area where a meeting room has been reserved. Once there, you will receive an offer of several thousand dollars for your timeshare. In addition, they will do a hard sell of a vacation package which is usually a couple thousand more than they offer for the timeshare. The value of the vacation package is minimal - a couple of hundred dollars at most (although it will sound wonderful, there will be a lot of hidden fees and it is nothing as it is described - remember the promises on your timeshare in the first place and why you are there trying to sell it?) - meaning that even if you pay the difference between what they offer for the timeshare and the vacation package, the scammers still come out far ahead and you may even still be stuck with your timeshare.
As with most scams, the people trying to part you from your money are playing on your hope that you found the perfect solution to your timeshare problem. If anything sounds fishy or a bit too good to be true, step back and search (or leave a question here) to get more information (if they say the offer is only good at that instant and the offer is withdrawn if you leave, then you know it's a scam).