Timeshare scams are rife with abandon. There are people and organisations who will go beyond our accepted moral code in order to con unsuspecting and innocent people into falling for a timeshare scam. If you have any investment or personal interests in a timeshare, it’s incredibly important to be able to identify a timeshare scam so that you don’t become another victim of these fraudsters.
• Cold Calling
When it comes to identifying a timeshare scam, this is an easy one. If you receive a cold-call from anybody selling or recommending a timeshare exit plan, DO NOT speak to them. The usual trick is to call you and offer a way out of your timeshare. You might be told that for £5000 you can exit the timeshare agreement for good – they have someone else who wants to buy it from you and they even send you that person’s details, including passport number.
You pay an exit fee and can sleep soundly again, especially when a letter arrives confirming that you are free of the timeshare contract. But a few months later you get another invoice for the timeshare you thought you’d got out of, you call the resort and they inform you that the exit strategy was a scam, nothing to do with them, and you have, in reality, been robbed of five grand.
• Stay Smart
Scientists believe that it is actually possible to intentionally lower a person’s IQ level. Things such as long sales pitches, alcohol consumption and simply being in ‘holiday mode’ have been proven to lower your IQ and decrease your chances of accurately identifying a timeshare scam. Always be vigilant when talking about timeshares. If you’re not already in the web, they want to get you in. If you’re already in, they want you even deeper.
• A Stranger Approaches
As soon as anyone walks up to you on the beach, or in the cafe on the promenade, and wants to talk about timeshares – or any of the warning sign topics that these people try and hide beneath – tell them to get lost! You don’t want anything to do with them. Any professional, respectable company does not send people into the streets to sell property.
• Nothing Up Front
Regardless of the circumstances, nor the supposed ‘urgency’ or ‘time limit’, of a potential timeshare deal, never pay any money to anyone up front. If you have stumbled into a timeshare sales pitch, never be persuaded in paying anything on the day, always give yourself time to think.
If you are already involved in a timeshare and someone approaches you out of the blue, with an offer that’s ‘bound to make you money’, never hand over the ‘seed’ or ‘one-off’ fee on the spot. Any deal or offer that is legitimate will still be available tomorrow, once you’ve had time to do your research.
• Credit card. Always
If you do pay anything, to anyone related to timeshares, always make sure it is at least partly paid for on a credit card. You need protecting, no matter how trustworthy the party you are paying seem to be, and credit card companies allow you that protection if things go wrong.
We are always on the ball with helping you to identify a timeshare scam. It’s utterly reprehensible that there are still scam artists out there trying to con people out of thousands of pounds. As such, we have several posts here on the Timeshare Advice website that can help you avoid falling prey to timeshare scams.
More information on identifying a timeshare scam:
• Avoiding Timeshare Scams
• 3 More Tips for Avoiding Timeshare Scams
• Avoid Cold Calling Timeshare Resale Scams
If you need some advice regarding your timeshare, then do get in touch. We’ll be able to talk you through your options and offer you some expert advice about what to do next, whether you want to exit your timeshare or simply get more from it.