Timeshare Phone Scam:
"We have a buyer!" |
"Rent out your Bonus Weeks"
Hands down one of the most common scams in the industry today, is when a random company contacts you via telephone claiming they have a buyer for your Timeshare or claims they can rent out your bonus/exchange weeks!
FACT: ANY company that contacts you out of the blue claiming to have a buyer or renter for your timeshare is looking to rip you off and will eventually ask you for some sort of legitimate sounding fee that you will never see again!
NO legitimate organization making outbound calls to Timeshare owners for the efforts of selling or renting timeshares...PERIOD!
I would never fall for this Timeshare Scam!
Fact is folks, hundreds and thousands of victims have fallen for these scams over the years, and despite the valiant efforts by law enforcement agencies to shut many of these scammers down, they still find victim after victim to send them money in these scams! In fact media outlets have begun to report more and more of these outfits are being run by the Mexican Drug Cartels! As if you previously needed a better reason to be wary, this should truly scare you!
Why are they so successful you ask? Because they are telling you exactly what you want to hear! That they have a buyer for your timeshare at an amazing price! What could be better music to a desperate Timeshare owner than hearing this story? It is literally the perfect bait and owners fall for it EVERY SINGLE DAY!
Fact is folks, its not easy to sell your timeshare, and there simply are not buyers "lined up" to buy your timeshare on the resale market. The cold hard facts about selling your timeshare are that you are likely to get no more than 0 - 10% of its original purchase price if you are looking to sell, and quite frankly no one is going to convince you to pay them hundreds of dollars over the phone with a pitch that tells you the truth!
Surely they cant all be scams, right?
The ugly truth is that Timeshare resale scammers have been honing their craft for decades, they know exactly what to say and exactly what you need to hear in order to be convinced they are legitimate! Many times these scammers use well known company names (even TUG sometimes!) to further attempt to sound more legitimate or that they are working on behalf of your resort or developer!
This is not their first rodeo, they have mastered the craft of convincing you this is the windfall you have been waiting for and you will get a very large payday in the end! This is a multi-million dollar a year scam that targets each and every timeshare owner! Your only defense is education and knowing that ANYONE contacting you asking for an upfront fee to sell or rent your Timeshare is someone you should avoid at all costs!
This is such an important detail, we actually created an entire youtube video to cover it! Check it out here:
There are so many different flavors of these scams and schemes, we explain many of them in more detail in this article here: Timeshare Scams and other Fairy Tales
Do NOT be the next victim of these cold call scams! No matter how convincing it sounds, no matter how good the pitch is, no matter how desperate you are, do not do business with them, do not continue the phone call, and by all means do NOT provide any credit card or banking information to them! That is their ultimate goal from the start of the call!
The Final Word on Timeshare Cold Caller Scams!
Scammers fleece timeshare owners for millions of dollars each and every year with these upfront fee scams that convince you they have a legitimate buyer or renter for your Timeshare! This scam is so widespread because it is so effective! Even folks who have read our previous articles against paying upfront fees STILL fall for versions of these scams on the hope that this one "might actually have a buyer!". ITS ALWAYS A SCAM FOLKS! The next time you get one of these phone calls, do yourself a favor and hang up!
Come check out our free Timeshare owner Discussion forums! if you have any additional questions or concerns! There are thousands of other Timeshare owners on this forum who answer questions all day every day and you can find COUNTLESS examples of these scams that happen every single day!
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