Was I called by a scammer to sell or rent my Timeshare?

Every single day, TUG gets a phone call, an email, or a new forum post from an individual who wants to know if "xyz company" is legitimate, as they were somehow contacted by them and told a very enticing story about either selling, renting, or getting rid of their Timeshare! This article will describe in great detail, the easiest ways to spot these telltale signs and avoid these extremely common scams.

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Timeshare Scam Red Flag 1: They Contacted You out of the Blue with an too good to be true offer!

If you are actively advertising your timeshare for sale or for rent, people are going to contact you about it. However under very VERY few circumstances will you EVER encounter a legitimate company contact you with an offer to buy, sell or rent your timeshare (or bonus/exchange weeks) on your behalf.

No matter what the name of the company (because believe me, there are more bogus companies than we can keep track of)....if you are pitched a story that's too good to be true (this includes "we have a buyer for your timeshare", or "we can rent out your bonus weeks or similar", along with a variety of other fantastic sounding bait to get you on the hook)....your spidey senses should already be tingling.

Fact: anyone who contacts you and "guarantees" a sale, or a rental etc etc...and gives you an amazing price (see red flag 2)...it is certain to be a scam! The carrot is the promise of success, followed by the stick that will be a request to send them money upfront which you will never see again!

This is such an important issue facing owners we created a short youtube video to cover it! Check it out here:

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The most common pitch that they can get you MORE than you paid for it, or a super high rental price or make it seem like there is already a buyer or renter lined up! Many times the ploy to get you to fall for this is the mention that they are "buying timeshares for large corporations" or "working with your resort/exchange company to buy back or rent out extra inventory" etc. This is completely bogus of course and is just another way to get you "hooked" so that they can later more easily convince you to part with your hard earned money. (be sure to read the Timeshare scams and other fairy tales article).

No matter what the amazing sounding pitch is, the goal is always to tell you exactly what you want/need to hear before they ask you to pay a large upfront fee!

Again, combined with Red flag 1, and Red flag 2...you should already be ready to hang up the phone as red flag 3 is about to rear its ugly head!

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Folks, now we have come to the real reason for the call in the first place, and that is to get you to send them money! 100% (not 90, not even 99%) of the scams that target timeshare owners rely on this model of telling you exactly what you want or need to hear in regards to buying, selling, renting, or exiting your timeshare in order to convince you to send them money! PERIOD!

There are virtually unlimited ways these scammers pitch the story to you so that it not only sounds legitimate, and in many cases will offer guarantees so you let your guard down! Fact is, no matter what it is called, if a fee is asked of you upfront...you should steer clear as once you send them money you will never see it again!

TUG NOTE: many organizations are now wise to our "no upfront fee" rule, and will string you along for awahile to further set the hook, some will even state from the start that they will not charge an upfront fee, only to later sneak it into the deal! Often this will include some mention of using an "Escrow" company to hold the funds! Remember folks, these people are professional scammers that earn their living thinking up new ways to trick you out of your money.

I am not kidding here, if you want to protect yourself from the scams in this industry, never ignore these red flags especially #3! We cannot emphasize enough how many timeshare owners are victimized by these scams each and every day! They simply would not continue to exist if they were not effective!

FUN FACT! SOMEONE TRYING TO SCAM YOU IS NOT GOING TO HONOR A GUARANTEE!

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Requesting payment by personal check, money order, wire transfer, venmo, zelle, or "friends and family" transfers offer ZERO protection for you as a consumer, and are to be avoided at ALL COSTS for any sort of timeshare transaction as once the money is sent it is gone forever with no options to dispute or cancel the transaction!

That said, many of these slick talkers that do accept credit cards will string you along for 90 or 180 days until its past the point where you can dispute the charge on your card! So again, if you follow the rule of never paying upfront fees, this last red flag shouldn't matter, however if you have fallen for one of the above scams, DO NOT LET THEM DELAY YOU DISPUTING THE CHARGE ON YOUR CARD!

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Glad you asked! We actually have a How to sell your Timeshare article written for owners, by owners and it answers all the introductory questions you will have about getting your timeshare sold on the resale market as well as how to avoid being ripped off!

We also have a How to Rent your Timeshare article written for owners, by owners and it answers all the introductory questions you will have about renting your Timeshare!

Also stop by the TUG Buying Selling and Renting Timeshares: Online Forum Discussions for help and advice from tens of thousands of other owners just like you!

We hope this will help you avoid being scammed, as if you are trying to sell or rent your Timeshare, you WILL be approached by individuals who are indeed looking to rip you off, I truly hope you find TUG first!