posted 05-10-2005 08:17               

Fraudulent Check
The “offer” you have already is what Jeff refers to. If you fall for it, they will send you a fraudulent cashier's check or money order for more than your asking price. They will instruct you to deposit the check, wait several days to ensure it clears your bank and then send the extra amount to a third party as a buying commission, finder's fee or some other fee. The problem is that, because the check is a foreign check, it might take two weeks or so before the check bounces. By that time, the money you sent is gone. You have been scammed.

Upfront fee
The most common scam is the "upfront" fee scam. These people contact you and assure you they can sell your week for you at your asking price. They might even say they already have a buyer. All they ask for is an advance fee (usually between $299 and $799). They will even guarantee a refund if your week doesn't sell or if you successfully sell it elsewhere. Don't bite.

If you fall for this scam, you will never see your money again and you will not sell your timeshare as the result of paying such a fee. That's why the number one rule here at TUG for years has been, ”Never pay an upfront fee in an effort to sell or rent your timeshare!” The exception is for nominal advertisement fees ($15-$35), such as for listing your week at TUG.

The Vacation Club
The third scam typically starts with an invitation to meet with some people who are visiting your town to buy up unwanted timeshare weeks. You attend the meeting, typically at a second-tier motel. You hear all sorts of horror stories about the future of timesharing, which are designed to convince you to unload your timeshare quickly.

Then comes the pitch. Buy into a vacation club to get those wonderful vacations you thought you would get from timesharing. If you give them your timeshare, the net cost to you is about $4,000.

Thus, you get nothing for selling your timeshare and you have bought into what you will find is an almost worthless vacation club. For more on this type of scam, see this article from the TUG Advice section.