Scambusters calls Timeshares one of the TOP 10 Scams in 2011-2012

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BOONE, N.C. – Scambusters is calling timeshare and vacation schemes one of the top 10 scams for both 2011 and 2012, and warning vacationers to proceed cautiously.

Scambusters, devoted to continuously updating the public about the worst scams and fraud cases going on across the United States, just issued its list of the top 10 scams for 2011 and 2012.

Coming in at Number 10, the service notes, is “Travel and vacation scams.”

In its report, Scambusters warns that “Each year, we hear of a new crop of travel tricks, but timeshare-related scamming is a hardy annual.” In its annual report, issued on Dec. 29, Scambusters noted that in 2011, “There’s some good news and bad news sprinkled around our annual look at the top scams of the past and coming years. The good news is that, according to the most recently available research, the number of identity theft and fraud victims in the U.S. has dropped sharply. The bad news is that, on average, the out-of-pocket cost to individual victims went up, and identity theft remains in the number one slot in our top 10 scams list both in 2011 and 2012.”

Scambusters also notes “one other bit of disappointing news: Just as we were all wising up to the ‘lost inheritance’ or money-smuggling types of Nigerian scams, a massive new wave of bogus online romance tricks is pushing them back up the charts.”

Another notable trend for 2011, Scambusters warns, is “the continuing growth of social networking scams (despite efforts to beef up security and privacy) and hacking-related data breaches. Expect to see more of these.”

Scambusters has long warned about the risk of timeshare scams. “The sale of real estate by dividing it into ‘timeshare’ units has become an extremely profitable way for developers to sell real estate – particularly condos in vacation hot spots,” Scambusters
notes. “Essentially, buying a timeshare means that you and other people are all buying one property — and sharing the time you spend in it (hence the name).”

Despite the popularity of these vacation plans, “There are also many timeshare scams, and the incentives are where the trouble usually begins,” Scambusters warns. “Timeshares that are scams will offer everything from a new car or boat … to a two-week luxury holiday. It’s one thing if they offer you a discount or free hotel room for a couple of nights. It’s a totally different thing
if they offer a free car or boat or luxury two-week holiday to everyone who just listens to a presentation! Either way, you’ll usually find that the presentation involves very high-pressure sales tactics. Know that going in.”

Timeshare scams “don’t deliver what they promise,” Scambusters warns. “For example, one timeshare scam in England involved people being told they had either won a sports boat with an outboard motor, a car or £1000. To claim what they’d won, all they had to do was attend a presentation. When they arrived at the presentation, everyone had won the sports boat. All
they had to do was pay £49.99 for delivery. The ‘prize’ they received was a toy dinghy with a small motor, not a real boat. The £49.99 easily paid for the ‘prize’ and the delivery! Other scams include having to pay an ‘administration fee’ for a holiday, or having the company ‘go out of business’ after they take your deposit.”

The best way to avoid becoming a timeshare scam victim is “Don’t ever, ever buy (or sell) ‘on the spot.’ Sleep on it, and take the time to evaluate whether the deal is a good one. If you are offered a prize as an incentive, read the ‘fine print’ on the prize, and don’t pay for anything. Read the contract and have it reviewed by an attorney. If the sales person promised you something that’s not in the contract, don’t sign the contract! If the presentation is too high pressure, leave.”