Fraudsters finally convicted for their part in a £28m Timeshare scam. How can you protect your self from being a future Timeshare victim?

It was described by the prosecutors on the legal case as one of the largest frauds of its kind in the UK, A total of 14 individuals have now been convicted for their part in a £28m conspiracy to defraud more than 3,500 timeshare owners.

The majority of these victims were aged between 60 and 80.

Hundreds of the people scammed lost over £10,000, and one individual had sadly handed over more than £80,000.

The company at the centre of the fraud was Sell My Timeshare (SMT) led by Mark Rowe and his wife Nicola, all have now been sentenced for their part.

Claiming to be able to rid the individuals they defrauded of their foreign Timeshares, in reality they used the funds taken from those scammed to fund the owners' lavish lifestyle of private schools, millionaire mansions and private jets.

What is Timeshare?

Timeshare is a concept that has been around for many decades. The principle is quite simple – instead of buying a whole property abroad you simply buy a share in that property and use it during your allotted time whilst other people use the property for the rest of the year. You share the time (ownership) at that property.

However, Timeshare is a much-misunderstood product and one which has attracted countless unscrupulous fraudsters over the years who have ruthlessly targeted owners with heavy pressure sales techniques.

What is a Timeshare Cancellation Company?

One common scam is for a Timeshare cancellation company to be a front for Timeshare sales. The way that this works is the impression is given that a victim believes he or she is dealing with a reputable Timeshare cancellation company but in fact what they will do is persuade the victim to buy another Timeshare or another product under the premise that this will somehow magically get them out of their Timeshare.

We call this “The Upsell Scam” as the whole aim of the company is not to get you out of your Timeshare but to sell you something else.

A major problem is that people don’t know who they are dealing with.

Timeshare cancellation companies often have a whole series of different companies set up. They may have one company who is used to capture new clients. Then they may have another that gives the initial advice and assesses the case. Then they may have another that actually does the apparent cancellation. Why would they need such a structure? Why is their set up so complicated? What are they hiding? What advantage is it to them to do this? Generally speaking, if there is an overly complicated structure with a series of different companies the people behind this structure have something to hide.

Should you engage with a Timeshare Forum on-line?

There are numerous internet forums designed specifically to make it look like they (the Forums) are independent and run for the benefit of Timeshare owners, when in fact the whole purpose behind them is to funnel readers and contributors to a particular company so that they can capture clients.

So, what can you do to avoid being caught by the less scrupulous Timeshare cancellation companies? We think that there are a few things that you can do to protect yourself. 

Here are our top ten tips.

1. Only deal with a registered and regulated law firm. In the UK solicitors are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). In other countries there is the equivalent of the SRA with Colleges of Law and Bar Associations. Being registered means that not only does the company have to follow a set of rules and a code of conduct and ethics and has to answer to their regulatory body if they do something wrong but also that they have to have certain minimum requirements such as indemnity insurance.
2. Check who is behind the companies involved? In the UK you can check the names of the Directors for free at Companies House. You can then click on the names of each of the Directors to see what other companies they are involved in. Build up a picture of what the set-up is. It is surprising how often you see the same names coming up for companies that are supposed to be independent from each other. You can quickly identify whether one company is simply a front for another.
3. What is the track record of the company? Do some research into the company before making contact with them.
4. Never deal with a company that cold calls you. Genuine Timeshare cancellation companies have no way of knowing that you have a Timeshare let alone that you wish to cancel. If you are contacted out of the blue by somebody offering to cancel your Timeshare do not use them no matter how genuine their excuse for having your details sounds.
5. Have a look at how long the company has been established and how long their website has been running. If they have only just recently been set up could this be because they are a scam that regularly sets up a company, scams people, closes down the company and then starts again? Is a new company simply a front for something else?
6. Are they trying to make themselves look more official than they really are? Do they try and look like a law firm when they aren’t? Do they have a name that makes it look like they are an official association, body or government organisation when in fact they are simply a private company with no official recognition at all? Look carefully at the wording of their website and then cross reference this with your research. Do not assume that a company is regulated, approved or official just because it has a name that makes it sounds like it is.
7. Are there proper contact details on the website? Is the address, company number, telephone numbers etc on there? Many scams’ companies simply do not put their proper contact details on there and have just a telephone number and an email address but no details of exactly where they are based.
8. Are they offering something that sounds too good to be true or are there strange suggestions being made. Comments such as “The service is free as it is paid by XYZ Ltd” or “There is No Cost as we have a sponsor or benefactor” or even the fact that one of the companies is described as being a “Not for profit company”. You should ask yourself why anybody would do this for the Timeshare industry. The short answer is that this is often simply a front and a way of drawing you in with a view to charging fees later on. Those other companies, sponsors or benefactors are normally the same people who are running the original company and who also have a Timeshare cancellation company that will charge fees. It is easy to check this. Charging fees is not a problem but not being honest and up front about the fees from the beginning is.
9. If you are being recommended to use a company on a particular website or forum, ask yourself who is behind either that website. Timeshare forums and websites are often set up as a front to channel you in the direction of a particular company. You can look up who owns a website by using a “Who Is” service on the internet. This is free and easy to do. You can then see who actually owns the website or forum and carry out some research into them. It is possible to hide your details so that nobody knows that you own that website. If a company hides their identity, then we suggest you don’t use them – after all, what have they got to hide and why don’t they want you to know who owns that website?
10. If a contributor on a forum recommends a particular company go and have a look at their other posts to try and work out if there is a trend there as they may actually work for that company, particularly if they use an anonymous forum name. There are many people who infiltrate forums simply to try and drive traffic to their business. Some are more subtle than others. A quick look at the other posts that they have made on that forum can give you some indication as to their intentions. If they have only made a few posts and they all recommend the same company it is a fair bet that they work for that company. If, on the other hand, they have made many posts on a wide range of subjects and appear to make sense in all of them then they may be genuine. It is good forum etiquette to be honest about whether you have an affiliation with a company that you are recommending or endorsing.

If you would like to speak to a UK solicitor regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority that specialises in Timeshare issues then contact us for a free no obligation consultation on 01438  840258 or via email to admin@judicaregroup.com