Red flags were flying everywhere on this. And Wolf, a Minneapolis photographer, was quick to pick up on them: A website with no real names on it; an address in a big building with no suite number; a demand for cash up front. He then filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.
The market for time shares is depressed, so it’s fertile territory for scams that prey on owners desperate to unload properties. They want to entice you to pay money upfront - money they promise you’ll get back, but you never will.
But good scammers can help victims suspend skepticism.
Wolf gave a nod to the skills of the con artists: “I was impressed by these guys - very smooth, professional, and tenacious. Without a doubt this is an absolute scam.’’
If he had gone to their “office,’’ he’d find they weren’t in that building. There’s no record of any Property Consultant Services at that address or any other in Massachusetts. Calls to the company went unanswered, and the voice mailbox would not accept messages. E-mails sent to get comment either bounced back or were ignored.
Paula Fleming, vice president of the Better Business Bureau that serves the Boston area, said time-share scams have become a bigger problem.
“Better Business Bureau complaints about deceptive or fraudulent time-share resellers rose an astonishing 40 percent last year,’’ she said. “When considering selling your time share, there is a very high probability that you will encounter the murky world of resale scammers.’’
Mitch Lipka has been helping consumers out of jams for the past two decades. He lives in Worcester and also writes the Consumer Alert blog on Boston.com. Mitch can be reached at ConsumerNews@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @mitchlipka.
