Date: 28-03-24  Time: 15:42 pm

Author Topic: Timeshare scammers  (Read 1398 times)

BBROWN1664

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Timeshare scammers
« on: 18 December 2019, 01:15:17 pm »

If I get my hands on them before the legal process does, it may cost them even more than the money they have scammed !!!!!!!!!!!!!!


My blood is boiling at the moment. The father-in-law is in hospital and basically wont be going home again as they are looking to move him to a care home. In come social services and start wanting to see details of investments etc. Luckily my Mrs went to the meeting with the MIL and started finding out about the "investments" they have. :headbang


quick history - 10+ years ago they bought a timeshare (daft but they did) for about £40K :headbang)
10- years ago they agreed to sell it and never received the money (about £50K allegedly)
Since then they have spent about £50K trying to recover the £50K. Will they ever feccin learn.
All the companies involved have disappeared, closed down, etc


Now to make it worse, we have discovered they bought another "off-plan" investment property in the Caribbean about 8 years ago for about £70K by mortgaging their house :headbang
The MIL didn't even realise this was a scam too until I mentioned it yesterday
All the companies involved in this have gone pop too. All owing money to each other according to companies house.


Once I get all the info together, it will be decision time. Walk away, go through the legal route and courts to try to recover something or use a known (to me) debt collection company to go and break some legs  collect what's owed. All the directors hide behind correspondence addresses but I have ways to find their actual addresses and even if all of their apparent assets are in the wifes name, recovery may be possible.






foccin angry
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Re: Timeshare scammers
« Reply #1 on: 18 December 2019, 02:20:18 pm »
I don't blame you. Some friends of mine managed to 'walk away' from an agreement last year. They were paying an annual 'maintenance fee' for a property they couldn't use.


We were pestered by salesmen a few years ago in Maderia. They are difficult to shake off.



Ironic it took Social Services looking for assets to uncover this!

VNA - BMW Wank

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Re: Timeshare scammers
« Reply #2 on: 18 December 2019, 03:47:05 pm »
Jesus BBROWN.
Dunno what to say.  Nightmare. 

Hope you manage to recover some of it.

BBROWN1664

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Re: Timeshare scammers
« Reply #3 on: 18 December 2019, 04:57:45 pm »

Adding up the numbers, it is well over £100K that they have been scammed out of.


I am getting close to tracking down one of the main culprits though......
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steve 10562cc

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Re: Timeshare scammers
« Reply #4 on: 18 December 2019, 08:45:28 pm »

Be careful Brown unless you have some very  influential friends.

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Re: Timeshare scammers
« Reply #5 on: 19 December 2019, 12:28:21 am »
We got scammed for £3000 for a bogus caravan a few years ago and that horrible feeling takes ages to get rid of,I can't imagine how you feel with such amounts,and this scum really don't give a fuck what they're doing to peoples lives.
never look down on anyone unless you're helping them up.

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Re: Timeshare scammers
« Reply #6 on: 19 December 2019, 12:36:24 am »

Adding up the numbers, it is well over £100K that they have been scammed out of.


I am getting close to tracking down one of the main culprits though......


I'd be the same BB - go for it fella

Those are my principles...if you don't like them I have others.

BBROWN1664

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Re: Timeshare scammers
« Reply #7 on: 19 December 2019, 12:33:58 pm »

Be careful Brown unless you have some very  influential friends.


Having done a lot of research, I have tracked down the name and address of the main man involved in one of the scams. This (large) element is now in the hands of a debt collection company. This is a company I know the people who work there personally so not like the ones the in-laws tried to use.
I am now trying to track down the main culprit on the other big scam and then I will start looking at the smaller ones but will chase these through the bank rather than a debt collector.
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Re: Timeshare scammers
« Reply #8 on: 31 December 2019, 11:09:18 am »
Jeez Bob, thats a croc.
I had a similar situation when I lost my Dad. Turned out he had been duped into an Equity release scam, err I mean scheme. Their paperwork clearly stated that he had discussed this with his two sons and both gave their consent.....................CRAP!!!
My brother and I were, like you, seething and instructed solicitors who quickly ran up a large bill, with no result. We lost about £120k.The only cold comfort was that we paid less in IHT as his estate was diminished.

I would urge you to get some reliable advice before ploughing more money into chasing this. In my experience solicitors are inevitably the only real winners in such cases.
Maybe try Martin Lewis (MSE), Citizens advice, SAGA, BBC's Paul Lewis or Watchdog???
I used to not give a foc, then I discovered Red Bull and now I don't give a flying foc !!!

BBROWN1664

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Re: Timeshare scammers
« Reply #9 on: 31 December 2019, 01:45:53 pm »

I would urge you to get some reliable advice before ploughing more money into chasing this.

The only money I will be paying is from money they recover. The company I am using is part owned by my dad so I have no worries about being scammed there.


Maybe try Martin Lewis (MSE), Citizens advice, SAGA, BBC's Paul Lewis or Watchdog???


Having started researching the con artists involved, they are well known to all of the names you mention above and have been for some time. Unfortunately, the in-laws are not as internet savvy as many people and did not do their research before paying people money in advance to "recover" the money they were owed.

The main culprit on one of the scams, appears to only live about a mile from me and his details have been passed to the company I am using.
The main culprits for the other scam all appear to live in Spain and are apparently in hiding already as lots of people are after them. They will be found though!
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Re: Timeshare scammers
« Reply #10 on: 31 December 2019, 06:49:25 pm »
 My folks had a close call.


Both were suffering with dementia at this point.  My father being ahead of my mother, and my mother going downhill fast trying to care for him, whilst refusing all help. 



I’d been looking out for them and trying to get them help for several years at this point.  My mother had just started to let me help them and accept a little outside help when she showed me a letter from the bank.


This was exactly 5 years ago today.  The letter was on about their new internet banking account – but they didn’t even have broadband.


I went down to the bank.  They had a quick look at the account, and saw a couple of questionable transactions – but they were for like 500 and 800 quid in the run up the Christmas.  But what they didn’t spot straight away were the two trial transactions 6 weeks before that, for like 19 quid and 47 quid.  I didn’t have POA at that point so they told me to get my mother down to the bank with me first thing in the new year.


The weird thing was as well, they used family initials for the transaction code.  Funnily enough my deranged sister and her kids initials.  Which is really foccin weird.


Anyway, cutting to the chase, by the time the bank opened in the New Year 10K had gone.  Lots more could have gone.  After they froze the account – the scammer was straight on the phone trying to get the account back up and running.  They were about to take everything they could get.


The bank refunded the money straight away which surprised me.  I was also stunned when my mother produced one of those code generators from her handbag when we went to the bank.  She didn’t know what it was or why she had it (dementia) but I guess somebody had her generate a code with that thing.  The thing is despite the dementia I knew back then she always puts the phone down on scammers – she still spotted them – so whoever set this up was inside the bank and/or very slick, and/or somebody she knew and trusted. 



I spoke to the bank.  I logged a report with action fraud.  But it’s all a waste of time.  They do nothing and will tell you nothing.


Ok got the cash back – but I wanted to know where the money went.  I still pisses me off – I got a few folks in mind who might have tried to do my folks.  The way the bank handed the money back literally in minutes does suggest that they may have something indicating inside work – but I just don’t know.


Anyway, good luck BBROWN.  Hope you Maw and father-in-law are well.
 

BBROWN1664

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Re: Timeshare scammers
« Reply #11 on: 31 December 2019, 07:39:24 pm »
Thanks VNA.

The FIL is still in hospital. He went in back in August following a fall and they discovered a bleed on the brain.. 4 months and 3 hospitals later he is still in and waiting for a nursing home place where he can get 24 hour care. It was only because of this that the stories have come out as the BIL and my Mrs have been sitting in on the meeting the MIL has had with social services about paying for his care.
The MIL seems to be OK but we think she is losing her marbles a bit too. We have POA but getting the bank etc to take notice and let us act on their behalf is taking ages.
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VNA - BMW Wank

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Re: Timeshare scammers
« Reply #12 on: 31 December 2019, 09:39:24 pm »
 Jesus, he’s stuck in hospital cos there’s no nursing home places?  That’s shocking.  Poor fella.


The whole thing can be a bleedin nightmare BBROWN, you have my full sympathies.


I could write a book about all the fun I had.



The worst bit was my sister and her ex solicitor husband come church minister.  She did foc all but shit stir whilst her ex-solicitor husband was happy to put her paranoid delusions down in legal terms firing off letters accusing me of all sorts shit.  Between caring for my parents, fretting over bleeding money, dealing with my sister and the cuckoo gullible social worker my sister had wrapped round her finger for a good while, well I wondered if I was looking at the beginning of a nervous breakdown.


I ended up buying a pile of psychology books to try and figure out how to deal with my sister. 



Anyway, main thing was I managed to do everything I needed to do for my folks, and at the end of the day stopped my sister from prioritising most of her shellfish wishes and desires over the real needs of her parents. 



It’s a long long story.


POA.  Yeah I found every organisation had a different approach.  I ended up doing all the donkey work on that as well.  All my sister did was, was once she had POA along with me, she went straight to the bank with the bulk of the cash – registered and then scooped up all the cash and passed it to an investment manager without even telling me and 100% against my mothers wishes.  Foccing cow. 



But generally, their procedures take time but eventually work out OK.  Though every minute is precious when you are trying to care for parents. I dealt with RBS, Nationwide, Santander and Tesco bank – it all took time, but got there in the end with them all. 



And as you know be careful with solicitors.  The one I ended up using for everything, well they are never cheap but going by some of the stuff I’ve read they were well reasonable.  And they didn’t charge for extra signed copies of POA and stuff which is very handy to have.   Though inevitably the bill was a good bit higher than it needed to be thanks to my sister. 



But yeah, I can appreciate the stress you’re all under BBROWN.  Take it easy, or as easy as you can. It's a well worn path you are following just now bud.