Beware of DVC rental scammers

[Dean]

I wanted to provided some input here as I did help the renter get some further information on the "owner".

I searched the name on the OCC -(as did the potential renter) so yes there was a current owner listed, I went a little further to look at their track record (looking at many past documents tied to their name and DVC), which was less than stellar with having multiple late maintenance fees, but the last occurrence was in 2010, so essentially current since then.

Then looking back at past paperwork on the occ there was an address in MS ( i had to dig for this one as it was tough to find), but the address provided to the renter was a FL address with a CT phone number, a little odd but people move or go to FL for part of the year all the time. The address in FL was not listed as the name of the person on the contract - To me this could be reasonable because again people rent homes all the time. The owners of the contract still owned a house in MS -- the same address on some of their OCC paperwork.

I gave the renter the name of the husband also on the contract and the address in MS (the "member" was the wife) - The renter was able to find a phone number and called and spoke with the husband. He told the renter that they have never rented their points.

So with that somehow someone found a random contract and used that info to lure the renter in.

It could have happened to anyone, but the red flags that would have stopped me would have been:
The member on disboards had only been on since Jan of 2017 - I would have stopped right there.
The contract had some flaws in the past that could potentially cancel my reservation if they defaulted on maintenance fees again.

Having received a transfer before - the member provided me with a current screen shot of his member page with personal info and their points status -- someone who is not a member would likely not be able to do this unless they really are computer savvy and could recreate a members webpage.

I guess paying through paypal is not safe and secure - It has been a long time since i set up a paypal account -- what kind of security measures do they have to match up names - checking accounts etc? i think it is mainly via someones email that a payment is sent-so essentially anyone can create a paypal account - get the money transferred into their account without there being any ability to match up names. There is no way to really identify who you are sending money to.

Just another example of the scummy people out there.

There is another possibility, that the information given by the husband wasn't honest/accurate.

 

[robinb]

The reservation was to begin in June 2018 and was requested last August. Would you have sent money without a reservation number that you could at least verify had been made? I would not. (There will always be a risk that the owner cancels or Disney cancels due to issues with the account).

What if the owner had to borrow or bank to make the reservation? They might not even make the reservation until they have at least a down payment. So, no. That would not be a "red flag" for me. In THIS INSTANCE a valid confirmation number would have at least proven that the scammer was indeed a DVC member. However, even having a valid confirmation number does not protect the renter as the member can cancel the reservation at any time.

 

[robinb]

There is another possibility, that the information given by the husband wasn't honest/accurate.

There is that, but I'm leaning toward the scammer not being a member.

 

[Dean]

There is that, but I'm leaning toward the scammer not being a member.

As am I but if one were dishonest enough to do this purposefully, they'd be dishonest enough to lie on the phone when contacted. I see people frequently give the wrong phone number or say they are not who they are and is being asked for to avoid being contacted when it might be a debt collection call. A fairly common way to get through that is to report you owe them money and want to contact them. We get caught up in the middle of this trying to contact people for other reasons.

 

[anitatina]

Sorry, OP. That's terrible!
As for this....

There is another possibility, that the information given by the husband wasn't honest/accurate.

I'm just throwing out an idea...not sure if it's a good one, but why not contact the police since you now have the contract owner's info? Maybe the police could get to the bottom of if they were indeed the scammers or innocent bystanders?

 

[Deb & Bill]

As am I but if one were dishonest enough to do this purposefully, they'd be dishonest enough to lie on the phone when contacted. I see people frequently give the wrong phone number or say they are not who they are and is being asked for to avoid being contacted when it might be a debt collection call. A fairly common way to get through that is to report you owe them money and want to contact them. We get caught up in the middle of this trying to contact people for other reasons.

When you read her posts on the DIS, she offers up the idea that she uses a refillable VISA card with only about $0.42 on the card to make her dining reservations so they can't get her for late cancellation or no show, except for the $0.42. That sounds kind of sleazy to me.

 

[bumbershoot]

When you read her posts on the DIS, she offers up the idea that she uses a refillable VISA card with only about $0.42 on the card to make her dining reservations so they can't get her for late cancellation or no show, except for the $0.42. That sounds kind of sleazy to me.

Yikes. And it wouldn’t work anyway. Disney knows where we are and they are capable of billing us.

 

[SL6827]

Yikes. And it wouldn’t work anyway. Disney knows where we are and they are capable of billing us.

That is what I was thinking as well.

 

[iheartglaciers]

Yikes. And it wouldn’t work anyway. Disney knows where we are and they are capable of billing us.

I would think Disney wouldn't bother going after a no-show fee or two, but if they do it enough times, they could suspend your MDE account since it's connected to ADRs.

 

[jbh275]

Sorry to hear this. I stick with a two year minimum activity. I would love if the moderates gave us a way to rate the user. Just a thought.

 

[poison ivy]

looking back now, her posting history almost appears staged. Very active on a number of threads right out of the gate with no "new to the DIS" overtures.

OP - I'm very sorry to hear this. I hope you are able to get your money back.

 

[bumbershoot]

I would think Disney wouldn't bother going after a no-show fee or two, but if they do it enough times, they could suspend your MDE account since it's connected to ADRs.

Actually, I think they would.

A few years ago as MDE was becoming more of a thing, we switched resorts. In a departure from our norm we had set up room charges (mainly bc we’d had a rough time at SSR and they gave us a credit, which required setting up the charge...which then took two hours so they gave us more lol). Because of the credit at SSR our card was only charged something like $5. We moved over to VWL and set up charging again. All was well.

Headed to Epcot, charged some little things here and there, they all went through. So we thought. While waiting ages for our adr at Via Napoli I wanted to check our Dvc account on my cell. So I did. And in bright red on the page right after I logged in, were all the little charges we had made.

Turns out that the $5 charge from a Disney reaort looked like pure fraud to Chase, and they stopped that charge. That then made whatever the VWL front desk did not work retroactively, so each and every (can I say again, “small”?) charge we’d made to the room hit *our Dvc account*. Immediately.

So I think they would go after the Dvc account quickly, even for no show charges.

 

[disfanforlife]

So sorry this happened to you!

 

[vbmom40]

Kind of strange that she had such an extensive posting history and then nothing recently. She either really played the long con, or maybe something else has happened.

She also only posted from Jan 2017 and on probably to make herself look like she was on all the time.

 

[.landry]

so gross. Im sorry.

 

[arminnie]

I am an owner who has rented. I LOVE David’s. I would not rent without using them.

They are so ethical. I don’t feel that I have any risk with them.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I am an owner who has rented. I LOVE David’s. I would not rent without using them.

They are so ethical. I don’t feel that I have any risk with them.

Because David's is just a broker there still is the risk of the owner cancelling the room. You have the protection of a refund but no absolute guarantee of a room since the room is not in their control.

 

[robinb]

Because David's is just a broker there still is the risk of the owner cancelling the room. You have the protection of a refund but no absolute guarantee of a room since the room is not in their control.

I recall that someone lost their reservation booked with David earlier this year. They did get their money back but still didn’t have their reservation.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Because David's is just a broker there still is the risk of the owner cancelling the room. You have the protection of a refund but no absolute guarantee of a room since the room is not in their control.

Or Disney cancelling on them because the owner was behind in maintenance fees or payments for the points. That did happen last year and the renter was offered a different location (not Epcot resort during F&W) and fewer days, but more money because it was a larger sized villa. And I think it had to be pieced together.

 

[ReagentGrade]

Just because David's can only replace the cost and not the reservation doesn't mean they don't add value. With a private rental I think you're more at risk for losing the payment and the reservation.

When I first bought in, I used David's to rent my extra points. I was very happy with their service. I would use them again rather than rent out my points out privately. For me it's worth the reduced rent not to have to hassle with it.