Courtesy Post - Potential renters, please, please, please use caution. Active scams happening.

[howardlee2]

I have taken credit card payments which are run through my medical practice on a few rentals that are within 30 days to protect from getting stuck with points in holding. credit card disputes are never a slam dunk. AMEX is better IMO than the rest. I never worry about someone initiating a dispute with me as I always honor the reservation. I would strongly recommend checking references (multiple) and getting info on the DVC owner and confirming it. yes there is an element of trust however one can limit risk if they make the effort. In this case it is hard to believe that a bona fide DVC owner would try to scam multiple people without quickly getting caught. there is just too much info on that owner for them to get very far. I believe it is more likely that a non DVC owner got ahold of login info/email,etc to impersonate the owner and make and cancel reservations while pocketing the money directed to bank accounts that could be anywhere and likely much harder to trace and recover.

 

[DVC Doctor]

If you pay by check, then perhaps it could become a mail fraud case

 

[rarebit1974]

If you are a member, a transfer might have been better because you control the reservation.

Transfer wasn’t an option. I had already done one this use year.

 

[rarebit1974]

If you pay by check, then perhaps it could become a mail fraud case

It’s already considered wire fraud which is why the FBI is involved.

 

[Bearval]

I have taken credit card payments which are run through my medical practice on a few rentals that are within 30 days to protect from getting stuck with points in holding. credit card disputes are never a slam dunk. AMEX is better IMO than the rest. I never worry about someone initiating a dispute with me as I always honor the reservation. I would strongly recommend checking references (multiple) and getting info on the DVC owner and confirming it. yes there is an element of trust however one can limit risk if they make the effort. In this case it is hard to believe that a bona fide DVC owner would try to scam multiple people without quickly getting caught. there is just too much info on that owner for them to get very far. I believe it is more likely that a non DVC owner got ahold of login info/email,etc to impersonate the owner and make and cancel reservations while pocketing the money directed to bank accounts that could be anywhere and likely much harder to trace and recover.

I have taken credit card payments which are run through my medical practice on a few rentals that are within 30 days to protect from getting stuck with points in holding. credit card disputes are never a slam dunk. AMEX is better IMO than the rest. I never worry about someone initiating a dispute with me as I always honor the reservation. I would strongly recommend checking references (multiple) and getting info on the DVC owner and confirming it. yes there is an element of trust however one can limit risk if they make the effort. In this case it is hard to believe that a bona fide DVC owner would try to scam multiple people without quickly getting caught. there is just too much info on that owner for them to get very far. I believe it is more likely that a non DVC owner got ahold of login info/email,etc to impersonate the owner and make and cancel reservations while pocketing the money directed to bank accounts that could be anywhere and likely much harder to trace and recover.

The person wouldn't need a DVC owners information to pull off this scam. All they would need to do is put up an ad to rent points , get a potential renter to tell them where they want to stay and when and have them agree to send payment when booking is confirmed. What they do next is find an owner with points to rent and them give them the information of the person they are scamming and tell the owner they will submit payment when they get confirmation of the booking. Scammer then demands payment from victim because they now have room confirmation. Owner never receives payment and then cancels booking.

 

[howardlee2]

Bearval, your version is for sure another version of scamming but that is not what happened to the original poster. they paid the scammer and then had their reservation cancelled by the scammer, no other party as far as I understand.

 

[macman123]

I have only been in DVC since early last year. However, I now have 2800 points.

I rent out around 1500 of those. Not one has anyone asked me for a reference, even though I do have happy previous renters.

But I take wire, Paypal or Revolut. I have only had 1 person pay by wire as the Paypal fees were quite a lot.

 

[Bearval]

Bearval, your version is for sure another version of scamming but that is not what happened to the original poster. they paid the scammer and then had their reservation cancelled by the scammer, no other party as far as I understand.

The original poster believes they were corresponding with the DVC owner , I was just showing an example on how someone could be fooled in to believing that.

 

[Lakegirl]

So very sorry this has happened to you. I have thought about renting points when I have been short but for what happened to you, is the reason I have not. Hoping they catch the person who did this.

 

[rarebit1974]

Hi Everyone.
Im making progress. Zelle responded to the subpoena & provided the ‘renters’ bank information. Now we are subpoenaing the bank info. Whoever this person is definitely was not smart or thought this through given they made a valid DVC reservation with me as the lead guest & accepted my 5 venmo payments into their personal bank account. He/she will be caught & you can be sure I will prosecute & file a court case.

Of note, DVC will not respond to an out of state subpoena. I’m fortunate that my detective contacted a detective in FL and we subpoena’d them through FL jurisdiction.
Having the DVC members info will at least allow law enforcement to contact that owner to open more doors (find out who asked them to make the reservation, etc). I already know the name of the person I rented from wasn’t the name of the member who made the reservation. DVC did confirm this the day after my reservation was cancelled.

if I can help one person from being scammed, I am thankful.

 

[rarebit1974]

Bearval, your version is for sure another version of scamming but that is not what happened to the original poster. they paid the scammer and then had their reservation cancelled by the scammer, no other party as far as I understand.

Correct - no other party was involved. I was under the impression she was the DVC owner.

 

[anomamatt]

Correct - no other party was involved. I was under the impression she was the DVC owner.

@zavandor provided one example where the person you sent the money to could have been different than the DVC owner. In that case, the person you were dealing with (the scammer) was a middle-person and the DVC owner could be innocent.

I'm really glad you are pursuing this! Thanks for doing it. And keep us informed of how things transpire, please.

 

[a742246]

When I rent I always use disboards and I make sure the dvcmember is an active and long time disboard member. I feel that if they invested a lot of time in disboards they are likely to be honest.

 

[rarebit1974]

@zavandor provided one example where the person you sent the money to could have been different than the DVC owner. In that case, the person you were dealing with (the scammer) was a middle-person and the DVC owner could be innocent. I'm really glad you are pursuing this! Thanks for doing it. And keep us informed of how things transpire, please.

Correct, they could be. I had that same scenario in mind when all this happened. Even if this is what occurred, that member may have valuable information that they could provide to track down the scammer.

 

[LYSE]

When I rent I always use disboards and I make sure the dvcmember is an active and long time disboard member. I feel that if they invested a lot of time in disboards they are likely to be honest.

As an owner I haven't rented from others in a while but I too did this, if I still had my concerns I have actually requested a picture of their ID and matched it to the dvc deed and then have basically cyber stalked them and found public records that match the ID they provided (property tax records, Facebook, LinkedIn etc..)

Also big on paying with my amex and use DocuSign to sign the contracts which collects meta data (ip, location etc..)

Op you seem to have a great local PD helping you out..I would expect to get 0 help from most.

 

[Deb & Bill]

There have been instances where the scammer scammed the DVC owner's information as well. So you might not have rented from an owner, but a total scammer.

 

[howardlee2]

I think that the scammer hacked into the DVC owner's computer and gained access to their DVC login info as well as email, made reservations, had the money transferred to their bank and then cancelled the reservations ---all without the knowledge of the DVC owner! In this case if the bank is in the US money may get recovered. If foreign???

 

[Chuck S]

I think that the scammer hacked into the DVC owner's computer and gained access to their DVC login info as well as email, made reservations, had the money transferred to their bank and then cancelled the reservations ---all without the knowledge of the DVC owner! In this case if the bank is in the US money may get recovered. If foreign???

I think it is more reasonable to think that the person may have been a ne'er do well relative of the DVCer. Gaining access to their DVC Login in, making and canceling the reservation. That is what has happened in the past.