Help - Was Scammed!

[CarolynFH]

Thank you so much for the update - I'm sorry you and the other victims had that experience, and I hope potential renters will be able to avoid becoming victims of other similar scammers as well.

 

[Artemis Fowl]

He's been removed from some of the groups but not all. They knew about him being shady back in early February but sadly let him stay when he said the fake photoshopped reservation he sent over was a "mistake" and "misunderstanding" and they believed him.

What is the name of the facebook group?

 

[karen4546]

You should contact law enforcement.

This should be the first thing you do.

 

[Straulin]

Sorry to hear that

I was scammed, along with about 20 other families, by a man on Facebook renting DVC Vacation Points. So far there's about 3000 points that have been 'rented' out and none of us have valid reservations or stays. Many are upcoming and he's refusing to refund now that the jig is up.

I don't know if I can name and shame here but I want to know if there's anything I can do? Also if DVC has anyone that I can report him to? Maybe they won't care but I'd like to hope they would.

He's refusing refunds and of course demanded payment over Apple Pay/PayPal so we are fighting with our banks in hopes they take up the case.

Of course the sucky part is that we're all now left without reservations I'm hopeful I can make something happen for our group but I'm just so sad.

Anyway, any helpful ideas would be very welcome on what to do now. THANK YOU!

Sorry to hear this happened. Hope you get it figured out. Your bank /Apple Pay is probably the best bet. Disney likely wouldn’t get involved even if they had any authority over him.

If you are across state lines you can contact prosecutors in both states and the feds to see if anyone will go after him for fraud.

This is why I wouldn’t ever rent points outside of someone I know personally or one of the reputable brokers (like the board sponsor) as their reputation is on the line and they will make it right.

 

[kes601]

Sorry to hear that

Sorry to hear this happened. Hope you get it figured out. Your bank /Apple Pay is probably the best bet. Disney likely wouldn’t get involved even if they had any authority over him.

If you are across state lines you can contact prosecutors in both states and the feds to see if anyone will go after him for fraud.

This is why I wouldn’t ever rent points outside of someone I know personally or one of the reputable brokers (like the board sponsor) as their reputation is on the line and they will make it right.

You do get this happened several months ago and the OP came back to provide an update and close out the thread. Your points have been mentioned over and over again in the thread.....

 

[Straulin]

You do get this happened several months ago and the OP came back to provide an update and close out the thread. Your points have been mentioned over and over again in the thread.....

To quote Olof, “Nope!”

That is weird, when I saw this thread this morning it only had like two responses. I am not sure what happened. Now there are 12 pages. Either the time change is effecting me more than I realized or something didn’t load correctly.

*shrug*

 

[c0reyann]

To quote Olof, “Nope!”

That is weird, when I saw this thread this morning it only had like two responses. I am not sure what happened. Now there are 12 pages. Either the time change is effecting me more than I realized or something didn’t load correctly.

*shrug*

Glitches happen . I appreciate the advice! Now it's just a waiting game for the eventual trial. I won't hold my breath for restitution though.

 

[c0reyann]

Wanted a post a follow up to this...

Long story short (irony here lol) he got arrested by the FBI and is allegedly pleading guilty to his former sc@ms before the disney DVC stuff in September.

HOWEVER, the FBI isn't including anything that he did with Disney in the case. I was basically told it was bc they don't do anything until it's in the millions.

I was contacted over the weekend and it seems like he is potentially back out there running the DVC grift again with a different first name but same last name so I am urging EVERYONE to be careful about sending money to someone for a DVC rental via Facebook.

 

[Genie+]

To quote Olof, “Nope!”

That is weird, when I saw this thread this morning it only had like two responses. I am not sure what happened. Now there are 12 pages. Either the time change is effecting me more than I realized or something didn’t load correctly.

*shrug*

Sometimes threads get merged. A new one gets opened on an existing topic and it gets merged (eg - a ticket question on its own thread getting moved into the main ticket thread along with the responses). Possibly this happened.

 

[Genie+]

I took a peek into facebook when we were looking for certain dates and resort and was overwhelmed trying to avoid red flags across different communities/rules. In the end we decided a cheaper lower demand resort with near zero risk (broker OKW spec rental) was the better option and ultimately… bought more points

The trouble is small cons. Often the only recourse is civil, and that means sinking more time and money spent to maybe prove your case and even if you win, maybe you’re able to squeeze blood out of a stone and get your award.

 

[keishashadow]

HOWEVER, the FBI isn't including anything that he did with Disney in the case. I was basically told it was bc they don't do anything until it's in the millions.

Sorry to hear. Hope you are able to keep vacation plans in place and receive some level of restitution for your losses

Long ago, before slowly buying into DVC, I was tempted to rent a DVC vacation I’d see offered ‘so cheap’ on eBay

Just didn’t seem worth it to save a few bucks. Do think the system in place here is one of the best out there.

I do rent WBC thru vacations to go, never had any issue

On the other hand have transferred UY points and rented out vacations. Stopped years ago after reading stories of ‘renters’ trashing rooms and owners being liable for damages.

Admittedly, im a cautious sort; after having a few attempts at CC & identity theft in my family. Such a mess to try to clean up and monitor after the fact

It strikes me there will always be an element of chance something could go dreadfully wrong, without any clear path for remedying things in this sort of DVC point transaction…no matter how careful the parties are in their dealings.

A real shame there are people like that out there

 

[RoseGold]

Ugh, resurrecting this thread again. This scammer somehow got ppl to pay before they synced the reservation to their MDE. At least sync the reservation first.

An owner can still cancel after that step, of course. But if they can't give you anything to sync, they don't have the reservation at all.

 

[Chuck S]

Thank you for sharing your story here, and reminding everyone that scams are possible. As RoseGold said, it is important to link any reservation number given to you into the My Diseny Experience app to verify its authinticty prior to making any payment. And rememebr, if you want a DVC Owner to make a reservation for you, please allow at least a 45 day window between the day you are making booking and your actual travel date. This way the DVC Owner can cancel the reservation before the penalty period, if you don;t make the payment. Renting is a matter of trust for both parties, but there are some ways, like verifying the reservation and booking farther out that at least give a modicum of protection to both parties, assuming neither is a scammer.

Since this thread is 10 years old, I'm going to go ahead and close it, but it does have a lot of good information.

EDIT...Sorry, I misread the start date on the thread, and instead read the DISBoard join date of the OP, so I've re-opened the thread.

 

[c0reyann]

Thank you for sharing your story here, and reminding everyone that scams are possible. As RoseGold said, it is important to link any reservation number given to you into the My Diseny Experience app to verify its authinticty prior to making any payment. And rememebr, if you want a DVC Owner to make a reservation for you, please allow at least a 45 day window between the day you are making booking and your actual travel date. This way the DVC Owner can cancel the reservation before the penalty period, if you don;t make the payment. Renting is a matter of trust for both parties, but there are some ways, like verifying the reservation and booking farther out that at least give a modicum of protection to both parties, assuming neither is a scammer.

Since this thread is 10 years old, I'm going to go ahead and close it, but it does have a lot of good information.

EDIT...Sorry, I misread the start date on the thread, and instead read the DISBoard join date of the OP, so I've re-opened the thread.

Thank you for reopening, while it sure feels like 10 years that I've been dealing with this it has only been a little over a year.

I've definitely learned a lot in this experience and I just wanted to get the word out that he may still be going strong and to be cautious.

 

[CarolynFH]

Thank you for reopening, while it sure feels like 10 years that I've been dealing with this it has only been a little over a year.

I've definitely learned a lot in this experience and I just wanted to get the word out that he may still be going strong and to be cautious.

Thanks for coming back with the update, especially since it’s not what we hoped for.

 

[Curiousporpoise]

Thank you for reopening, while it sure feels like 10 years that I've been dealing with this it has only been a little over a year.

I've definitely learned a lot in this experience and I just wanted to get the word out that he may still be going strong and to be cautious.

Thank you for coming back to update this thread. I always wondered if he would get arrested for this. I was looking to rent DVC points around the same time, and it’s easy to see how it could happen. He had excuses for everything and wasn’t afraid to show his face or his profile. I’m glad that he was arrested for scamming his friends and family. I am sorry that there is no justice for you and the 25+ other families that he stole from.

 

[intamin]

Wanted a post a follow up to this...

Long story short (irony here lol) he got arrested by the FBI and is allegedly pleading guilty to his former sc@ms before the disney DVC stuff in September.

HOWEVER, the FBI isn't including anything that he did with Disney in the case. I was basically told it was bc they don't do anything until it's in the millions.

I was contacted over the weekend and it seems like he is potentially back out there running the DVC grift again with a different first name but same last name so I am urging EVERYONE to be careful about sending money to someone for a DVC rental via Facebook.

SMH hopefully he rots behind bars for good the next time he's arrested. I can't imagine the number of memories this idiot stole from families for his own personal greed.

Sad to say but this is one of the reasons I'm not comfortable with renting points and definitely wouldn't do so without a broker on either end. I hope you're able to recover at least some of your losses OP.

 

[Bearval]

I took a peek into facebook when we were looking for certain dates and resort and was overwhelmed trying to avoid red flags across different communities/rules. In the end we decided a cheaper lower demand resort with near zero risk (broker OKW spec rental) was the better option and ultimately… bought more points

The trouble is small cons. Often the only recourse is civil, and that means sinking more time and money spent to maybe prove your case and even if you win, maybe you’re able to squeeze blood out of a stone and get your award.

The trouble with civil cases is not the "winning" part but collecting the judgement.

 

[Genie+]

The trouble with civil cases is not the "winning" part but collecting the judgement.

It can be both parts. What’s worse?

You win the judgement but no money to collect. At least you have a lien should they sell some asset down the line.

Or you spend more resources trying to win a judgement by collecting texts, posts, emails, and brushing up on state laws for your case, and paying fees. Get to court and defendant just shrugs saying it has nothing to with them and lo and behold you can’t prove it. You’ve wasted more time, energy and money for nothing. Not even a lien on the books.

Both suck. Winning can be a hurdle. Collecting can be a hurdle. I’d really hate to jump though all those hoops and not even walk away with a win. It would sting me worse.