Is this a scam?

[MFranzen]

I'm looking to rent vacation points from a DVC member. It is a large reservation -- 9 nights at BLT in a 2 bedroom. At the beginning, they said we could use PayPal. Now they're saying they don't want to do PayPal because it isn't good for timeshares, but would rather me pay them with multiple Disney e-gift cards, saying I would be protected through my credit card that way. Does this seem like a scam to anyone who has been doing this a long time? I would appreciate any advice before proceeding!

 

[starry_solo]

Technically PayPal doesn’t offer any protection for timeshare transactions. But the whole thing about wanting Disney GCs seems weird.

 

[ziravan]

It’s weird. PayPal isn’t good for timeshares that’s true (they do not protect the DVC owner if a deal goes bad), but then don’t bait and switch it’s use.

I would only use a scam-resistant form of payment, such as a credit card (where you can contest transactions.)

Also. I would not rent from anybody that didn’t have a large posting history from here if you found them here.

And for that amount of money, I would want to verify the reservation before I paid more than a deposit. You can verify that the reservation exists and is in your name by linking it to your MDE account. If it’s legit, theres no reason not to let you verify it. The owner can always change it if you don’t pay.

 

[ziravan]

Maintenance fees are due by 2/15. It is possible they want Disney cards to pay their fees. But that’s a bit weird.

 

[atlmgm]

This doesn't sound right - the only way this would make any sense is if the seller is trying to save you money by (you) buying discounted gift cards - I doubt it but who knows. Any why would the seller want gift cards instead of cash (the seller could buy discounted gift cards for themselves)? My suggestion is to avoid this transaction.

 

[atlmgm]

Also - the comment about being protected by your credit card seems wrong since you received the Disney gift cards - you may want to call your cc company to confirm but i do not think you would be covered.

 

[crvetter]

I personally wouldn’t complete any private party transaction with the exchange of gift cards. Mostly because they will be completely anonymous via gift card. Once those numbers are provided to them they can’t be traced. Also if they ask for just the numbers they can drain the gift card onto other gift cards (so never share the numbers if you decide until final). Any CC or check etc transaction is at least traceable so personal action can be taken (and PayPal sometimes will still ban members if fraud is reported too many times, though 0 protections are provided in the form of refunds).

 

[_auroraborealis_]

This is sketchy. While PayPal itself provides no protection, it serves as a credit payment processor.

If you buy gift cards and send them, your credit card gives you zero protection there.

 

[eMoneyBug]

Get references

 

[Wakey]

I’m a fraud specialist, and would personally give this one a very wide berth. It has all the hallmarks of someone wanting to be sent untraceable and non refundable funds. I’ll go further with the greatest respect, you’d be silly to proceed. It may be entirely innocent but it’s exactly what a fraudster would do. Thus can you take that risk?

BTW I’m on the Dibb, a UK board and recently someone came on there offering points for rent. First post, and it looked very iffy to me. Alerted the mods who took it down- and they never came back, so it was almost certainly a scam. Seems the professional scammers have discovered DVC rentals, which is not good. Buyer beware.

 

[bookwormde]

I agree I would avoid this one since it may be a scam. On the other hand the person may be trying to keep the transaction of the tax radar since it is a big one. Of course this may speak to the persons character also

 

[LauraLea]

I have done 2 rentals with gift card. Once I rented from a German owner and paid her in gift cards. Avoided all the foreign transaction and conversion fees. She used the cards to pay dues. I did however personally know this person.

Last year I rented out a BWV standard studio for F&W. Listed the rental with the option to pay with gift cards as we were just days away from having to call to book the special events. Found a renter was who happy to pay that way. They had options for getting discounts and reward points buying gift cards. Worked well for both of us.

Laura

 

[Timothy02359]

Payment via gift cards is super sketchy...

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I agree I would avoid this one since it may be a scam. On the other hand the person may be trying to keep the transaction of the tax radar since it is a big one. Of course this may speak to the persons character also

But if they were trying to avoid tax declaration they wouldn't need to spew silliness about how it provides credit caqrd protection (it doesn't).

Payment via gift card might not be the big red flag so much as switching over payment protocol then making up poo about how it is better and more protection, when it very clearly is not.

 

[CraigInPA]

I can understand the owner finding out that paypal won't protect him from fraud in the event the renter is using a stolen credit card or contests the charge. I've had acquaintances burned for multi-thousand dollar transactions where the "purchaser" was shady and contested a charge after the goods were delivered. I can understand them looking for a different route to be paid. A personal check has to be deposited, which could be a problem for non-US owners, or US owners wanting to keep the income off the tax radar. Gift cards, especially Disney gift cards, avoid this issue. However, as outlined by others, gift cards create an opportunity for the renter being cheated.

As much as I'd like to give the owner a pass on this one, and believe them to be honest and forthright, when someone asks for gift cards and touts their "protection" by the credit card which was used to purchase them, this raises HUGE red flags for me. There's no protection for gift cards whatsoever.

Find another way to pay that affords both of you protection. Before sending money, ask them to make the reservation and give you the reservation number to link into MDE to verify it is correct. And, make sure you have a contract (which is required by DVC).

 

[_auroraborealis_]

And if an owner is that nervous about a private rental... hate to say it, but they need to not offer the private rental. Sure, an agency will take a percentage, but if they're that nervous about bad payment, that's what the percentage gets them: Protection.

 

[MFranzen]

Thank you for your advice, everyone. I agree... the whole thing seemed very sketchy. I'm now working with a different owner who takes payment with a check and is very upfront about giving us a confirmation and contract before payment. I'm feeling a lot better about it.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Thank you for your advice, everyone. I agree... the whole thing seemed very sketchy. I'm now working with a different owner who takes payment with a check and is very upfront about giving us a confirmation and contract before payment. I'm feeling a lot better about it.

FWIW, the DVC owner contract requires that we use contracts when renting points. So if someone isn't offering you a contract, that is also a red flag.

 

[bookwormde]

One other thing to remember is that most credit cards have a 60 day window to contest a transaction

 

[Best Aunt]

FWIW, the DVC owner contract requires that we use contracts when renting points. So if someone isn't offering you a contract, that is also a red flag.

Wait, what? The DVC owner contract refers to renting points?