Is this a SCAM?

[cabmom]

I have a friend in London who thinks she has WON a 7 night accomodation package in Orlando, 3 nights in Fort Lauderdale, 3 day cruise to the Bahamas and 8 nights accomodation any where in the world. She has "paid" for this free trip at 498 pounds.
We have seen a similar scam here in Canada. We receive these faxes at work all the time. I went to RIP OFF report.com to see if the company she bought from is listed but it is not. Have any of you ever dealt with Brilliant Holidays from Orlando? I'd like to reassure her, but I think she's just lost herself a large amount of money.
This is the friend who paid for seats on Virgin at Christmas for about 3000 pds I believe.
Thanks, Marilynn

 

[SandraM]

This sounds similar to the Ramada Rip Off, which works in the same way - a person gets a call "you've won a holiday, now give us your credit card number for the administration fee" This "offer" has been doing the rounds this side of the Atlantic lately. If you do a search for "Ramada" AND "scam", you'll get more information than you'd ever want to know about this horrible way of separating people from their money.
It's possible that your friend may get her holiday, but the accommodation, cruise etc will be at a standard far lower than she would have expected.
Hopefully I'm wrong, and she has in fact entered a competition, but I can never understand how money can be asked for if you've entered a competition and won a prize, and if you never entered the competition in the first place that should be a definite red flag.
Let us know how your friend gets on, won't you? And the best of luck to her.

 

[allie5]

One of my hobbies is "Comping". I enter quite a bit and have been lucky enough to win some nice prizes (including a holiday to WDW!). I can assure you, that if you have won a genuine prize then there are no questions to answer, no phone lines to ring, no monies to pay...its a PRIZE, its free!! If any of the afore mentioned apply then its a SCAM, it will cost you money!!

Its also stating the glaringly obvious, but you cant win genuine prizes unless you enter genuine competitions! All the comps I enter are free (well, the cost of a stamp if its postal) and it IS possible to win some good stuff with perserverance. What is not possible, is to win huge prizes from companies you have never heard of, asking for money upfront. All my wins have been from well known sources like supermarkets, newspapers, magazines etc. I would be immediately suspicious if I got a phone call saying I had won a holiday but had to pay "admin costs" or call a premium rate number. They are usually timeshare scams, where you get "free" accomodation but nothing else except a big admin charge. Dont be fooled into hanging on a £6 a minute phone line for 30 mins and "winning "a useless £20 off voucher at the end of it. Another one is where they ask you to press 9 to claim your prize...that connects you to a premium line as well.

 

[scousemouse36]

ITS A TIME SHARE COMPLEX

THE ORLANDO ACCOM IS BRAND NEW, REAL NICE BUT IT IS TIMESHARE

I GOT THE SAME OFFER AND CHECKED OUT THE ACCOM COULDNT GET INFO ON BAHAMAS

 

[cabmom]

scousemouse36 was it Brilliant Holidays? I'll be speaking with her tomorrow/today for you folks. I told her if you win something you don't pay for it!

 

[cabmom]

I've just got off the phone with her. She clicked on a pop up that came up when she was searching for a house to rent while they are there. So my gut instinct, it's a scam. I checked out site and I don't think it's legit. There isn't a lot of info on it.
Thanks, Marilynn

 

[cabmom]

My friend emailed me today to tell me she has no confirmation yet from the company regarding what she paid for. She cancelled her credit card, called the police and is going to wait the 7-14 days to hear from them. When she asked for a complete refund they told her NO!
I'll let you know how it continues!!! Be cautious when dealing with pop ups and companies that tell you, you have "WON" a trip or accomodation and then they want money from you!

 

[Tiggery]

Just noticed the amount £498 is just £2 under the usual amount to cause a "flag raise" in the credit card systems.

 

[cabmom]

We've been unable to connect since Thurs, my friend and I. I'll hopefully get an update by tomorrow.

 

[SandraM]

Keeping fingers crossed, hope you have some good news soon.

 

[liferiley]

there are loads of these on ebay!BEWARE.Orlando is full of timeshare sellers,even the hotel ticket booth tries to sell you them.on every street you see buy 2 Disney tickets for $20....its all a rip off.

 

[cabmom]

*Bump*
Nothing to report really! She won't know until she gets to Orlando at Christmas to see if she has a place to stay. If you want to check out this company go to weeklink.com. It even looks suspect from the web address!

 

[Night-train]

I received a similar phonecall some years ago from a guy who spoke with an American accent, telling me I'd won a two-week vacation in Florida consisting of a week in Fort Lauderdale and a week cruising round the Bahamas. He couldn't give me a straight answer when I asked him what exactly I had done to win this prize or how he came to have my phone number which was ex-directory. So I then asked what was included in the prize and he said that was it, the week in FL and the cruise. There was no named accommodation, no flights to and from the UK, no transfers, nothing. This was the point when he asked for my credit card details but when I told him I was only interested if they were going to get me there and back AND I didn't possess a credit card, he couldn't get off the line quick enough!! Since then, the number of times I have heard about these scams rearing their ugly heads is only slightly more than the number of times I have heard of gullible fools actually falling for this hogwash. They say a fool and his money are easily parted. Kinda explains why this happens so often, eh???

 

[cabmom]

I have to agree with a fool and the money!

We won't know what happens til Christmas when she flies to Orlando and tries to get her accomodation!

I'll keep you informed!

 

[shellbell]

I had one of these phone calls last week. This guy with an american accent phoned me up saying i had won this 7 day holiday to florida with tickets for the parks. I asked him if this was free and he said no. I told him if it wasn't free then i had won nothing, I then said i wasn't interested and put the phone down on him.

These people are really cheeky They make me so mad

Michelle