Possible Email Scam for Timeshares.

[TnRobin]

I am posting this on both DVC Boards as I feel it is important.

Got this email today. These thinghs pop up regular because timeshares deeds are public record. I think it is a good thing to remind everyone, especially the new owners of what type of people are out there. I believe this email to be a scam, but some people are more trusting than me. If you get a similar email do not even respond. Delete immediately. Remember if it is too good to be true -- it usually is.

I am interested in renting your time share and i am willing to pay whatever amount you are willing to collect for the room.i won't be able to come by to see the place but Heres a little info about myself.
I amLyone Johnson,i am 32 years old.I am originaly from Uk but presently in africa ,i hold a degree in BUSINESS AND RESOURCES MANAGEMENT FROM THE METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY IN LONDON U.K,i worked for two years in UK before leaving for West Africa where i am at present with my mum who is on a missionary project here.
Consequent to this and in order to make settling in easier and quicker i am searching for accomodation early and i saw your ad on the web and i want to make a reservation for your timeshare.I have always nursed this dream of going to your country.I can assure you that you will not have any regrets letting out this timeshare to me.I am a quiet person and can get along well with any body,i am coming over alone,with no family or pets,i do not smoke and i drink very lightly.Please reply me as soon as you read this email.You can contact me via email.Hope to hear from you soon.Also if you have a yahoo messenger you could add me.My lyone21 and email is lyone21@yahoo.com so you could add me.Please feel free to ask me any questions.As regards payment,this is what i am going to do I have a client in the US who is owing me US$5,000 i would instruct him to make out certified check to you in that amount you can now deduct your money from it and send me my balance, Although the value of the check is more than the total price but it think i should be able to trust you with my balance. The reason why i am doing this is that it would take a check sent from over here in Africa 21 days to clear over there,where as a check sent from the! Ur country would clear tops within 48hrs. .Please let me have your full contact address where the checkwill be mailed out to.,also i will like to know the full name the check will be made out to. so that i can instruct my client to make out the check to you. Pls get back to me as soon as you get this mail so that we can round things up in a timely fashion.you will email or fax me a copy of the reciept after mpayment as been recieved.Please get back to me with the name and address that u will want the payment to be made out to.
Reply to lyone21@yahoo.com

 

[CarolMN]

Yep. It's a scam - anything that asks you to refund/send them money shoudl be a HUGE clue. The "certified" check will be a forgery, but by the time the bank figures it out, you will have "refunded" the difference and your money will be gone for good.

Thanks for posting this - haven't seen this version of the scam yet. Your advice to delete it immediately is very good. No sense letting them know (by replying) that they have a good email address to sell to another spammer!

Best wishes -

 

[Rence]

This scam can be used for just about anything. Most people wrongly believe that a certified check is as good as cash and then once their bank accepts it, that it is money in the bank. This scam can aslo be carried out with Money Orders, Cashier's checks etc.

I had a student who sold a car on ebay and feel for this very scam. They had some excuse why they were sending him a certified check for more than the amount and that he needed to refund the difference. He ended up losing about $5000 out of the deal.

I have also heard of this same scam used for buying timeshares as well as renting timeshares. Some folks (non-DVC owners of course) are so anxious to get rid of their timeshars that they will easily fall for this.

There is NEVER a valid reason for payment to be made in this fashion (a check of some type for more than the amount - please refund the difference).

 

[mwehttam]

I guess getting a degree of "BUSINESS AND RESOURCES MANAGEMENT FROM THE METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY IN LONDON U.K" doesn't require any English classes as a core requirment!

Hopefully one day soon I will own DVC too and get emails like this. But as my DW says, "Lets buy a house to raise a family in first then DVC." Hopefully soon!!!

-Matthew