If you're looking to sell your time-share, be wary of offers that are too good to be true.
Dale Mackie, the branch manager of Scotiabank in Olds, said there have been some cases of fraud seen by the bank when it comes to time-share sales.
"We've had a few cases here in Olds," Mackie said. He said there are a number of retired people who live in town and the surrounding area who frequently travel to warmer climes that may own time-shares.
The con Mackie has seen usually goes like this:
The fraudster approaches someone who is advertising a time-share for sale.
There are specialized websites where people sell time-shares, and the fraudsters often seem to target those sellers, offering their services to help sell the time-share.
Then comes the good news.
"The amount that they sold it for seems to be more than it's worth," Mackie said.
But, before the time-share owner can cash out on their good fortune, requests for money start to flow in. Fees are needed to pay back property taxes, or maintenance fees, and the seller needs to send money before the transaction can go through.
Mackie said the fraudsters often use legitimate company names and websites to help fool wary sellers who research a bit before agreeing. But the account information provided is different.
And once those fees have been paid, it turns out there has been no sale whatsoever, and the seller is now out that money as well.
This scam has been going on for some time, Mackie said, but there have been a couple of cases that have cropped up recently.
He offered some advice and red flags to look out for if you're trying to sell a time-share.
"Number 1 -- how did you get in touch with this person?" he asked. It's a red flag if they reached out to you instead of you contacting them.
Another red flag, not unique to this scam, is that any time someone asks you for money so you can get money back -- in this case, the fees that are made up -- it's often a con.
If pressure tactics are being used, like time constraints to get you to hurry up with the payments, that's another flag.
If the money seems too good to be true, it probably is.
"If it's overvalued it's definitely a red flag," Mackie said.
Finally, he suggests if someone is ever in doubt, try asking different people's opinions on the proposed deal to see if others find it suspicious.
There are specialized websites where people sell time-shares, and the fraudsters often seem to target those sellers, offering their services to help sell the time-share.
