I was contacted by Tim Daly in Las Vegas, rep for Resort Sales Online. He called to see if I was still selling my Westgate Vacation Villas TS in Kissimmee, FL. He claimed I had paid them $99 in 2008 to list my unit with them. He said they had been working to sell my unit and had someone interested. Yes, I did give money to several TS "sellers" who simply put my unit on their website, and even though I did not remember the name of his company, I believed him. He was an older man, not the usual young fast-talkers that usually contact me, so I wanted to believe him.
Tim said I and the buyer had to agree on a price. He called back and said is $12,250 OK? I said that was more than I expected. This should have been my first red flag but he said this amount was considerably less than Westgate was selling units and I knew this to be true. He said they had to secure a loan from the buyer and that we would split the closing costs of $3700. That seemed like a lot, but he asked if I would be paying that with a registered check or a personal check. He did not ask for a credit card as all other callers had. I told him I would pay with a personal check.
Tim called several hours later to tell me that the buyer had the loan and had given their half of the closing costs $1850. He said this meant that the buyer was now locked in to the sale and couldn't back out. He then told me his "boss" would be calling me to explain the details of what was going to happen next. You can't imagine how excited I was because I have been trying to sell this unit for years!
The boss, Sean McAllister, (in Pheonix) called several hours later to tell me that he had expedited the sale to the title company so that the sale would be completed in 4 weeks instead of the usual 6-8 weeks. But I would have to get my half of the closing costs to the title company in 24hrs so they could start the process. Would I be able to wire the money today? I said I needed something in writing before I would send any money. He said if I didn't send it by tomorrow, he would have to cancel the sale and refund the money to the buyer. I think this was to make me feel guilty, but I've been scammed over the years and was becoming suspicious. Then he said he would email their money-back guarantee the next morning. When I got the "guarantee" it looked like something a teenager would write up. It was obviously a quickly written up statement and was not signed.
When Tim called me the next morning (why didn't Sean the "boss" call me?), he asked if I was ready to proceed. I said the "guarantee" really didn't guarantee anything. I told him I wanted sales documents so I'd know there was an actual sale in progress. He said that the title company would be sending me those documents a week later, but they wanted the money before they would start the process.
I asked Tim how long Resort Sales Online had been in business. He said "10 years." I knew this was not true because the previous evening I did some investigating. I went to Whois Lookup at www.register.com and put in the website www.resortsalesonline.com and found that it was created Nov. 2012, only 6 mo. ago! The website is not complete and looks like it was hastily created. So when Tim called, I had already decided against sending any money. He argued for awhile but I finally said "Good-bye" and hung up. I expected a call-back from "boss" Sean, but no one ever called back.
Believe me, I really wanted to believe this sale was on the level. But when a read on TUG that some scammers aren't asking for credit cards but want wire transfers, I was convinced that this was a scam. Thanks TUG!
Hope my experience helps others avoid being scammed.
Tim said I and the buyer had to agree on a price. He called back and said is $12,250 OK? I said that was more than I expected. This should have been my first red flag but he said this amount was considerably less than Westgate was selling units and I knew this to be true. He said they had to secure a loan from the buyer and that we would split the closing costs of $3700. That seemed like a lot, but he asked if I would be paying that with a registered check or a personal check. He did not ask for a credit card as all other callers had. I told him I would pay with a personal check.
Tim called several hours later to tell me that the buyer had the loan and had given their half of the closing costs $1850. He said this meant that the buyer was now locked in to the sale and couldn't back out. He then told me his "boss" would be calling me to explain the details of what was going to happen next. You can't imagine how excited I was because I have been trying to sell this unit for years!
The boss, Sean McAllister, (in Pheonix) called several hours later to tell me that he had expedited the sale to the title company so that the sale would be completed in 4 weeks instead of the usual 6-8 weeks. But I would have to get my half of the closing costs to the title company in 24hrs so they could start the process. Would I be able to wire the money today? I said I needed something in writing before I would send any money. He said if I didn't send it by tomorrow, he would have to cancel the sale and refund the money to the buyer. I think this was to make me feel guilty, but I've been scammed over the years and was becoming suspicious. Then he said he would email their money-back guarantee the next morning. When I got the "guarantee" it looked like something a teenager would write up. It was obviously a quickly written up statement and was not signed.
When Tim called me the next morning (why didn't Sean the "boss" call me?), he asked if I was ready to proceed. I said the "guarantee" really didn't guarantee anything. I told him I wanted sales documents so I'd know there was an actual sale in progress. He said that the title company would be sending me those documents a week later, but they wanted the money before they would start the process.
I asked Tim how long Resort Sales Online had been in business. He said "10 years." I knew this was not true because the previous evening I did some investigating. I went to Whois Lookup at www.register.com and put in the website www.resortsalesonline.com and found that it was created Nov. 2012, only 6 mo. ago! The website is not complete and looks like it was hastily created. So when Tim called, I had already decided against sending any money. He argued for awhile but I finally said "Good-bye" and hung up. I expected a call-back from "boss" Sean, but no one ever called back.
Believe me, I really wanted to believe this sale was on the level. But when a read on TUG that some scammers aren't asking for credit cards but want wire transfers, I was convinced that this was a scam. Thanks TUG!
Hope my experience helps others avoid being scammed.