offer for my timeshare [Scammer - Brenda Chavers/AKA Sister Vincentia Goeb]

Good morning people. I have owned a red week at the Beach Club in St. Augustine for almost thirty years now. I have put it up for sale yet I am not sure how to value it. It is a 1 BR unit, RCI Gold Crown resort. I can exchange either via points or the 'old way' depending on where I wish to go. I pay $500 a year in assessments. I also have to combine weeks in some cases tp get the extra points needed for certain exchanges. I can exchange for any size unit anywhere for any week if that helps with assessing value.

Someone named Brenda Chavers said she was interested and I responded back. She replied that she wanted the particulars and said to give her a price. I don't know if this is legit but I'll play along for now. How should I price my timeshare?

Thank you

To see what others like it sell for, just sign on to eBay, enter the resort name in the search box than check the 'completed auctions'. As to the other offer, if it's waaay high, or you were contacted out of the blue, there is likely some scam. Don't pay anything upfront to sell it, and if they have an 'escrow agent' they insist on, beware!

You might read the 'How to Sell my Timeshare' 'sticky' at the top of this forum.

Good Luck

Jim

"Brenda Chavers" has been reported on TUG before.


www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=192255

RX8 said:

"Brenda Chavers" has been reported on TUG beforem

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I knew I had seen that name before. Hmmmmf.

thanks

Thank you for the advice. I did a search on Brenda Chavers yesterday and this forum came up in the search. I cannot find anything online that says this is a scam. But I will be careful as to what I divulge.

I checked ebay and the accepted bids were from $1 to $41,000.

t734 said:

I checked ebay and the accepted bids were from $1 to $41,000.

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Got to love eBay for valuation. We have the same problem with the valuation of our retro and antique items.

Anyone that sends out many offers is HIGHLY likely to be a scammer.

Be suspicious - if they want you to pay any fees AT ALL, or if they want to send you a check for more than the amount, and then have you refund the difference to someone.

I couldn't find any Ads for your timeshare on ebay, but your timeshare (and almost all timeshares) are more likely to be worth $1, thank $41,000.

Here is a listing site that I think is sponsored by the management company. My guess is that if you were selling on your own you would get less than half of what they get but wouldn't have to pay the commission to the broker. You might want to check about listing with them. I had one unit in MB that I could not sell for $500 but the broker connected with the resort was able to sell for $3000 and even with a fairly high broker commission (no upfront fee) I was able to net $1000 and this was within the last year not in 2006 when TS sold for more.

t734 said:

Thank you for the advice. I did a search on Brenda Chavers yesterday and this forum came up in the search. I cannot find anything online that says this is a scam. But I will be careful as to what I divulge.

I checked ebay and the accepted bids were from $1 to $41,000.

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Could you tell me what you entered for a search on eBay? I can't find anything on that resort name.

Thanks

csxjohn said:

Could you tell me what you entered for a search on eBay? I can't find anything on that resort name.

Thanks

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He did a generic search on "timeshare". The $41,000 was for 750 DVC points.

I haven't been involved with timeshares for long but I do know that not all timeshares are equal. Some timeshares have real value (like DVC) while some have negative value (you have to PAY someone to take it).

As Denise stated, I think the OP's timeshare will be closer to the dollar range.

RX8 said:

He did a generic search on "timeshare". The $41,000 was for 750 DVC points.

I haven't been involved with timeshares for long but I do know that not all timeshares are equal. Some timeshares have real value (like DVC) while some have negative value (you have to PAY someone to take it).

As Denise stated, I think the OP's timeshare will be closer to the dollar range.

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Thank you, I know you are the guru of detective work here on TUG but I thought I was totally losing it.

Passepartout said:

To see what others like it sell for, just sign on to eBay, enter the resort name in the search box than check the 'completed auctions'. As to the other offer, if it's waaay high, or you were contacted out of the blue, there is likely some scam. Don't pay anything upfront to sell it, and if they have an 'escrow agent' they insist on, beware!

You might read the 'How to Sell my Timeshare' 'sticky' at the top of this forum.

Good Luck

Jim

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Here is the response I just received...........


Thanks for the details. Having reviewed all the information provided, I have made my offer as clearly as possible below.

1- I will be willing to pay $2,500 for your timeshare, closing will commence within the next few days.

2- I am hearing impaired in both ears and as a result, I will doing all closing formalities through my broker. I will be responsible for the closing cost and title transfer fees along with my broker fees.

3- Closing will be done through First American title transfer(www.firstam.com/title) and funds will be held in Escrow during closing.

Let me know if this works and I will inform you on the next step.


Best regards,
Brenda Chavers.

RX8 said:

He did a generic search on "timeshare". The $41,000 was for 750 DVC points.

I haven't been involved with timeshares for long but I do know that not all timeshares are equal. Some timeshares have real value (like DVC) while some have negative value (you have to PAY someone to take it).

As Denise stated, I think the OP's timeshare will be closer to the dollar range.

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It looks like a $2,500 offer if this person is legit. How would I go about assessing the veracity of this offer?

t734 said:

Here is the response I just received...........


Thanks for the details. Having reviewed all the information provided, I have made my offer as clearly as possible below.

1- I will be willing to pay $2,500 for your timeshare, closing will commence within the next few days.

2- I am hearing impaired in both ears and as a result, I will doing all closing formalities through my broker. I will be responsible for the closing cost and title transfer fees along with my broker fees.

3- Closing will be done through First American title transfer(www.firstam.com/title) and funds will be held in Escrow during closing.

Let me know if this works and I will inform you on the next step.


Best regards,
Brenda Chavers.

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SCAM,SCAM, SCAM, SCAM!!!! Read this thread. http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=192116&highlight=sister Particularly posts 17 and 66 to see how it works. Brenda's name is different is the only thing. Same $2500 amount and same First American Title (no such thing).

Save your time and trouble. This is not worth pursuing.

Best wishes.

So Brenda Chavers is scammer Sister What's-her-name!

Don't do it - it's a scam!

These scammers are giving the hearing impaired a bad name.

Thank goodness the OP searched out for answers.

My guess is that for every OP who researches and finds out they are dealing with a scam there are five others who proceed and lose money.

I just can't figure out why they can't catch these criminals. But then again I keep hearing about the "swatting" that is happening at celebrity homes here in LA and the authorities can't figure out who is making those phone calls to 911 so it must not be too hard to keep your identity hidden.

They are in Egypt - not much you can do with someone in Egypt.

csxjohn said:

Thank you, I know you are the guru of detective work here on TUG but I thought I was totally losing it.

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Thanks for compliment John. I joined TUG 1.5 years before I bought a timeshare. I think I read almost every post there was but being a newbie I had no knowledge on timeshares to share so I tried to contribute by outing the scammers.

many thanks folks

Thank you very much people. I'll heed the advice here and ignore the 'offer'.

Passepartout said:

SCAM,SCAM, SCAM, SCAM!!!! Read this thread. http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=192116&highlight=sister Particularly posts 17 and 66 to see how it works. Brenda's name is different is the only thing. Same $2500 amount and same First American Title (no such thing).

Save your time and trouble. This is not worth pursuing.

Best wishes.

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I will take your advice. But there is a First American Title. http://www.firstam.com/

I will follow this scam through up to a point as this poster suggests
http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1468538&postcount=66

Then I will send all the emails to First American Title and the FBI as well as Yahoo.

t734 said:

I will take your advice. But there is a First American Title. http://www.firstam.com/
Then I will send all the emails to First American Title and the FBI as well as Yahoo.

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There is a First American Financial, and they DO provide title insurance, but they do not provide escrow services for timeshare sales.

One way these scammers stay in business is to have a business name that sounds/looks like a real legit business, but when you follow their provided link, it leads to a spoof of the real site and is in fact controlled by the spammers.

Do a search in a major search engine for the actual business rather than just clicking on a link.

Sorry you have been led to believe these criminals can help you, but their scam is well known and has taken in more than a few.

You may be missing the scam m.o. details here...

t734 said:

I will take your advice. But there is a First American Title. http://www.firstam.com/

I will follow this scam through up to a point as this poster suggests
http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1468538&postcount=66

Then I will send all the emails to First American Title and the FBI as well as Yahoo.

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Yes, there is a legitimate First American Title. In previous scams, the closing entity referenced was Chicago Title, which is also legitimate. It does not matter in either instance, since no title company, real or otherwise, ever actually gets involved at all, directly or indirectly, in this particular scam. It's just carefully orchestrated "name dropping" to try to create a (false and completely unfounded) aura of legitimacy.

At the point in the scam in which you would be requested to send back "refund of overpayment" money (...after having received a completely bogus "excess amount" check from the "buyer"), you would then be requested to send the money directly to the mythical "broker", for alleged "escrow" w/ the closing company. Your (very valid) money never gets that far (i.e., the closing entity is never actually utilized or involved in any way). POOF! Your "refund of overpayment" (real and valid) outgoing money is at that point gone forever; you likely would not have yet learned from your bank that the (phony and invalid) "check" which you previously received from the supposed "buyer" is actually completely worthless.

Be assured that the entities you reference already know of the existence of such long-standing scams.
Be equally assured that they certainly won't waste any of their time, resources or effort to try to chase down "ghosts" who are not even originating or operating their scams from within the U.S. in the first place.

P.S. If you decide to lead the intrepid scammer on for a bit, just for the sheer entertainment of doing so, please let us know if the mythical "broker" is still being named "Samuel Kaplan" --- and please also let us know if Sammy is reportedly attending still another mythical "timeshare convention in Cairo, Egypt". :hysterical:

Minor clarification...

Passepartout said:

There is a First American Financial, and they DO provide title insurance, but they do not provide escrow services for timeshare sales. <snip>

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Actually, affiliated First American Title does provide escrow services for timeshare closings. That being said however, it doesn't really matter at all since the scam depends on funds going directly to the mythical "broker" before ever going to escrow (...escrow which, as it later turns out, never actually happens at all).

Either they are refining the craft or Tuggers are slipping

A 419 offer should be exposed within 3 posts

t734 said:

I will take your advice. But there is a First American Title. http://www.firstam.com/

I will follow this scam through up to a point as this poster suggests
http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1468538&postcount=66

Then I will send all the emails to First American Title and the FBI as well as Yahoo.

Click to expand...

You are misinterpreting my post. After the second or third e-mail I knew full well that it was a scam. For my own pleasure and interest I decided to let it play out to see how it went.

In my post I simply reported how the scamster played it out. I never suggested that anyone do the same.

What I did suggest was that anyone thinking this might be real should try to find exactly which First American the broker is affiliated with and will set up the account. The failure or refusal to provide that info should be enough to show it's a scam. Of course, if that info should be provided the person can always call that office to verify - but not using any number provided by the buyer since the buyer could spoof that call.