Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona is warning of “Timeshare Reseller” scams- which have been ubiquitous since the housing crash in 2008.

“There are almost endless variations of timeshare resale fraud,” warns Kim States, BBB president. “Timeshare owners need to be wary of companies promising to market and sell properties on their behalf.

Detect fraud red flags:

• Upfront Payments: Be cautious of advance fees. Opt for a company that charges fees only after the property is sold.
• Cash or Wire Transfer Only: Scammers will oftentimes demand that buyers pay with cash or wire transfer so that it makes it next to impossible to get the money back. Use a credit card so that it’s easier to dispute the charges.
• Failure to Disclose Information: Watch out for unlicensed companies and ones that refuse to provide a phone number or address.
• Unqualified Guarantees: Be wary of “money-back” guarantees and promises that a timeshare can be sold within a certain period of time.
• High Pressure: Ask companies to provide paperwork. Get all promises, fees and obligations in writing. Don’t be pressured; think it over and seek advice from an unbiased legal professional.

Check with BBB for complaints and alerts, or visit www.tucson.bbb.org for more consumer news and tips.

Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona is alerting consumers to a scam artist- posing as a BBB employee- who is calling consumers around the country from a Vail, Ariz. phone number claiming to be administering sweepstakes winnings.

BBB was alerted by a Florida consumer this morning to calls being made from 520-762-4222, by a woman who claims to be an employee of BBB. The caller is telling consumers that they have won a sweepstakes, and that BBB is acting as an “agent” to deliver the winnings to them.

An employee of the local BBB called the Tucson number, which was answered by a woman who identified herself as “Darlene Reed with the Better Business Bureau.” When the BBB employee identified himself as being with the real BBB and confronted the woman about the phone calls, she became argumentative and continued to maintain that she was from the Better Business Bureau before hanging up.

Perpetrators of this scam will often call consumers claiming to be with a legitimate agency claiming that the consumer has won a lottery or a sweepstakes. They tell potential victims that a check will be sent and that they should wire a portion of that check to a specific location in order to claim the bogus prize money.

BBB will never contact consumers about lottery, sweepstakes, or prize winnings. BBB does not conduct sweepstakes, and will never act as an agent in administering money to a consumer.

If you receive a similar call from a local number, please record the number and what is said during the call and contact BBB at (520)888-5353, or email info@tucson.bbb.org.

A disabled maintenance worker from Missouri said thieves tricked her into giving them $3,000 after they told her she won two multimillion-dollar sweepstakes prizes,  Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona is reporting.

The woman is just among the latest victims of sweepstakes scams that have cheated consumers nationwide out of millions of dollars in recent years, BBB warns.

Kim States, BBB President, said the tragic case illustrates what can happen when people put too much trust in strangers.

“All of us dream about winning the lottery or a sweepstakes prize,” States said. “But in the vast majority of cases, these prize notifications are nothing more than attempts to steal money from unsuspecting consumers.”

In addition to losing $3,000 in the sweepstakes scams, the Missouri woman said she is struggling to pay off a $1,300 cell phone bill – most of that resulting from charges for nearly 100 phone calls from the Jamaica-based thief. During one three-day period in late June the scammer called her 66 times.

The woman, who took early disability retirement two years ago from the University City school district, said she initially ignored calls to her cell and home phones telling her that she was winner of a $7 million sweepstakes.

Eventually, she spoke to a man who convinced her that she had won the prize. Over the next several weeks, the woman sent her mentally disabled daughter to area supermarkets in order to send cash via (more…)