The Better Business Bureau has listed timeshare resellers as one of the top ten scams of 2010.

The secondary market for timeshares has been infamous for being plagued by resale scams. Scammers contact timeshare owners, promising to help them sell their property. They tell the owners that they have a buyer, but they need an upfront fee to complete the sale. Once the upfront transaction has been done, the scammers walk away.

BBB says that the best way to avoid these scams is to never pay any upfront or advance fees.

BBB says that complaints regarding the timeshare industry increased by more than 40% last year. Timeshare owners who become desperate to sell their property can be easily deceived by these resale scams, which gives the industry a bad name.