Many people are trying to unload their timeshares due to the burden of yearly maintenance fees. With today’s constrained economy, these vacation properties are hard to resell. Once the owners become desperate, they become easy victims for timeshare scammers.

The scams are professionally done. Timeshare resellers need to be cautious with who they deal with for these tasks.

Usually, timeshare owners are contacted on phone. They are offered timeshare resale services and are charged a fee for the transaction. The seller needs to pay upfront to facilitate the sale. Once the funds are transferred, the service provider is never to be heard of again.

If that’s not enough, scam artists come around for another call. This time, a lawyer contacts the owner, promising that they can get the money back. Again, to provide the service, the lawyer asks a retainer fee. Once the fee is transferred, the money is lost again.

Whenever you deal with timeshare resellers, please double check their name with the Better Business Bureau before you pay anything.