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Original Message:
Re: Beware - Another Scam? (by Jim R.):
I've seen this scam a few times before - it takes advantage of people trying to sale their timeshare by responding to their online ads. It sounds like a fake check scam (https://www.onguardonline.gov/articles/0002d-fake-check-scams).
This is how the scam works
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- The Buyer gets the Seller (Victim) to agree verbally or in writing
- Claims to really trust them
- Sends a check to the Victim (which is more than the price offered for the timeshare to the Victim)
- Says they for some reason can't pay their broker (or someone else), but wants the Victim to get the money as soon as possible
- Convinces the Victim to pay someone via wire or other unretrievable method
- Then as the FTC says, "The check is no good, even though it appears to be a legitimate cashier’s check. ...[if you] wire the money, your bank would soon learn that the check was a fake. And you’re out the money because the money you wired can’t be retrieved, and you’re responsible for the checks you deposit — even though you don’t know they’re fake." See http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0159-fake-checks
Jim Robertson, esq.