{"id":69779,"date":"2013-01-31T16:53:41","date_gmt":"2013-01-31T20:53:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ewmrealestate.com\/blog\/?p=69779"},"modified":"2019-04-23T20:49:22","modified_gmt":"2019-04-23T20:49:22","slug":"scammers-find-twist-on-old-timeshare-resale-trick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ewmrealestate.com\/blog\/scammers-find-twist-on-old-timeshare-resale-trick\/","title":{"rendered":"Scammers find twist on old timeshare-resale trick"},"content":{"rendered":"

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. \u2013 Jan. 31, 2013 \u2013 Travis Young got ripped off by a company that claimed it would unload his timeshare for a price.<\/p>\n

Then a scammer called with a new twist on the old con.<\/p>\n

\u201cJohn Anthony\u201d told Young that he worked for the fraud unit at the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) and would get Young\u2019s money back.<\/p>\n

The catch? Young had to wire $390 to the state for lawyers\u2019 fees.<\/p>\n

Instead, Young called the Florida Attorney General\u2019s Office and the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. He learned the department has no fraud unit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always heard and read that you shouldn\u2019t send money by wire transfer,\u201d said Young, 35, who lives in Tennessee.<\/p>\n

The department is warning consumers that people posing as state employees are contacting timeshare owners and trying to part them from their money. Officials received a handful of calls Tuesday, all citing the same scam, and sent out an alert to notify the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not sure if they\u2019re telemarketers or outright scammers,\u201d said Sandi Poreda, a spokeswoman for the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.<\/p>\n

In the latest ruse, \u201cJohn Anthony\u201d leaves a message and a return number with a Tallahassee area code. When consumers call back, they get an answering machine that says, \u201cHello. You\u2019ve reached the desk of John Anthony with the Florida Department of Business Regulation. I\u2019m sorry I\u2019m not able to answer your call right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

At least one complainant said \u201cAnthony\u201d and someone named \u201cJohn Dees\u201d telephoned him. Anthony claimed to be the director of the agency and asked for $340 to recover $3,000 the man had lost in a time-share-refund scam, department records show.<\/p>\n

No one by either name works at the department, officials said. The scammer also left out the word \u201cprofessional\u201d in the name of the agency.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnthony\u201d has requested a few hundred dollars from some people and as much as $1,000 from others, according to the complaints, which started arriving Tuesday.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear how the caller is locating potential victims, but Young suspects that a timeshare-resale company he previously did business with passed along his name. It\u2019s also possible that \u201cAnthony\u201d is with the fraudulent company, the department said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir sales pitch is all a big lie,\u201d Young said.<\/p>\n

If consumers receive calls from people claiming to work for the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, the agency advises:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Avoid giving out personal or financial information.<\/p>\n

\u2022 If you have given out your information, call your local law-enforcement agency.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Report telemarketers to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services at 800-435-7352 or freshfromflorida.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2013 The Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, Fla.), Susan Jacobson. Distributed by MCT Information Services<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. \u2013 Jan. 31, 2013 \u2013 Travis Young got ripped off by a company that claimed it would unload his timeshare for a price. Then a scammer called with a new twist on the old con. \u201cJohn Anthony\u201d told Young that he worked for the fraud unit at the Florida Department of Business and<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5437,"featured_media":130092,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_expiration-date-status":"","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[]},"categories":[11767],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nScammers find twist on old timeshare-resale trick - BHHS EWM Realty<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ewmrealestate.com\/blog\/scammers-find-twist-on-old-timeshare-resale-trick\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Scammers find twist on old timeshare-resale trick - BHHS EWM Realty\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"TALLAHASSEE, Fla. \u2013 Jan. 31, 2013 \u2013 Travis Young got ripped off by a company that claimed it would unload his timeshare for a price. Then a scammer called with a new twist on the old con. \u201cJohn Anthony\u201d told Young that he worked for the fraud unit at the Florida Department of Business andRead More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ewmrealestate.com\/blog\/scammers-find-twist-on-old-timeshare-resale-trick\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"BHHS EWM Realty\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EWMRealtyInternational\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-31T20:53:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-04-23T20:49:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ewmrealestate.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/BHHS-On-Solid-Background.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"376\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"376\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Debra Spadafora\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Debra Spadafora\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ewmrealestate.com\/blog\/scammers-find-twist-on-old-timeshare-resale-trick\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ewmrealestate.com\/blog\/scammers-find-twist-on-old-timeshare-resale-trick\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Debra Spadafora\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ewmrealestate.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9980000bb662aff02a03bbf507c06833\"},\"headline\":\"Scammers find twist on old timeshare-resale trick\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-31T20:53:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-04-23T20:49:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ewmrealestate.com\/blog\/scammers-find-twist-on-old-timeshare-resale-trick\/\"},\"wordCount\":458,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ewmrealestate.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"EWM News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ewmrealestate.com\/blog\/scammers-find-twist-on-old-timeshare-resale-trick\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ewmrealestate.com\/blog\/scammers-find-twist-on-old-timeshare-resale-trick\/\",\"name\":\"Scammers find twist on old timeshare-resale trick - 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