Original Message:
Learning how to investigate & prevent timeshare resale related fraud (by J V.):
I spend a lot of time in these forums looking into companies for people, and while I do enjoy doing that I thought it would be useful for those of you who don't know these tricks already to be able to look up the information as well.
I'm going to list off a few simple tactics, and then if anyone has questions feel free to ask (or if you feel I've missed something).
----------1)
The simplest thing you can do is to Google "[company name] + keyword"
The various keywords that will bring up the most information:
A) Complaints
B) Scam
C) Lawsuit
D) Desist (this will bring up either Desist & Refrain orders or Cease & Desist orders).
E) Ripoff
----------2)
See who built the company website. You can do this by visiting Whois.com and searching the URL there. It's a pretty easy to use website, but if you have any questions you can reach out to me. This website will tell you when the website was created, when it was last updated and when it will expire. Most of these companies register their websites through private domain companies that hide their personal information, but if they haven't used one of those companies the website will be registered to someone at the company.
----------3)
Lookup the corporate documents. Find out which state the company claims to be in and Google:
"[state abbreviation here] + business entity search"
The state site with the online database search will be one of the first links (usually the very first link, but not always).
Some state business databases are easier to navigate than others, and some are more transparent than others.
One of the best things you can do is to look up the corporate documents, and find out who the registered agents/officers are, and then search for other companies registered to those people to see if they received any complaints or lawsuits there.
Unfortunately not all states let you search by registered agent/officer name, so this tactic isn't always an option. Also, many companies use attorneys or corporate registered agents, and those are usually dead ends.
----------4)
Research the claims the company makes. Go to their website and see what they claim. If they claim to be a non-profit organization, or if they claim to be real estate brokers, use these tactics to confirm that information to see if they're telling the truth or not. Just like searching for corporate documents all you have to do is Google:
"[state abbreviation] + real estate license search"
or
"[state abbreviation] + non profit registry search"
----------5)
Once you have all of the basic information you should Google that as well. Google the following to see what pops up:
A) Registered agent name
B) Officer names
C) Phone numbers
D) Address
The main reason for this is if they own multiple companies, they'll often times share a lot of this information. Also, many of these companies use virtual offices or mailbox companies, so when you google the address see if it pops up as a virtual office, UPS location, Mailbox Etc or anything along those lines. This means they're not using an actual office to collect mail, which means they're trying to hide their actual location.
----------6)
Red flags:
A) Company has a lot of complaints on the BBB, Ripoff Report, Scamorg, etc.
B) Website was created relatively recently (in the last 12 months).
C) Company was registered relatively recently (in the last 12 months).
D) They use a virtual office or one of the various mailbox services.
E) No information can be just as telling as bad information. If you can't find anything on a company at all that in itself is a red flag.
F) They cold called you. Let's not forget that the biggest red flag in the first place is that a company cold called you regarding your timeshare. I don't care if it's to sell it, rent it, transfer the lease or donate it to charity. If someone calls you in regards to your timeshare there is a 99.9% chance they're going to steal your money, and you'll still be stuck with your timeshare [that statistic is hyperbole, don't take it too literally].
I'll stop there for now. This is by no means a comprehensive list of research tactics, but it's a useful start. I hope this information is helpful, and if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to let me know.