Post reply

Beware - Another Scam? (by Diana K.):

Was just contacted by a Beatrice Farmer regarding her interest in making an offer on my timeshare at San Luis Bay Inn:

<Thanks for the details. Having reviewed all the information provided, I have made my offer as clearly as possible below.

1- I will be willing to pay $3,000 for your timeshare, closing will commence within the next few days.

2- I am hearing impaired in both ears and as a result, I will doing all closing formalities through my broker. I will be responsible for the closing cost and title transfer fees along with my broker fees.

3- Closing will be done through First American title transfer ( www.firstam.com/title) and funds will be held in Escrow during closing.

Let me know if this works and I will inform you on the next step.

Sincerely, Beatrice Farmer>

I figured this was a scam and gave her a higher figure for my timeshare, and the above is how she replied. When I contacted someone at First American Title, I was told this was a scam that had surfaced about a year ago, and now seems to making a comeback. I've since asked if there's anywhere I can report this. I also asked "Beatrice" for information about her broker to see what other response I get, and made it clear that I'm not paying anything in advance.

Unfortunately I fell for a sale scam last year, though I at least have the satisfaction of knowing that the perpetrators were caught. Still, it's discouraging, since we almost lost our home to foreclosure and can no longer afford maintenance fees on the timeshare.