scammed on a rental by "Frand24"

Just wanted to put a warning out there. I was looking to rent a week at a Disney villa at end of March and put an ad on the Redwishes. I was contacted by a "Frand24", also going by Angelia "Fran" Richardson that she had a reservation for that week at Wilderness Lodge she would sell. I emailed back and forth a little, called and spoke with her, and searched the Florida title records. It all seemed legit. An Angelia Richardson does own a DVC timeshare. I sent half the funds. I attempted to confirm the reservation with DVC but they would not answer any questions to a non-owner. "Fran" instructed me to call the main Disney resort number, and they did confirm a reserved 2BR Wilderness Lodge villa in my name for the dates in question. I sent the rest of the money. Subsequently I got a bill for >$9000 from Disney for the rental. I contacted "Fran" and she told me something about she was switching the reservation from retail to her timeshare - sounded bogus but by that time she had my money. She said I would get the confirmation sent by FedEx 1/23. I got nothing, and now she does not answer/return emails or phone calls from me for past week. Today I got a warning from Redweek.com about multiple complaints about her.

Looks like I'm out the money. I lodged complaints with PayPal for the transactions but have heard this will not likely amount to much. Just want to put the warning out there. Scott

OMG, this person should be jailed. You did everything right involving the rental. It's too bad that Disney wouldn't give out the information you asked for. I would certainly contact Disney about this individual.

Surely there is some recourse for you as I would think Paypal has a fraud department like banks do. I would go to the ends of the earth to see that that person is prosecuted.

I was reading in our local newspaper about all the new scams popping up in this bad economy ..... be very careful everyone.

...... so what's new...? Just another 'Florida Fraudster'....

This is horrible!

Is there a way for a potential renter to check with Redweek.com to see if any complaints have been filed against a personal person. I have multiple listings on redweek and it can be reassuring to someone that redweek has never received any complaint!

I also ask renters to check out references by contacting people who has rented from me before.

That's horrible. I've only rented at the Westin in Ka'anapali but they happily confirmed my owners reservations. Both people I rented from were outstanding.

This burns me up as a Premier Owner, It make the honest legitimate owners look bad. However, I can understand why renters are parannoid. I have been renting my units with PayPal with no problems, but recently had someone wanting to use an Escrow Acct Comp. I had never done this escrow. So I told them no. When I rent MY UNITS, I want to handle my own money. I don't like a third party holding my money until 2 weeks after the vacations weeks are over. It stinks. The renter checked my rating with Redweek, and was told there were no complaints against me. But she insisted on using escrow and I repeated "NO". I lost the rental, but I see why they are so afraid of getting scammed......

For the nervous renter that wants to use escrow for safety and spend anywhere from $100-$200. I would recommend go ahead and just rent from the resort because after all the money for rent and escrow you probably could just rent the week and it is safe.

There are good deals on these forums but bottom line in most cases for and extra $200 you can rent directly from resorts.

If the scams keep growing on these forums and I mean all of them not just Redweek more families will play it safe and call the resort.

As a owner who has offered my timeshare two times on Redweek without a offer I have rented from a resort and also had 2007 unit rented by the resort and it is much safer for all.

The one big difference I see is you rent from resort and you pay more(safe) and like a hotel you get what ever they give you for the week.

With a owner you in many cases have a building or size or view you want at the resort.

This is why there are choices for vacations.

PHILL12

I agree totallylesb. This scam or any, makes honest owners look bad and makes it more difficult to rent because potential renters are becoming frightened. When I rent from or to, when making a reservation I tell them the resort requires name, address, telephone # and ID at check-in. Also e mail. Moreover, I give my name, address and telephone # & e mail. If they want to go through escrow I send a rental agreement in writing. This is a legal document and the person can then be sued for fraud and the police contacted. The resort can't give out information but they can confirm information you already have. I learn so much from these forums. Thank you. patricia gayle

Does Redweek keep any kind of log that we (as renters) can check to see if owners have had complaints?

hey quaker, I see that you must rent several weeks, I am looking for way to reduce my maintence fees, or just sell but rather rent if it is legit, i have over 700000 pts deeded at bali hai on kauai it is wyndhams lowest resort for maintence fees, however if i new i could book a couple of units with wyndham and then rent them it would really help on the fees, my question to you is do you have any pointers or ideas for someone new at this? thanks for any help