I initially posted about this scam two years ago. I just received the same scam call, and I need to remind you to be on the lookout and be ready once again. They were tempting 2 years ago, and they had me thinking about the possibility of earning some extra cash then. This time I interrupted the speech, told him I knew it was a scam, and was disappointed they were still at it.
If you don’t answer their call, they will probably leave you a message telling you that you have unused certificates with Interval International that they want to talk to you about. Marriott Owners are familiar with Abound, but Interval? Well, if you are like me, I don’t use them that much, and yes, I think I might have some certificates that I haven’t used.
Two years ago I got such a message and I called them back. He verified our phone number and “looked up our account”. He said that instead of using our bonus certificates which expired by the end of the year, they would like to use them for corporate events. They would in turn let us keep part of the revenue received for renting them. We would get $1700 minus the $299 fee to reserve the certificate. No touching our points or properties — just using my bonus week certificates to help with the corporate event. I hung up without paying the fee, but I’ll admit I was tempted. I immediately called Interval directly, and they assured me they would NEVER contact anyone asking them to send them money. It is against their rules to even rent or give away the certificates.
In the past few years I have heard from hundreds of owners who received similar phone calls. Most thanked me for warning them – as they read my post and didn’t fall for the snare. But unfortunately, some fell prey to their tactics and lost some good money.
Now . . . . . two years later they are still at it. They are more sly and sophisticated. Their caller ID listed “Membership Services”. The details might be a bit different, but the process is the same. Pay them money to allow them to use the certificates and they promise to repay us with more money – NOT!!!
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I just received a call from Paul Catineau of Toptravellocations.com at 888-273-4690. He offered to sell six weeks of my Interval International Getaways for $1800 per week. To cover the interval costs, I would have to pay $399 per week upfront. This sounds like what you described. I am not going to do this. Is there any way to report this?
We have reported it many times. It’s easy for them to change the number, name of company calling, etc. and keep scamming. Glad you decided not to do it. Some aren’t so lucky.