It seems as though there is a new player in the game of scamming innocent timeshare owners into purchasing help to move their timeshares. Action Services International, or ASI, has been recently noted to be cold-calling individuals who own timeshares, and offering to assist the owners in selling their timeshares. What happens on this phone call, and what should you been looking out for? The agent(s) performing the cold-call will generally invite the owner to Spain to partake in legal action against the company which owns their timeshare on something called a “no-win, no-fee” basis. Subsequently, the individual would then be offered another service, this one referred to as a “disposal service,” which would buy-out the timeshare for an upfront fee. If the trip to Spain for legal action wasn’t something to be cautious about already, the upfront fee certainly is.

Tellows user mmj reported number 01474607608 and shared her experience with us:

Told that I was a former owner of time share and so was entitled to a week’s holiday for 6 anywhere in the world accomodation only but had to agree within 3 days and pay up front.

With any agency such as this, whether or not they are marketing a timeshare or any other piece of personal property, an upfront fee is not an industry standard, and allows the company to profit from you without helping you.

Be wary of how you interact with these companies, because if it is a scam, you may spend the money without even moving the timeshare from your name. When this happens to an someone, that individual still owes yearly dues on the timeshare, even though they spent the money to the scamming company to remove them.

It can get very annoying, tellows user angry man has reported number 01229346001 as a harrasment call and commented:

This is a Timeshare resale scam, asking prospective customers to part with their money as a ‘Retainer’ before they sell their timeshare or holiday club membership to them.

Unfortunately, this occurs more than you may think. This sentiment is mirrored by Alberto Garcia, the director of Mindtimeshare, a consumer association in Spain that represents victims of fraud such as this. He mentions that there are numerous cases where the “disposal fee” is paid, and the timeshare is never removed from the owner’s name. Fortunately, many timeshare companies are now changing their regulations in order to combat fraud such as this, in an effort to protect their customers. It is important that timeshare owners contact their representative companies first before seeking third-party assistance in marketing such assets.