BY CONNIE BEZEREDI
Timeshare resale fraud has become increasingly prevalent with unsolicited contact by someone claiming to have a buyer for your timeshare or to be a representative of a company specializing in finding buyers in the U.S. or Canada for your Mexico timeshare. These unsolicited contacts are likely fraudsters.
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I receive many telephone calls every week from people asking questions about paying taxes on their timeshare resale. The conversation usually starts out with a couple of questions regarding taxes but upon further probing, the story unfolds and ultimately is the same for every person calling. There are threats of jail time when crossing the border, appearing in court in Mexico or some other threat if you don’t pay your taxes upfront before receiving your proceeds from the resale of your timeshare.
Do not trust them.
Do not send money.
Do not heed their threats.
Do not follow their instructions.
Do not communicate further.
You may also have been solicited because you are told there is a lawsuit against the timeshare company and/or a judgment was rendered and you will be receiving money and damages or the timeshare company lied to you and you are going to get your money back. To receive your money, you have to pay the tax or capital gains tax on your timeshare. You may have believed you have spoken to an attorney in Mexico or the USA or Canada representing the case or a tax representative of SAT in Mexico. These people and their documents are false. You do not need to pay a tax on a timeshare resale or have a tax ID number or permit or license to sell your timeshare if the sale of the timeshare is actually legitimate.
If it’s too good to be true, run and don’t communicate further.
