One downside of having a good business reputation is that scam artists will try to use it to their advantage.

We have discovered that someone has downloaded one of our forms from our website and is using it to pose as an employee of Chicago Title. He (a “Mr. Hazard”) is calling timeshare owners to tell them he has a buyer for their timeshare, and they just need to send him money for the outstanding maintenance fees or taxes via Western Union Moneygram or “Money in Minutes.” He uses one of our firm’s forms to solicit the funds, and may have forged fake identification to pose as Joseph E. Seagle. He then uses that fake identification to retrieve the funds via any Western Union outlet. He is in no way affiliated with our firm nor Chicago Title.

Police have been notified, and we plan to prosecute this scam artist to the full extent of the law. However, we have been informed that we are not the “victim” in this case, so there is little that law enforcement can do from our end.

If anyone contacts you, stating they are in any way affiliated with or using our law firm (or one of our title companies (PCS Title, PCS Holdings, or CloseMyTimeshare.com), please do not send them any money nor deposit or cash any check that appears to come from our firm until you first contact us at the phone numbers provided on our website to verify that they are in fact associated with our firm.

We never send nor receive funds via Western Union, EVER.

If you have sent money through this scam (usually perpetrated on Friday evenings so you can’t call and confirm that we are to receive any funds), please contact Western Union and file a consumer complaint, then file a police report with your local police or sheriff’s department. They will then investigate the case with the local law enforcement agency where the funds were retrieved to obtain the necessary evidence to catch this thief.

If you want more information about timeshare resale scams, please visit the Timeshare Resale Resource Center on the ARDA-ROC website for more information. For more information on Internet computer crimes in general, please visit www.ic3.gov where you may file a complaint as well.