We’ve done so much traveling this past year that we decided to take a break and rent our Marriott Vacation Club timeshare. We selected the Barony Beach facility at Hilton Head in prime season and reserved a two-bedroom, beachfront unit. We then posted its availability on several credible VRBO sites. Several weeks ago, we got a bite from a guy named Thomas Britt claiming to be out of Washington, DC. His company was awarding he and his family a trip incentive, and the corporate vacation planner would make the arrangements. It sounded legit, so I drew up a contract from a legal site with his name, address, and phone number, as provided. The check arrived yesterday. 

He had apologized in advance that the check was for more than the agreed rental because the fees for this planner had been accidentally included by the company. We were to cash the check and forward the balance. The check turned out to be nearly double the rent, so I grew suspicious and went to the fbi.com website:

“Rental scams occur when the victim has rental property advertised and is contacted by an interested party. Once the rental price is agreed-upon, the scammer forwards a check for the deposit on the rental property to the victim. The check is to cover housing expenses and is, either written in excess of the amount required, with the scammer asking for the remainder to be remitted back, or the check is written for the correct amount, but the scammer backs out of the rental agreement and asks for a refund. Since the banks do not usually place a hold on the funds, the victim has immediate access to them and believes the check has cleared. In the end, the check is found to be counterfeit and the victim is held responsible by the bank for all losses.”

I immediately did a Facebook and Linked In search for the renter’s name and the travel agent. Nothing. I then put the name on the check and the Downers Grove, Illinois address into a second search and found a phone number. Luckily, the person answered even though she didn’t recognize the number and could have dismissed my call. I could tell she was very suspicious and when I told her about the check, she was very disturbed. “This has happened before,” she claimed, so she had to go to the trouble of closing her account, including automatic payments and already written checks. What a hassle! I felt sorry for her, but at least we apparently stopped the scan.

I still have the check that will never be cashed but noticed that the return address on its overnight package was from Gold Coast Mall in San Francisco (it doesn’t exist). The scammer’s texts are from a Nashville area code. Unfortunately, there is probably no way to track this guy down. All I could do was cancel our Marriott Vacation Club reservation, moving the points to something else. I probably should have been more proactive earlier in this process but had no reason to be suspicious until the request for a check on the balance. 

Obviously, our first attempt to be a landlord was a bust, but we didn’t get burned. At least, not yet! There are a lot of bad people out there like this criminal. I certainly don’t want to make any threats directly to him because he knows our name, address, and phone number from the rental contract. He (or she, since we’ve had nothing but electronic exchanges), would also probably claim that they knew nothing about this, and that the company they work for was also a victim. I also thought it was interesting that they chose a bank holiday to send the check to us. Be careful!