Scam firms emailing ECC clients from suspect domains. TAC advice on how to avoid falling victim to cyber criminals
Email out of the blue
This week, a Timeshare Advice Centre (TAC) client, whose case was completed several months ago, forwarded us a suspicious email. It claimed to be from one of our marketing brands (mytimeshareclaim.com) and asked for a phone call. Thankfully, the client trusted their instincts and rang us to check first, avoiding what appears to be a timeshare claim email scam warning in action.
The sender, identifying himself as ‘Raymond Lowen’, used the address mytimeshareclaim@legislator.com. This is not an email address used by MyTimeshareClaim or any other TAC brand. If you’re asking is legislator.com a scam email domain, this is a clear example of how it can be used to imitate reputable organisations.
The MyTimeshareClaim brand uses the domain: @mytimeshareclaim.co.uk.
Nobody called Raymond Lowen works at MyTimeshareClaim.
Tricky scams
“For anyone not familiar with this type of internet scam, it’s important to be wary of emails you weren’t expecting,” warns Suzanne Stojanovic, spokesperson for TAC. “Not only from people claiming to contact you from one of our brands, but more generally too — from your bank, HMRC, or any other large organisation.”
“The usual pattern is that they try to get you on the phone — a suspicious email asking for a phone call — and then ask you for money for an invented reason. For example, an ‘unpaid fee’ or a ‘tax that needs to be paid’.”
“Sometimes they are more subtle and ask for personal details, which can later be used to access your accounts or apply for credit in your name.”
“The golden rule is: if they email you and then ask for money, or they push for a call, tell them you will call them back instead. Then check the official website and ring the main published number (whether they claim to be us, your bank, or anyone else), and ask for that person by name.”
“This is one of the simplest ways of how to verify a company email address and confirm whether the person genuinely works there — or is impersonating someone.”
Legislator.com
This particular email to an ECC client used the address mytimeshareclaim@legislator.com — the type of setup commonly seen in a legislator.com email scam. The domain name sounds official, as if it might relate to law or even government, but in reality it’s a free-to-use public email domain (similar to Gmail or Hotmail).
Anyone can create a legislator.com address without identity checks. The domain is widely used by scammers.
If you receive an email from this domain claiming to be an organisation that matters to you (for example, Barclays@legislator.com, HMRC@legislator.com or TimeshareAdviceCentre@legislator.com), do not engage with it, reply to it, or agree to speak by phone. Do not share personal information or send money.
The internet is full of reports of scammers using this domain name. Treat any legislator.com address with extreme caution — including messages like the mytimeshareclaim@legislator.com scam.
Scammers and timeshare
Sadly, the timeshare industry has traditionally attracted people operating on the edge of the law, alongside those with no moral reservations about lies, theft and fraud.
As timeshare has largely been consigned to the scrapheap in Europe, with many major resorts no longer focusing on new member sales, some former bad actors have moved into related scams.
Timeshare resales and fake claims firms can provide an easy route for fraudsters to profit from existing knowledge and old contact lists. Some even target former victims again.
Fortunately, there are practical ways to protect yourself. Genuine firms can often be separated from fraudsters by following straightforward steps — in other words, how to spot scam email domains and how to avoid phishing email scams in the wider process of checking who you are dealing with:
- Check online reviews carefully. Don’t just count 4 and 5-star ratings — read the poor reviews too. Every company makes mistakes; what matters is how they respond and whether they try to put things right.
- Look for audited video reviews from genuine customers.
- See what the media has to say about them.
- Use Companies House to check how long they have been trading. Fraudulent companies often change names and addresses after only a short time.
- Confirm whether they have a professional physical office address that you can visit in person or verify by video call.
For excellent advice on researching claims firms, visit the Timeshare Trust website.
Contact us whenever you want
If you’re unsure what to do if you get a scam email, you can always contact TAC to check. You can email us, call us, video call us or open a chat window. Our main contact details are listed on this page.
You can also visit our offices if you are nearby — or speak to us on Zoom if you’re not.
