It’s bad enough to be ripped off by fraudulent business practices and outright scams, but many victims who’ve already lost money to timeshare resale or investment scams are often targeted by fraudsters, promising to recoup the victims’ losses for an upfront
fee. Consumers across the United States have filed complaints with Business Consumer Alliance (“BCA”) against Consumer Advocate Services Enterprises
(“C.A.S.E.”), an advance fee recovery scheme operating out of Long Beach, CA. Consumers claim the company virtually disappears after collecting their fees and fails to fulfill their promises.
C.A.S.E. claims to be a consumer advocate whose mission is to help individuals obtain refunds from companies who have committed fraud or any type of misleading business practice. Their main focus is timeshare transfers, but they also claim to provide fraud
protection and investment recovery. They
guarantee timeshare owners will be relieved of their timeshare in less than a year, in some cases within 180 days.
Consumers receive unsolicited calls from C.A.S.E. representatives asking if they have ever been scammed or claiming to know the consumer is a victim of a scam. For an upfront fee plus commission upon recovery, C.A.S.E. offers to recoup the consumer’s money
by reporting fraud to financial institutions, filing complaints on their behalf with state and federal agencies, preparing demand letters, and legal action.
Regrettably, consumers who trust C.A.S.E.’s promises in hopes of recovering their losses are left with even lighter wallets. Complainants allege that after paying C.A.S.E. their fee, typically $1,500 to $15,000, they are no longer able to reach their representatives
and nothing further is done to fulfill promised services. Attempts to reach C.A.S.E. for status updates, to ask questions, request refunds, or for general customer service are unsuccessful. Most recently, consumers who call reach a recording indicating that
no one is available and there is no way to leave a message because the voicemail box is full. The business hasn’t been responsive to complaints
either and is F rated by BCA.
According to the
FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule, it is against the law for someone to ask for or accept payment until seven business days after they deliver the money they’ve recovered for you. So, what can you do to avoid losing your money in a recovery scam?
Kim’s Advice: Scammers often sell lists of consumers known to have already fallen for some type of scam and criminals contact the victims in an attempt to sell them false hope that they will recover their loss. Don’t trust anyone cold calling
you, offering to recover money for an upfront fee, no matter how sincere and convincing they may sound.
It’s a good rule of thumb to guard your personal information at all times. Never provide information to anyone unless you are sure of who they are, why they need the information, and what they will do with it. That includes giving out your credit/debit card
number or banking information. Anytime you’re considering doing business with or using the services of any company, check them out first with BCA. And, as always, if it sounds too good to be true,
it probably is.
BCA provides multiple no-cost services to the public, from
filing complaints and providing reports, to researching offers and issuing
scam alerts. Check out the many benefits available for
consumers and
businesses.
About the Author:
Kim Burge is Business Consumer Alliance’s Vice President of Business Practices. She has over 22 years of experience at BCA, working in various departments. Kim has extensive knowledge with investigating the trends for a broad spectrum of business industries,
evaluating business background information, and counseling companies to improve their business practices. She is insightful of consumer rights and assists government agencies and law enforcement with their investigations to protect consumers from fraudulent
activity. For media inquiries, Kim may be reached by phone at (909) 835-6094.
About Business Consumer Alliance:
Business Consumer Alliance (BCA) is a non-profit company that started in 1936. The broad purpose of BCA is to promote business self-regulation. BCA's mission is achieved by assisting consumers in resolving complaints with businesses and using that complaint
information, along with other relevant information such as customer reviews, to forecast business reliability. With community support, BCA can identify trustworthy and ethical businesses and warn the public to avoid unscrupulous businesses whose purpose is
to defraud the marketplace. BCA also helps businesses promote themselves by providing services and tools to protect their business and reach out to their customers. BCA obtains its funding from member businesses who support the mission and purpose of the organization
and who agree to abide by high standards of ethical business practices.