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Talking of Timeshares …..

Timeshare Resort Under Fire For Not Paying Taxes.

A large timeshare company based in India is under the spotlight for Supposedly not paying their taxes to the department of Excise and Taxation. Officials at the Indian department have accused the timeshare resort of not paying their taxes in the state where their head offices are located, but not paying taxes for where their resorts are operating.

The Excise and Taxation Department have served a recovery notice on the resort In question and accused them of tax evasion. The tax has been calculated as per minimum rental occupancy, but taxes … Read more

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The ICO fines Facebook over Cambridge Analytica Scandal

The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) has upheld a symbolic £500,000 fine it handed to Facebook in July. The fine was issued to Facebook in response to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, concerning harvesting users’ data.

The ICO stated in its notice of penalty that data from at least one million British users was Unjustly processed and Facebook had failed to take appropriate technical and organisational measures against it. The fine is the maximum amount allowed under the Data Protection Act 1998.

In a statement a Facebook spokesperson said: “We are grateful that the ICO has acknowledged our full cooperation throughout … Read more

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£21 Million Lost To Computer Software Service Fraud

£21 Million Lost To Computer Software Service Fraud
Action Fraud have launched a new campaign to warn people about Computer Software service Fraud. It is one of the UK’s top five most reported types of fraud. In 2017/18, over 22,000 people have reported being scammed and the total loss combined is £21 Million.

Action Fraud received 22,609 reports from members of the public, concerning Computer Software Service Fraud and a total of £21,365,360 being stolen by scammers. Action Fraud report the average age of a victim is 63 and people living in London and Bristol are most likely … Read more

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Timeshare Owners Sue Marriott Vacations

Ritz Carlton Timeshare Club members are bringing a mass action claim to a federal judge. The claim alleges Marriott Vacations caused the value of Ritz-Carlton Club members’ deeded units to decline and, in some cases, owners lost up to 90% in the value of their timeshares at the resort. Owners claim that an affiliation between Marriott Vacations Worldwide and Ritz-Carlton Destination Club, which allowed Marriott members to trade one week at the Ritz-Carlton Club in Aspen Highlands with points-based members of the Marriott Vacation Club, caused the value of their investments to sink. Ritz Carlton Club was sold to owners … Read more

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Westgate Resorts Hitting The Headlines Again

Westgate resorts has been hitting the headlines again recently with yet more unhappy timeshare owners speaking out. A new lawsuit against the timeshare giant claims the resort is selling timeshare units in dream locations, but when owners go to book there is nothing available.Westgate resorts are well known for their high pressured sales tactics and unfair practices, but what this lawsuit alleges is quite shocking. It says that Westgate is deliberately selling timeshares to customers over and over again. So if a customer books a specific week at a Westgate resort each year, this week has actually been sold multiple
… Read more
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Tesco Fined £16.4 Million Over Cyber Attack

The Financial Conduct Authority has handed down a massive fine to the supermarket bank following a cyber-attack In November 2016. The attack did not result in any theft or loss of personal customers data, but did lead to 34 transactions where funds were debited from personal accounts and millions were stolen.

Tesco bank is the financial arm of one of the UK’s largest supermarket chains and holds 5.6 million customer bank accounts.

The FCA says that Tesco failed to protect its customers and is holding the bank accountable for its lapse in risk management. This is the first time the … Read more

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Brits are exposing themselves to email hackers

A new report, released by UK General Insurance and Cyber Aware UK, has revealed that 79% of Brits keep emails stored in their inboxes, these emails could be at risk of hackers looking to steal their ID and financial information. Cyber Aware is warning the public to use a strong separate password for their main email account.

The report detailed how 51% of the public are holding on to e-receipts, which can reveal purchase history. It also stated that 34% of people keep sensitive messages from loved ones and 35% of people store personal photos of friends and family. This … Read more

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Another timeshare scam in the US.

A real estate company in the US is warning consumers and real estate brokers about a Burst of recent timeshare scams. The scammers are cold-calling timeshare owners claiming to be from a Legal real estate agency and offering timeshare sales and exit services for timeshares owners.

The scammers have been falsely representing themselves as home sales agents working for a legitimate firm, even going as far as to use their real estate license number and address.

The scammer will then offer to sell the victims timeshare, explaining how they have many clients ready to purchase timeshares at a reasonable price. … Read more

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Do you have a PCP car finance agreement ?

The Financial Conduct Authority announced back in 2017 that they were investigating the motor financing industry, to ensure that consumers were not being caused harm, to understand how finance products were sold and, to see if the market is functioning as well as it could be. In March, the FCA published an update of this review, setting out the areas of concern that they have highlighted for further investigation. One of those areas is PCP or Personal Contract Purchase.

And finance experts are eagerly anticipating the publication of the FCA’s findings. If the FCA rule the sales processes employed … Read more

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Sold a timeshare, but it’s impossible to use.

A family from Missouri spent over $10,000 on a timeshare, they say, they have never been able to use. The timeshare was sold to them as a one week every year in their favourite location with Westgate Resorts. The sales rep told them that using their resort would be astonishingly easy and so they decided to sign up, thinking they were getting a great deal for $10,000.

This was over 5 years ago and, every year, they have paid their maintenance fees, which have now reached nearly $900 a year. Despite this, the family have never been able … Read more

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