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Letting agency demanding money for simply viewing a property

The BBC programme Victoria Derbyshire has found that a letting agency has been demanding hundreds of pounds from prospective tenants to view properties for rent. The agency in question is Flintons in London and, so far, they have denied all these allegations, but these practices breach guidelines and could be unlawful.

Despite denying the allegations, several of Flintons clients told the BBC programme they were told by estate agents that they would receive a refund if they did not want to take a tenancy agreement on the property they were viewing, but, when they did request refunds, were told the … Read more

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Hundreds of customers locked out of accounts on Black Friday !

HSBC customers looking to grab a bargain on Black Friday had a nasty shock when they learned that they were locked out of their bank accounts. The HSBC mobile banking system went down last Friday, at the height of the Black Friday sales. It was unfortunate timing for shoppers, who needed to use their online banking apps to take advantage of the Black Friday deals. It is also bad timing, as MP’s announce they are investigating banks and the numerous IT failures reported this year.

Last month, HSBC online banking went down, leaving customers locked out of their bank accounts. … Read more

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Action Fraud launch new campaign to fight festive fraud

Action Fraud have launched a new campaign to remind the public to be extra vigilant over the Christmas period when shopping for gifts online. Fraudsters looking to take advantage of shoppers, are luring them in with promises of great deals and big savings.

Over the Christmas period last year, fraudsters conned 15,024 shoppers out of more than £11 million and fraudsters are using social media and online auction sites to target people. Action Fraud say that mobile phones were the most common item that people tried to buy from fraudsters. Victims reported being hooked in with bargain deals on popular … Read more

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RCI and Bluegreen Vacations Renew Partnership

The worldwide leader in vacation exchange membership, RCI, and Bluegreen Vacations have renewed their ongoing partnership. Bluegreen Vacations operate over 60 vacation resorts throughout the US, which will continue to be part of the RCI programme and exchange network. Bluegreen resorts are located across the United States and Caribbean in destinations including Orlando, Myrtle Beach, Aspen, Las Vegas and New York City.

Famous Rhodes, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Bluegreen Vacations said: “Bluegreen is a company built on the strength of its long-term relationships, as such we are very excited about the renewal of this longstanding partnership … Read more

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Major Data Breach at Amazon

Just two days before Black Friday launched, Amazon has suffered a major data breach, which caused customer names and email addresses to be disclosed on its website. Amazon has emailed the customers affected, but has refused to say how many customers were affected. Amazon say this is not a breach of the website’s security or any of its systems, but a technical issue, that led to customers names and email addresses being posted.

Amazon said: “We have fixed the issue and informed customers who may have been impacted.”

Customers who received an email were told: “Our website inadvertently disclosed … 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 purposefully 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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£6.1 Million a year lost to courier fraud

Fraudsters posing as police officers and bank officials have stolen over £6.1 million over the past year. The scams directly target elderly and vulnerable people, they call victims claiming that their bank account is at risk from fraudsters. These despicable and elaborate crimes have been dubbed ‘Courier Fraud’ and in most cases, they involve a victim being tricked into giving out their personal information or pin numbers, followed by a courier arriving at their home to collect their bank cards or cash.

A victim in her late 70’s was told that there was a suspected counterfeiting ring at her … Read more

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Thinking of selling your timeshare ?

If like the many timeshare owners, you have become tired of your burdensome timeshare, or simply can’t continue to pay the mounting maintenance fees, you have probably thought about selling it. After all, you were told that when you no longer wanted to keep it you could sell it on and make a profit.

But before you enter into the murky waters of timeshare re-sales there are some important things to be aware of. Just as there are rouge sales reps and scammers when buying a timeshare, the same is true when trying to sell one.

If you own … 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 incredibly 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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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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