Warning – Contract Debt Relief Centre / European Debt Recovery Services 

KwikChex has received a number of reports from timeshare owners regarding unsolicited contact from Contract Debt Relief Centre (CDRC) / European Debt Recovery Services (EDRS). 

These cold callers originally appeared in 2022 with a bogus story about a successful Madrid court case ruling in favour of timeshare owners. According to European Debt Recovery, these owners were due significant sums in compensation but the funds could not be transferred unless the owners had a Spanish tax ID, which they would need to apply for. To facilitate this the owners were encouraged to contact a notary that European Debt Recovery recommended. Alternatively they could travel to Spain and visit a police station in Madrid to pay for a tax number. Failure to choose one of these options would result in the claim being cancelled and the loss of any monies. 

No doubt the police station was mentioned as a bluff – the fraudsters knowing that in almost all cases the consumers would choose the easier option of contacting the notary. 

This court case was a complete fabrication – if this scam followed the usual method, once the payment for a ‘tax ID’ had been made, this would quickly be followed by requests for further payments for various ‘Brexit stamps’ and fees. These payments would eventually total in the thousands. 

Over time they have changed how they operate – more recently they have been cold calling with a warning to ex-timeshare owners that their timeshare exits are not valid, that they can still be charged for maintenance fees, and that an EOP / European Court order has been issued for non payment of these maintenance fees. 

This is another case that the consumer won’t have heard about until the cold callers come calling – the reason being that it is once again entirely fictitious. 

It is even more concerning that these fraudsters have reportedly been trying to pass themselves off as agents of CLC and Wyndham during cold calls. 

The EDRS website makes the claim that they are “one of the leading litigation and recovery agencies in the United Kingdom & Europe.” Alarmingly they fail to provide any registered company or regulatory information, there is no business address listed and the only way to contact them is by phone or email. Such a lack of information is usually a clear indicator that this is a scam and should be avoided. 

The callers have used various names – Amanda Jones, Anthony (Tony) White, Benjamin (Ben) Sharp, Bob Reynolds, David Miller, Gregory Stevens, Jonathan Clarke, Jonathan Ledger, Steve Smith, Suzanne Walker and William Edwards. 

The numbers they have used to cold call so far include  

01252 954163 

01256 594063 

02070 971445

07480 720406

07480 721769 

07480 722970

07723 869117

07723 869216

07727 738137 

07727 739781 

07840 723721 

Advice from KwikChex 

If you have been cold called by Contract Debt Relief Centre (CDRC) / European Debt Recovery Services (EDRS), you should pay no attention to their call and instead report it immediately. Unsolicited contact by phone, text or email is likely to be a breach of data protection laws and it is recommended that it is reported to the appropriate national data authority. In the UK, this is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) as rogue businesses also often sell the information on to fraudsters.

The STOP! & Check initiative helps owners deal with cold-callers and their cunning deceptions – Click here to read more about STOP! & Check. 

Further reading 

Click here to view the Contract Debt Relief Centre (CDRC) / European Debt Recovery Services (EDRS) listing on the Timeshare Business Check website.

We recently issued a warning of a significant increase in scams targeting timeshare owners – Click here to find out more.

Update: We have issued a new warning – Click here to find out more.

Last updated 17 July 2023