Scam Alerts!
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Officials with the Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement are asking for the public's help in locating a man they say duped numerous people in a timeshare scam. 54-year old Harold Blue allegedly targeted timeshare owners while employed by Marketing Direct Timeshare Services, LLC, in Ormond Beach and through his own company, Blue Chip Marketing. According to investigators, Blue allegedly contacted people who wanted to sell their timeshare properties. Blue advised them he had a “prequalified buyer” for their timeshares when he did not. He would then convince the sellers into signing a listing contract and then charged the sellers closing costs for the fictitious sales. The typical loss relating to the “closing costs” was $400 to $800. Blue is known to frequent the Beach Haven Motel in the Shores as well as an address in Pelican Bay. He can usually be found driving a white 1994 Buick Park Avenue around the areas of S. Ridgewood and Palmetto Avenues. Anyone with information on Blue's whereabouts is asked to call Special Agent Josh Mead at (386) 274-3829. 
The Better Business Bureau Serving Central SC and Charleston (BBB) is warning consumers about a company using a Columbia address that’s reportedly contacting timeshare owners across the country, claiming to have a buyer for their property.
The company, Columbia Resort Sales, claims to be located at 4710 Forest Drive in Columbia. However, McAlister’s Deli is located at that address. Consumers report that Columbia Resort Sales calls them claiming to be a property locating service that caters to the needs of people who are looking to buy timeshares. It offers the timeshare owner up to double what they originally paid for their timeshare, and requests payment of roughly $280.00 be sent via wire transfer to cover “transfer fees and closing costs.” And then, as time went on and no sales were made, victims tried reaching back out to the companies, but their phone calls and e-mails went unanswered. Simple Strategies to Avoid Timeshare Scams: 1) Stay informed. Visit the Timeshare Scam Alerts page of this website often to stay up to date on the latest reports of timeshare fraud. 2) Never send any type of timeshare payment via a wire transfer to an unknown company or individual. 3) Insist on a written contract, and fully review that document to ensure the terms match the company's promises. 4) Verify that the reseller is a properly licensed real estate agent, preferably licensed in the state where the timeshare is located. 5) Never pay an upfront fee to sell or rent an unwanted timeshare! 6) Discover the realistic resale value of your timeshare by obtaining a comparative market analysis and/or using a respected timeshare appraisal service. 7) Always insist on using an independent third party escrow and title company, that is respected and well known in the industry! Never agree to a closing agent that you do not know! This is likely the exact same group as previously reported conducting the Mexican transfer tax scam, just using another variation of the name. But they appear to be cold-calling black market lists of Mexican timeshare owners promising timeshare buyers that simply do not exist!
"... Global Network Partners cold-called me about selling our Grand Bliss, Grupo Mayan, vacation ownership. Derek Lopez followed up, sent the sales contract, which is very poorly written. His command of English (articulation/grammar) is almost a dead give-away. He said Telemex is planning a hostile takeover and can afford to be very generous. I was researching GPN and came across very similar stories. Stay away!... Ruth O." A reader has reported a possible timeshare scam operating as Exchange Travel International. Again, this is the Mexican timeshare tax scam that has become so common in the industry!
"...Unsolicited offer to sell from Exchange Travel International at a price above purchase price. After accepting the offer we experienced the "Mexican Tax Scam" ploy. After sending the money we were asked to pay the Mexican State Tax. After we cancelled the sale the promised refund has failed to appear... Michael L." If you believe that you have also been a victim of consumer fraud perpetrated by this organization or individual, please take the time to report the crime to the Texas Attorney General's office by calling (512) 463-2100. A reader has submitted what he believes is an active timeshare scam operating out of Toronto that uses telemarketing tactics to defraud timeshare owners by promising they have a buyer waiting for their Mexican timeshares. Once the seller pays a large upfront fee (claimed to be closing costs and government taxes), the buyer disappears and the seller is unable to obtain a refund from the con artists!
"...We were contacted by Global Partner Network out of Toronto Canada telling us they had a buyer for our timeshare at Villa Del Palmar. They told us we had to pay up front the mexican excise tax and unfortunatly we did, over $4100.00. a few days later they called and said that we had to pay some other fee in order for them to disburse the funds to us and that after a month we would get another check reimbursing us for the upfront fees and the tax. That is when I started thinking this was a scam so I researched on the internet and found our exact story even the names are the same, David Kline, Darren Lucas, Kenneth Wade. We feel like fools and we are out alot of money that we did not have in the first place. How can people get away with this? We have all the emails and paperwork if someone can help us to report this crime.... Gary F." The Augusta Chronicle has published a report claiming that the Richmond County sheriff’s office is searching for an elderly woman who allegedly accepted a cash deposit for a rental property she did not have the authority to rent. This woman is one of two suspects in a rental scam that allegedly originated on the Craigslist classified website.
View the woman's photo by clicking HERE. Police said the renter met an older white couple Sept. 23 at a house in the 2200 block of Birnam Place that had been listed for rent on Craigslist. The woman unlocked the door with a key and allowed the renter to look through the house before they completed rental paperwork at the kitchen table. The renter paid $650 for the first month’s rent and a partial deposit and received a receipt. The next day, when the renter was at the house getting utilities transferred, a real estate agent told her she had been the victim of a scam. The homeowners told investigators they had used a smaller real estate company in the past that gave out the code to a locked key box at the residence so potential clients could view the home at their leisure. Investigators believe the scammers could have posed as potential tenants to obtain the key. Police said that the female allegedly provided a passport and retired military ID but that neither had been issued by the government. The renter took photos of the identification. The male scammer was said to be in his late 60s to early 70s. The renter told authorities he was wearing a ball cap and sunglasses. Anyone with information on the identity of this woman is asked to contact the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office at (706) 821-1020. United Property Sales Targeting the Elderly with Upfront Marketing Fees for Promised Land Sales9/4/2012
The Tampa Bay Times has an in-depth article exposing alleged tactics used by a telemarketing firm, United Property Sales. The article claims that the companies routinely targeted the elderly with false promises of real estate sales at drastically inflated prices, in an attempt to swindle huge upfront "advertising" fees from the land owners. This is a perfect example of how this type of telemarketing fraud spans all industries, and is not just limited to timeshare resale fraud. Of course, however, the article does indicate that at least some of the con artists learned their "craft" from timeshare scams operating out of Florida.
Follows is an excerpt from the article: "...The man with the money-filled briefcase, according to a search warrant, was Ted Thomas, 32. The Ohio Attorney General's Office says Ted and his wife, Kara, 29, ran a multistate telemarketing scheme from their Dunedin home that bilked thousands of elderly people across the country out of millions of dollars. The Thomases ran companies that called owners of vacant desert land, authorities said, and convinced them they could sell the land for 10 to 15 times its value in exchange for an upfront fee..." The true problem facing consumers is that this type of crime isn't likely to decrease anytime soon. Florida telemarketing companies accused of fraudulent sales tactics rarely face criminal charges. The Florida Attorney General's Office primarily pursues them through civil lawsuits, and many of these "business owners" simply consider the fines and penalties part of the cost of doing business. Most other states also have similar laws. Criminal charges and imprisonment are rare. As usual, consumer education and a healthy dose of skepticism are still the public's best defense against upfront fee scams. If you are a timeshare owner, or have family that owns a vacation ownership property- please take the time to help promote and spread awareness of these crimes. An easy way to do so is to add a link to your personal websites, facebook pages, and other social media pages to http://vacation-times.org/scam-alerts.html. I will also be happy to send you links to the many timeshare scam alerts that have been posted herein if you would like to create a scam alert page on your own website. Your help and patronage will be truly appreciated! A consumer fraud investigator with the Orlando Police Department has asked that the following message be distributed to assist in an investigation of a possible timeshare scam:
From: Officer Michael Stevens Orlando Police Department We are working on timeshare fraud investigations of the following companies: American Vacation Group GWF LLC First Decision LLC. Their method of operation is to have the the victim withdraw their money and place it into a Bank of America account or direct wire into the account. The account is First Decision LLC. I am requesting that anyone who has, or thinks they may have, dealt with the above organization to call or e-mail me as soon as possible: michael.stevens@cityoforlando.net or (407)246-2971. A reader has submitted information about what he believes is another timeshare marketing scam operating out of Central Florida under the name Access Travel Network. This appears to be a brand new company which just registered in the state of Florida as a telemarketer in March of 2012 and lists a Henry W. Cordts Jr as the principal.
Follows in an excerpt from the submitted scam alert: "...Received a phone call from ACCESS TRAVEL NETWORK and he offered to sell my "free weeks" (due, according to them, to expire in August 2012) of my timeshare. He said they "required" me to pay upfront for the booking fee of $149 per week for 10 weeks. Said they would send me a contract to consider and sign and return via fax. When I got the electronic version of the contract (11 July), that clearly stated "7 day cancellation policy" on the form, I reviewed the document and saw no protection for me after the initial period so I wrote CANCEL in large letters and faxed it back to them with a request for "immediate refund" of the charge against my card. Then I received another call from a different person offering to cut the charge in half and to issue a credit for that amount and then to call back on 12 July to “review and finalize” all the details. He left a message later that day with a "tracking number" for the credit that was going back to my credit card. Same guy called back in the afternoon of 12 July (three hours later than he told me he would call) just as I was sending another fax demanding a refund for ALL charges because my credit card had no record of that tracking number or a credit pending. When I told him I was cancelling the whole thing without ever signing the contract and that I was within my seven day window to cancel, he hung up on me. I then filed a dispute complaint with my credit card and f! iled an online complaint with the Florida consumers' department. My credit card company has informed me that I have no obligation to pay until the complaint is resolved by them and the merchant. THIS IS CLEARLY A SCAM..." This consumer actually owns a timeshare week at Orange Lake Resort in Orlando, which does not offer any type of "free" or "bonus weeks" as a benefit of ownership. The property is affiliated with RCI, an exchange system that does offer members the ability to "purchase" getaway weeks as well as exchange the ownership week for another destination. RCI's rules and regulations strictly prohibit the ability for individual members to commercially "rent" any exchange weeks. Based on this discrepancy alone, I would strongly urge timeshare owners to be wary of any company which offers marketing services for "bonus time" that does not even exist! If you believe that you have been the victim or any type of telemarketing or timeshare fraud perpetrated by this company, please take the time to report the crime to the Florida Attorney General. Wyndham Vacation Resorts Inc., the world's largest vacation time-share company, has filed suit in Barnstable Superior Court against the Dennis office of VO Financial Corp. Among those named is VO Financial's Cape-born owner, Adam Lacerda, who was indicted by a grand jury in May after an investigation by the FBI found that he and others had defrauded at least 225 time-share owners of at least $2.6 million.
In the complaint filed last Tuesday, which is not connected to the FBI case, Wyndham contends that the defendants stole and exploited trade secrets and confidential material, including client lists. This is not the first time Wyndham has sued VO Financial Corp. Last year it sued the branch in Tennessee and before that, the one in New Jersey, where the company has its main office. You can follow this story at http://www.capecodonline.com. |
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