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Now I know I'm Stupid!!

loser1

newbie
Joined
Oct 16, 2013
Messages
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Location
Ontario,Canada
Hello and I think I have been scammed :wall: I wish I had found this site earlier.I own a timeshare in Nuevo Vallarta. I got a phone call from a company from Chicago www.exclusivebeachfrontenterprise.com. They said that they had an interested party looking to buy timeshare that people may not want anymore.After talking with a person whose name is Ashley Wilson who assured me that no money was to be paid upfront by me I agreed.After agreeing and signing some paper work I was told that the person interested had put money into an escrow account.

The escrow company is from Charlotte,NC www.aeicoservices.com . I then was in contact with two people from this company the first one was Frida Hartz who got me to sign some papers to get things going,at this time no money was asked.Then I got a call that I needed to pay for Lawyer fees so they could do what was needed in Mexico.I was asked to wire money to GUADALAJARA, JAL. I was told it was necessary to do this to make every thing official. I should have told them at this time to forget about it,but I was reassured everything was legit.So I wired the money to GUADALAJARA, JAL.

A week later I was told I needed to pay a 25% federal tax on the money that I was to receive. After talking with Frida and she showed me a Mexican government website showing me the reason it was required I sent another wire to cover the tax. A week later I was contacted and was told that now I was required to pay a 7% state tax. Now I'm getting frustrated but I feel that I gone this far that I need to keep paying but I was assured that the person who was going to buy the timeshare was matching all the money I was paying into the escrow fund. Like clock work I was called the following Monday,Frida was sick and now I was talking to a guy by the name of Robert Alfandari. He tells me that they just found out that there is a luxury tax that has to be paid and then I would receive all the money owed to me within three to four business days.Of course I was irate and could not understand why I had to pay all this money.

Both Frida and Robert now has told me that ever since the new Mexican government came into power they been after every buddy to be all these taxes Reluctantly and foolishly I wired the money. When I told him that I was frustrated and feeling that I was getting sick and tired of paying all this money he said that I would not be asked for anymore and I should be receiving my money soon and he sent me a document telling me that I would not be asked for any more money. Well guess what....he called me today saying that the Mexican government did an audit on my sell and they said that they should have charged 25% instead of 7% for the state tax and that I need to pay the remainder of the tax so they want 17% more. I told him I could no longer afford to borrow anymore money from the bank.He said I had to pay it or the Mexican IRS would come after me.I suggested that he try to get the corporate buyer to pay it since he will be paying it all eventually and he said it had to come from me.I said why would it matter who pays it as long as the government gets it.

Both Ashley Wilson and Robert Alfandari are saying the same thing where I have to pay this tax.I told him I'm not paying anything more and if they can't figure a way for the corporate buyer to pay it up front I want mall my money back. Of course they wanted me to calm down and see the importance on paying the remainder of the tax so I would receive all the money that I paid out plus the money the corporate buyer originally offered.
I know I've been a fool and probably won't see my money back,but I need to know if any of this tax stuff is true? Could you please forward this to as many people that would look into this and maybe help me , please.

Don Beynen
P.S. this is where I've been sending the money by wire

BANK ADRESS: Interior Hotel Camino Real Guadalajara, Jalisco. México Centro de Atención: SUCURSALES Ubicación/Sucursal: Hotel Camino Real LOCATION Plaza GUADALAJARA, JAL. BENEFICIARY CUSTOMER / ADDRESS Cliente Beneficiario / Ultimo Beneficiario de los fondos (El Beneficiario NUNCA será Banorte) Beatriz Adriana Valadez Rodriguez Amondra # 4757 Col. Mirador del Sol Zapopan, Jal. México. C.P. 45050
 
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Can anyone tell me who I can get a hold of from the government of Mexico_Obviously someone in Mexico has my money and I'm sure they aren't planning on paying taxes on it.It would be a good feeling if I could get these people with tax evasion.
 
Hello and I think I have been scammed

Yup. That's about it. Sorry. Welcome to TUG. Mexican timeshares are very close to worthless. With the vast majority, you don't own anything anyway. They are 'Right To Use', and there is no deed, hence, no taxes, hence nothing to transfer to a new owner. Everything you were told by those people was lies.

These scammers are very slick, but it appears you've taken the bait. I doubt there is anything you can do, no government agency can/will make any attempt to bring them to anything resembling justice.

We have been telling people about these things as well as offering advice on how to buy, sell, and use timeshares since the 1990's. We're sorry it took until now for you to find us.

Best Wishes

Jim Ricks
 
So very sorry you have been scammed. I know it would make me sick, literally. I wish you had found TUG first. Please stick around and learn how to make the best of a bad situation...
 
Thanks for you condolences. I definitely got sucked in.I wish that I lived closer to one of their addresses and I would have tried to confront them first to see if these are also fake. Is there anyone on this sight that lives in either Chicago or Charlotte that could call them up and asked to visit them in there office. They have addresses and phone numbers on their sites.I went to their sites first and read through both sites and they seemed legit but obvious there are not.
 
It won't help you get the money back, but putting their addresses into Google Earth, and checking 'Street View', you can see what is at those addresses.

Oh, and a friendly suggestion.... on your first post in this thread, it's kind of hard to read in that 'gray wall' of text. If you click on 'Edit', and go in there and put in a few sentence and paragraph breaks, it would be a LOT easier to read and may actually help you get your message out to more folks where in could do some good.

Thanks.
 
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This is new version of Nigerian scam where there is a trunk of money waiting for you. Just fill out some papers. Then unlimited problems that require money be wired out of country come up.

Locating these scammers will be almost impossible and they may not even be in USA.

The last things these scammers are going to do is appear at Court House.

Government agencies do not have resources to pursue.


Chalk up to expensive experience.

Read here!
 
I'm so sorry to hear that you've become one more fraud victim of these despicable creeps. These liars and cheats are very convincing, and unfortunately, you're not the first (or last) to be duped into paying them money.

Please report your experiences and all information to the RCMP. Here is their anti-fraud webpage regarding timeshare reseller scams: http://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/english/newsroom-2013-06-06.html The RCMP reports over 100 victims since 2011, and over $1.5 million in losses. I'm afraid those numbers are probably just the tip of the iceberg.
 
In total, how much did you lose to this sacmmer outfit?

This is awful. They sound like they have a convincing scam going
 
Can anyone tell me who I can get a hold of from the government of Mexico_Obviously someone in Mexico has my money and I'm sure they aren't planning on paying taxes on it.It would be a good feeling if I could get these people with tax evasion.


At least they are working
 
PamMo;154257 Please report your experiences and all information to the RCMP. Here is their anti-fraud webpage regarding timeshare reseller scams: [url said:
http://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/english/newsroom-2013-06-06.html[/url] The RCMP reports over 100 victims since 2011, and over $1.5 million in losses. I'm afraid those numbers are probably just the tip of the iceberg.

Thank you I sent them an email.

In total, how much did you lose to this sacmmer outfit?

This is awful. They sound like they have a convincing scam going

I'm too embarrass to say:bawl:
 
Next you need to be careful for the scam outfits who will "help you" get your money back if you pay them an upfront fee to recover your money. They too may also pretend they get paid on the back end as a percentage of the recovered money but then will find some kind of fee you need to pay upfront.
 
Thank you I sent them an email.



I'm too embarrass to say:bawl:

No need to give us the amount, we've heard in the past that it can be in the thousands.

As mentioned above, when they figure out you won't pay any more they will come at you under new names offering to get your money back. Don't fall for any more of this.
 
Thanks for you condolences. I definitely got sucked in.I wish that I lived closer to one of their addresses and I would have tried to confront them first to see if these are also fake. Is there anyone on this sight that lives in either Chicago or Charlotte that could call them up and asked to visit them in there office. They have addresses and phone numbers on their sites.I went to their sites first and read through both sites and they seemed legit but obvious there are not.

Scammers are almost never at the address they list. That would make it way too easy to get caught. Many times it is just a mail forwarding location with "Suite" numbers being little mail boxes. In these cases I don't see a mail forwarding company but the NC address for example is an office condo building. Without the suite address it can't be a real physical address.
 
Have you tried contacting the Police Department that covers the address or phone number area code of the creeps who have scammed you? You could also try to reach the Dept. of Consumer Affairs or Better Business Bureau in the area. Of course this will only work if the thieves are/were actually operating in the United States.

It's unlikely that the addresses or phone numbers are located where they claim to be, but you never know. There is also paper trail re: the monies you have sent so maybe some agency can follow up on this.

It's a long shot but some states, Florida in particular, have arrested and sucessfully prosecuted crooks like this, and some received prison terms.

So sorry this happened to you (and many other people too)
 
That's terrible! I'm afraid you were scammed. It's sick how those scammers come up with all the tactics to fool people into sending them money and it's sad that it appears to be difficult to stop them. Did you report this to the police?
 
Did you pay with a credit card?? You could stop payment if you did.

I was at the Grand Mayan in Riviera Maya and a guy bought paid $60K for a week there. I told him to go to the Profeco office but he didn't want to because he was embarrassed. I tried over and over to reason with him but he simply refused. I just stopped talking to him after the third refusal to help himself.

So you are not alone. People get duped every single day. I did on 2 eBay deals. It is horrible but you are okay and that's what is important

I'm glad you found us and I sincerely hope Pat H's suggestion helps.
 
But thanks for sharing this information. I suggest you report the culprit's phone number to Callercenter.com and raise a warning. Make an online complaint on the FTC website in an attempt to shut the scam down.
 
Did you pay with a credit card?? ....

The OP stated that money was wired. That's how these thieves operate, no real address and no recourse through a credit card company.

There are warnings all over not to wire money to anyone you don't know personally but it continues to happen because someone else you don't know assures you that it's OK.

I feel bad for the OP but it's time for people to wake up. It's been stated here many times and I'll say it again.

No one is going to call you out of the blue offering a high price for your timeshare.
 
Offer to buy (scam?)

I received a phone call from "Western International Realty" yesterday which I'm sure is a scam. They said they had bought out the company (Playa del Sol) I purchased it from and offered to buy ("to increase their inventory") my timeshare for a high price. I see that they don't have my membership number so are obviously 'phishing'. I wonder how they got my home phone number??
Perhaps from a disgruntled employee? Or private info about a company which sold to another one (which mine did)?
The company is based in Tacoma, Washington (according to the email offer they sent me).
This post is to alert others. Perhaps someone else has received a call from these guys??
I live in Canada. Who should I call to report my suspicion about this company?
 
My $0.02 worth...

I received a phone call from "Western International Realty" yesterday which I'm sure is a scam. They said they had bought out the company (Playa del Sol) I purchased it from and offered to buy ("to increase their inventory") my timeshare for a high price. I see that they don't have my membership number so are obviously 'phishing'. I wonder how they got my home phone number??
Perhaps from a disgruntled employee? Or private info about a company which sold to another one (which mine did)?
The company is based in Tacoma, Washington (according to the email offer they sent me).
This post is to alert others. Perhaps someone else has received a call from these guys??
I live in Canada. Who should I call to report my suspicion about this company?

There are numerous possibilities regarding how your personal information could have been obtained. IMHO, the most likely source is a "leak" from resort records by someone "on the inside" of Playa del Sol, obtaining and then selling member info "on the side". Unfortunately, there is no way to definitively identify the source.

There is no doubt that this unsolicited cold caller is a scammer of some sort; parasites like these come and go every day --- like changes in the weather. I personally wouldn't bother to waste the time or energy to report your (surely well founded) "suspicions", but YMMV. After all, the Tacoma, WA location could be nothing but a drop box; they may not be in (or even anywhere near) Tacoma, WA at all.

I'd just blow them off and hope that others are also smart enough to do the same... :shrug:
 
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