Victim of a scam - Advance Travel Network

[Southwind25]

I just finished reading Tug's article on timeshare owners who were victims of a scan. My wife and I were scammed for $1,996.00
by Advance Travel Network in January 2023. They guaranteed a good return for renting out our timeshare through II. My wife
received a call from an employee who is a Marketing Executive at the Marriott Miami Beach Pulse. We met her while vacationing there in 2022.
She was very friendly and won our trust. She called and asked if we were interested in making a profit by renting our timeshare.
We agreed. She gave us a phone # to call this person to rent our timeshare. To make a long story short, we paid $1,996.00 using our
credit card and will never hear from this person or Advance Travel Network again. Advance Travel Network ripped us off and never call us or contact
us via email that there was an offer for our timeshare via renting. We believed that the nice lady from MVC was in on the scam. We filed a complaint through
Marriott Customer Advocacy and they talked to the senior leadership at Miami Beach Pulse. They sided with the Marketing Executive. She lied and said that
she never called us and never gave us the phone # to contact the Middleman. My question is can I still file a complaint through the Attorney General office in my
state and Florida. This happens in January 2023, and I should have filed a complaint when it happened but reading that article on scammers bought back
bad memories and I will feel better to report this to make should this doesn't happen to anyone else. I have lost trust with MVC big time!

 

[davidvel]

I very much doubt the call was from that person, but anything is possible. Likely your wife was confused, and they coaxed the person's name out of her and then said yes this is who is calling. I presume you are not young of age?

Regardless, chalk it up as a lesson. Do not spend money when people call you on the phone, and do not attend any timeshare (or other) sales presentations.

 

[HudsHut]

@Southwind25
Welcome to TUG.
There is no Advance Travel Network. This is a very well known scam. The scammers change the "cfake ompany" name each time. Many times they will make it sound like Interval International or RCI, just familiar enough that the victim will believe it's a legit company.

 

[Pennytx]

I just finished reading Tug's article on timeshare owners who were victims of a scan. My wife and I were scammed for $1,996.00
by Advance Travel Network in January 2023. They guaranteed a good return for renting out our timeshare through II. My wife
received a call from an employee who is a Marketing Executive at the Marriott Miami Beach Pulse. We met her while vacationing there in 2022.
She was very friendly and won our trust. She called and asked if we were interested in making a profit by renting our timeshare.
We agreed. She gave us a phone # to call this person to rent our timeshare. To make a long story short, we paid $1,996.00 using our
credit card and will never hear from this person or Advance Travel Network again. Advance Travel Network ripped us off and never call us or contact
us via email that there was an offer for our timeshare via renting. We believed that the nice lady from MVC was in on the scam. We filed a complaint through
Marriott Customer Advocacy and they talked to the senior leadership at Miami Beach Pulse. They sided with the Marketing Executive. She lied and said that
she never called us and never gave us the phone # to contact the Middleman. My question is can I still file a complaint through the Attorney General office in my
state and Florida. This happens in January 2023, and I should have filed a complaint when it happened but reading that article on scammers bought back
bad memories and I will feel better to report this to make should this doesn't happen to anyone else. I have lost trust with MVC big time!

Im
So sorry

 

[easyrider]

My question is can I still file a complaint through the Attorney General office in my
state and Florida.

Yes, you can file complaints with the Attorney General, BBB, Federal Trade Commission and other forums / social media sites. Let us know how it went.

Bill

 

[pedro47]

To the OP, do you have anything in written ?

Names, address, telephone numbers, email address, screen shots and dates.

Do you have the documentation from Marriott Customer Advocacy?

These are the things you will need in filings a complaint.

 

[TUGBrian]

very sorry to hear you got scammed

there is almost no way to keep track of the names/individuals for these scams as they change so constantly. the only one true unique quality they all share is that that ask you to pay money upfront!

noone legitimate makes cold calls to owners in this industry, it is ALWAYS a ploy to get you to pay money!

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

My question is can I still file a complaint through the Attorney General office in my
state and Florida.

Yes, absolutely. Nothing may come of it since these people are so hard to track, but there is no downside, and we read about AG’s going after these types of scams all the time if enough people complain.

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

I just finished reading Tug's article on timeshare owners who were victims of a scan. My wife and I were scammed for $1,996.00
by Advance Travel Network in January 2023. They guaranteed a good return for renting out our timeshare through II. My wife
received a call from an employee who is a Marketing Executive at the Marriott Miami Beach Pulse. We met her while vacationing there in 2022.
She was very friendly and won our trust. She called and asked if we were interested in making a profit by renting our timeshare.
We agreed. She gave us a phone # to call this person to rent our timeshare. To make a long story short, we paid $1,996.00 using our
credit card and will never hear from this person or Advance Travel Network again. Advance Travel Network ripped us off and never call us or contact
us via email that there was an offer for our timeshare via renting. We believed that the nice lady from MVC was in on the scam. We filed a complaint through
Marriott Customer Advocacy and they talked to the senior leadership at Miami Beach Pulse. They sided with the Marketing Executive. She lied and said that
she never called us and never gave us the phone # to contact the Middleman. My question is can I still file a complaint through the Attorney General office in my
state and Florida. This happens in January 2023, and I should have filed a complaint when it happened but reading that article on scammers bought back
bad memories and I will feel better to report this to make should this doesn't happen to anyone else. I have lost trust with MVC big time!

Sadly your hard earned money has been stolen from you. The best thing to remember is to NEVER pay anyone any money up front money to rent or sell your timeshare.

I'm delighted to see that you have joined TUG. This is a great move on your part! Welcome!









.

 

[RX8]

@Southwind25
There is no Advance Travel Network.

Actually, there is an Advance Travel Network. They have been running this common scam for a couple of years.

To the OP, was the credit card payment to Advance Travel Network? Only ask because scammers could try anything and maybe it was yet another scammer. If it was truly Advance Travel Network, this is a common scam. They hide behind a business model of supposedly advertising/marketing your timeshare while at the same time lying through their teeth on cold calls about renting your RCI or Interval bonus weeks. Common sense says that if they lie to get credit card numbers then their business model of marketing your timeshare is also a scam and they do nothing after getting the upfront fee.

File a complaint with the Attorney General, BBB and even file a dispute with your credit card. Although it past your window it is worth a shot if there was a pattern of fraud.

F Rated with the BBB

Advance Travel Network | BBB Business Profile | Better Business Bureau

Not BBB Accredited. Travel Agency in Heathrow, FL. See BBB rating, reviews, complaints, and more.

www.bbb.org

Here is one prior TUG thread.

Advance Rental Network

I have been approached by phone wanting to rent extra vacations available to owners. They have a strong pitch but want me to pay a deposit up front. In exchange we will list the rental on their network and guarantee an offer of 1800 within six month or my deposit is returned. Has anybody had...

tugbbs.com

Edited to add:
These scammers are notorious for lying. They will lie to you and state that they are from RCI, Interval or your resort. My guess is that scammer company may have led you to believe that they were MVC. Your wife may have made a statement about someone at MVC they knew and the scammers ran with it from there. It is highly unlikely, I would say zero, that a Marriott marketing executive is involved with a timeshare scammer. The more plausible explanation is the scammer pretending to be someone they are not. Your energy should not be directed at MVC but rather the scammer itself.

 

[pedro47]

very sorry to hear you got scammed

there is almost no way to keep track of the names/individuals for these scams as they change so constantly. the only one true unique quality they all share is that that ask you to pay money upfront!

noone legitimate makes cold calls to owners in this industry, it is ALWAYS a ploy to get you to pay money!

Excellent points, TUGBRIAN and RX8, I hope the OP, paid with a credit card or a bank check.

Your credit card is a proof of payment and your bank can trace the name and address of the company.

To the OP, if you paid with a bank check, make a copy of the check front and back. The back of the check with give you a point of reference.
Maybe even the bad guys account number.

Your state attorney general has the right to trace that company state ID employment and federal tax ID Numbers.

Good luck.

 

[Southwind25]

Thank you for all the advice. Some good points. Most likely, we are not going to get our money back. I do have documents supporting my claim including the response letter from Marriott's Customer Advocacy. My wife was should that it was the Marketing Executive who call her and gave us a phone # to call the scammer associated with Advance Travel Network. Nevertheless,
I will file complaint.