Most timeshare owners have been on the receiving end of cold calls all offering one service or another, the vast majority of which are just scams. Some of these have been operating on and off for years, some just emerge for a year or so and that is the end of them until they re-emerge with a new name.
For those who have been unfortunate enough to have been scammed, reporting it to the authorities has proved pointless, just another statistic, and there is a very good reason for this, money.
Each complaint is treated individually, including who the company was, and how much the victim has lost and that is about it, apart from being given a “crime reference” number. The chances are that is the last you will hear of it. What you have lost as an individual is nothing compared to the “multi-million pound” frauds the authorities investigate. It is just small fry.
But nothing could be further from the truth.
The US Department of the Treasury has published the following press release: Treasury Sanctions CJNG-Run Timeshare Fraud Network (Further links to information available)
CJNG, (Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion) is an organisation based in Mexico, and according to intelligence reports it is heavily involved in drugs trafficking into the US and involvement in orchestrating high-profile assassinations.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, (OFAC), has sanctioned eight companies linked to CJNG and which are involved in timeshare fraud.
PDF of above Image 20230302_cjng_timeshare_fraud_network
These types of frauds have been highlighted in our articles warning our US readers of the latest scams which target US citizens purchasing timeshares in Mexico. They have been contacted by resales with “guaranteed” buyers and fake law firms offering claims for mis-sold timeshares. But this is the first time we have seen them linked directly with organised crime.
We have suspected for years that these frauds in Europe and the US may be the tip of the organised crime iceberg, but in a way it makes sense.
As we have said, each one is treated as an individual case, the sums lost amount to several thousand per individual, but added together they are huge, and as we have seen very easy to get away with. It is a steady and fairly reliable income, just what is needed to fund other more lucrative enterprises.
For example, around twenty years ago a huge campaign was launched regarding fake DVDs, it warned consumers that by purchasing these fakes, they are funding terrorism. It is the small crimes which fund the larger ones and are usually the ones that are the easiest to get away with. It is a business model used by industry for years, BMW after 1945 produced large numbers of three-wheeler “micro-cars” which kept the company afloat, look at them now.
Because the income can be very lucrative, the scams have tended to become a little more sophisticated in how they convince you, official looking documents and links to official sites have become standard. Everything looks and sounds right, you may not even be questioned by your bank when making the transfers, and that in itself gives credibility.
At least in this instance the US Treasury has made it public and named the companies it has sanctioned, these are:
- Servicios Administrativos Fordtwoo, S.A. de C.V.
- Integracion Badeva, S.A. de C.V.
- JM Providers Office, S.A. de C.V.
- Promotora Vallarta One, S.A. de C.V.
- Recservi, S.A. de C.V.
- Corporativo Title I, S.A. de C.V.
- Corporativo TS Business Inc, S.A. de C.V.
- TS Business Corporativo, S.A. de C.V.
Unfortunately for many timeshare consumers, it will be too little too late, if all reports which are filed with the different agencies are coordinated, which in this day and age of technology shouldn’t be too difficult, then maybe, just maybe, these frauds will be discovered a lot sooner.
How easy it is for scam companies to be established, can be found in Serialised Articles, under Consumer Awareness.
Treasury Department Alert 20230302_ofac_alert_timeshare_fraud
We hope you all had a good weekend, Baby Dog had his usual weekend of walks and sleeping or just sitting on his chair at the window and watching my every move.
