Unauthorized Soliciations:
Unauthorized Solicitations and Possible Scams are now joined together to reinforce the importance of being alert. We don't want to be paranoid, but we do want to be careful.Cold calling is fine. Sales personnel have to generate leads somehow, and sometimes, the cold call is the appropriate way to reach out.
However, there is a big difference between selling legitimate products and services and trolling for naive, trusting individuals. Taking advantage of a person's naïveté for money is unconscionable.
There is a fine line between wanting, trusting, releasing personal information on blind faith and conducting a meaningful level of due diligence. Sometimes, gut reactions are alright. But other times, paying money without proper due diligence could be lost forever.
Part of the service we provide is a database of sorts. This page provides a listing of alleged companies that, through their representatives, have presented themselves as legitimate parties who want to buy your timeshare. Interesting stories...yes. But very dangerous. Do not fall into temptation.
Please send us your experiences and company names so we can post them here and in the Possible Scam pages.
Thank you for your participation. Without it, this would be a blank page!
| 2023-10-16 |
All of us receive calls from people we don't know. Many of us don't even answer the call unless the phone number is in our contacts list. Luckily, we can also block unwanted calls too. In addition to unsolicited calls, we also receive email solicitations too. Often times, the solicitor is introducing himself and firm as a trusted party who has a buyer or renter for out timeshare interests. After many years of receiving emails and calls, a fellow Aimfair member just sent me a copy of an email he sent to a prospective scammer. It is an easy format to follow, and the comments our fellow Aimfair member made were courteous, respectful and to the point. It makes sense to copy and paste his email and use it as a template to flush out legitimate and illegitimate contacts. Here is the solicitor's email and our Aimfair member's response: Response: Hi William,If everyone started their relationship with an individual who cold calls about a timeshare interest, the chances are very likely victimization would decline enormously. Don't you agree? Next time, take the time to check the age of the domain at Who is domain tools. Check the contact address of the caller's website address. Call the manager of the office or the building to confirm the company pays rent at the given address. Finally, request everything in writing by email. You could also tell the caller you will send an overnight parcel with a question or two to the address given. Chances are the parcel won't be delivered. Thank you Nino! Let's all work to eliminate scams and loss of $$$$$ by following good practices when responding to a cold inquiry by email or telephone. | |
| 2023-08-21 |
Wow! We must be high on everyone’s list. We just received an important notice from Vidamembers.com.mx reminding us that we have Bonus Weeks we have not used. Here is the notice:
Here is what we found:
This domain is only 3 days old. But, the notice we received has been sent by multiple domains with the Vidanta tag line in them. All fake. Tap the following link to view the 2015 offer. The article has links to other similar offers through 2019. Since then, we receive many similar offers each year. Here is the link to the 2015 offer: June 3 2015 Fake Grupo Vidanta Offer There may be other reasons behind these groups sending similar offers from domains that look like Vidanta. They could range from both sides of the pendulum - from active scams to implicating Vidanta with scams. We don’t know. What we do know is we do not want to send money to anyone we don’t know. That is the only way we can stamp out scams!! | |
| 2023-08-06 |
Yes, that’s right. An Aimfair member contacted us a few days ago asking about the “guarantees" offered by SAT and HACIENDA - two agencies of the Mexican government. Based on these guarantees, he was ready to send $65,000 US to a real estate broker in St. Louis. Luckily, he reached out to us first! The SAT is composed of a Governing Board, which constitutes its primary decision-making body; the eleven general administrations and units which make up the bureau; and a Chief of the Tax Administration Service, who is appointed and removed by the President with the approval of the Senate. The Chief of the SAT is the primary link between the bureau and the rest of the departments and bureaus which make up the executive branch of the Mexican federal government, as well as all other government entities at the state and local levels, private and social sector actors. According to Wikipedia, The Governing Board of the SAT is made up of the following individuals:
These, together with the various state and local administrative units make up the main body of the Tax Administration Service (SAT). No where in the description of responsibilities does it say SAT will guarantee payment of prepaid taxes when paid in connection with the sale of a contract of any sort. Although the document looks very official, it is not! Do not fall for the concept that an agency of the Mexican government will guarantee the return of prepayments made by a trusting contract owner in connection with the sale of a contract. Remember!! Only YOU can help stamp out scams - Don’t Send Money!! | |
| 2023-08-05 |
We received word from Nino about another attempt by a caller to gain contract and confidential information for an investigation conducted by FONATUR. FONATUR, or the National Fund for Tourism Development (Fondo Nacional de Fomento al Turismo), is a Mexican government agency established in 1974 with the goal of promoting and developing tourism-related infrastructure and projects in Mexico. FONATUR's main objective is to strategically plan and execute initiatives that stimulate tourism, boost local economies, and create job opportunities. It often focuses on developing areas with high tourism potential, such as coastal regions and historical sites, by investing in transportation, hospitality, and recreational facilities. The agency's efforts aim to attract both domestic and international visitors, thereby contributing to Mexico's economic growth through tourism. The current project is the Mayan Train. FONATUR does not act as a consumer protection agency. That would be PROFECO. Rather, the agency spearheads projects to increase tourism and jobs in Mexico. Here is an exchange you need to be aware of: From: Aimfair Member
This is an example of a caller impersonating an attorney with the intent of extracting confidential information from the person called. The objective is to gather information about your timeshare ownership so others in the scam network can call, offer options, ask for money to participate in class action suits, etc. By the way, keep in mind the length of time a caller’s domain has been active. In this case, fonaturgob.mx was formed 125 ago! Here is information from whois.Domaintools.com on Fonaturgob.mx:
Thank you for sending us this information. Please be aware there is more scam activity than ever, and the scams are very convincing. Remember, only YOU can help stamp out scams….Don’t Send Money!!! | |
| 2023-08-03 |
An Aimfair member posted the following on the Owners Forum:I have two companies simultaneously purporting to make me offers on my GM Deluxxe. Looking for any prior scam history. What we found: Prospective Realty Group LLC - Prorgroup.com: Dates 229 days old Created on 2022-12-16 Expires on 2024-12-16 Updated on 2023-07-21 Magnificent Realty - Mgnfcntrealty.com: Dates 43 days old Created on 2023-06-20 Expires on 2024-06-20 Updated on 2023-06-21 Neither one of these domains appears to be be more than a year old. In fact Magnificent Realty mgnfcntrealty.com is only 43 days old. The only way you can determine legitimacy is to send each a fed ex parcel to their addresses. If fed ex can't deliver, you have a scam on your hands. I called the building manager at 230 West Monroe St. 8th Floor, Chicago IL 60606. Magnificent Realty Inc. is not on the rent roll. The company is a sham. The second company is not located at 1 Glenwood Ave # 5 Raleigh, NC 27603 either. In both cases, the business names were taken over by someone other than the original owners and registrants at their respective Secretary of States. Vidanta has advised us that both companies are scams too. Please do not engage with them for fear of losing money. | |
| 2023-07-25 |
Many of you received another notice from “Vidanta”. The email is from a domain called vidavacationmembers.com. Who? Vidavacationmembers.com is a 76 day old domain. It was created on May 10, 2023, and it expires a year later. The interesting thing about this offer is coincidentally we received a call from a nice sounding guy who wanted to remind us that the bonus waits for us, but it won’t last long. This is the first time a caller has followed up on the bogus email. The bottom line: Scammers are becoming more bold and convincing. The Timeshare Sales world has a reputation that is not very good unless you are a psychologist studying “Grit”. They found that personalities with boundless Grit are in timeshare sales people. In many ways having grit is a good thing. But, the prospect needs to be ready to resist the temptations offered by the gritty sales person, otherwise you might spend your money on something you do not want, or on something that does not exist, such as the offer in the email that appears in the attached image. | |
| 2023-06-23 |
We must have received this offer at least 12 times this year alone. The note goes on the say we have 15 bonus weeks that we have not used. They are worth $2,400 per week, and we are responsible for paying the $965 usage fee. The guarantee is our weeks will be rented. You can read the offer that follows our comments. Red flags include the following:
Here is the offer: Please do not send them money or worry about missing out on renting your weeks. Remember, only YOU can help stamp out scams by not sending money! | |
| 2023-05-31 |
We received a call today from Mexico. The caller said he was with a Mexican Federal Government group that is investigating fraudulent calls about timeshares that originate in Mexico. Of course, we know the caller is a fraud and wants our information so he can send it to others in their network. Although I am not certain about this, it is highly likely that the caller is paid for each contact that provides personal information about his or her timeshare contract. Anyway, what is unique about today’s experience is we received the following postcard, printed on both sides, in the mail. We have seen this sender before. The name is timesharecontractreview.com and the subject is Vidanta. This is a mailed document. The address is 1321 Upland Drive, #2580, Houston, TX 77043, which is an independently operated post office box supplier called US Global Mail. Here is the link: https://www.usglobalmail.com/pricing/ So we know timesharecontractreview.com is not located at the address on the postcard. What else do we know? It turns out, timesharecontractreview.com is 299 days old. So in August, the domain will go away. We also know the domain is housed in Iceland. DatesBottom line - stay away! This group wants your confidential information to use in their expansive, creative network of sales people who make money off of empty promises and representations.  | |
| 2023-05-26 |
An Aimfair member asked if we had heard about the SECTUR Legal offer to retrieve money spent by timeshare owners who have purchased timeshare interests based upon representations during timeshare presentations.From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaThe answer is yes. But the REAL question is have we heard about legalsecturgob.mx? This is the domain from which the Aimfair member was contacted. The answer is no, not this one. But we have heard about other supposed entities that imitated SECTUR. Here is an email that you can look out for: From: SECTUR LEGALIn reality, the highlighted domain is only 69 days old. TripAdvisor members discussed this scam as early as 2021. Here is what a TripAdvisor member stated on May 15, 2023: Did you ever receive the $50,000? I supposedly have also received a settlement, I paid court cost and now they want money because it’s over $10,000 and the proper papers was not filed so there is a fine.So you see, the scam is pay to receive your settlement and then pay more for additional fees. These are very convincing statements, and the amount of money appears to be small relative to the amount of the "settlement". No, they are not legitimate offers. Stay away! Remember, only YOU can help stop scammers - DON'T SEND MONEY! | |
| 2023-05-15 |
This email is very convincing. The message is Vidanta is working with a company in Zurich, Switzerland to rent members' excess weeks. The story line is Vidanta wants to do something for members who do not use all their weeks each year. To accomplish that, the email says Vidanta has entered into a partnership relationship with a company called Alpine Asset Management. First of all, the domain formation and expiration information for the email address at no-reply at lifestylevidanta.com.mx:
The domain information for Alpine Asset Management is:
Finally, the domain information for the email address at thevidavacations.com is:
From: Vida Vacations <no-reply@lifestylevidanta.com.mx> Date: Wed, May 10, 2023 at 11:46 AM Subject: Contract INT15839 To: <xxxxx@gmail.com> Finally, the office management company at the office where Alpine Asset Management allegedly has its headquarters replied to our inquiry saying the company is in liquidation and is no longer in business: Mr. "Doe "Amazing! This is a bold and outrageous offer. Remember, the only way to help stamp out scams is - Don't Send Money - Don't Send Personal Information | |