Loading...
 
Skip to main content

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!

2023-05-04 What is the Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera in Mexico? Is the person who says he is with this agency real? Great question raised by an Aimfair member who was recently a victim himself.

According to Wikipedia, Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera is an administrative unit of Mexico's Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit. This agency is responsible for receiving, analyzing and disseminating information related to the prevention, detection and combat to the violations of operations with illegal resources such as money laundering and terrorist-financing activities. Its main source of information are the reports and notices provided by the financial institutions in the country.

What is gob.mx?

gob.mx is the platform that promotes innovation in the government, boosts efficiency, and transforms processes to provide information, procedures, and a platform for participation to the population.

In this portal you will be able to consult and carry out procedures quickly and efficiently, without the need to stand in lines and waste your time, from your computer, mobile phone or tablet.

In addition, we simplify the necessary requirements so that you can obtain all the information you need about the government, in a single point.

Finally, we enable innovative digital media so that you can participate and collaborate in decision-making and build better public policies together.

As a government, we have the obligation to evolve the way in which our institutions operate, adapting to the growing expectations of society and responding efficiently to their demands; gob.mx is the rethinking of the citizen-government relationship.

Gob.mx is an initiative headed by the National Digital Strategy Coordination of the Presidency of the Republic and the Digital Government Unit of the Ministry of Public Administration, in collaboration with all Federal Public Administration agencies, in order to provide citizens an integrated, close and modern government.

The important takeaways from this article are:
  1. The agency relies upon information submitted by financial institutions in Mexico, not individuals.
  2. The agency is interested in money laundering networks and stopping them.
  3. The agency is focused on identifying terrorist organizations.
  4. The domain is gob.mx, NOT enuifgob.mx.

The reason for this notice is an Aimfair member asked if the following letter and claims are legitimate:
Estimado Sr.,

Buenas tardes, my name is Lic. Fabian Marquez, Prosecuting attorney with Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera o (UIF). As a judicial branch of the Mexican Federal System we are currently investigating specific Financial Crimes regarding timeshares/vacation-memberships/vacation properties. As per our phone conversation we are issuing you a set of documents that you will need to fill out if you consider it appropriate to submit an incident report addressing your particular grievances. The context of these reports can be used to support your own private claim and also aid the prosecution to demand that the hotel companies involved modify their policies regarding sales-tactics/client-information-security.

In accordance with the Mexican Consumer Protection Laws, persons who have had their private information mishandled and/or have been effected by any of the other crimes listed on this email have the right to file for a cancelation of the related timeshare contract(s) and/or request a remuneration of any monies paid out to buy/rent/sell/trade/list a vacation property or real property in México. This must be done in a term that does not exceed 30 natural days from receiving this notice; otherwise in accordance with article 13, second paragraph, 99 and 104, fractions I and IV of the Federal Protection Law and article 55 first and second paragraph, fractions I and II of the Federal Consumer Protection Law Regulations, your file will be closed as a concluded matter without prejudice to your rights. In which case, you may still make a claim through the competent Mexican Tribunal without our involvement.

To file for a compensation and/or for a termination of a timeshare (s) contract with a remuneration of monies paid to any company/entity involved (real or facetious) and/or to file for losses to third parties via timeshare related frauds you must submit clear written statements on the incident report or an attachment. For example:

  • I/We, (full name), hereby wish to request that my timeshare contract (contract number), with the (hotel’s name) hotel is cancelled and any monies invested into this membership(s) returned to me because my personal information has been leaked from this company without my consent and I have been targeted-for/a-victim-of fraud because of this.
  • Complementary Legal representation is being provided to anyone who requires aid with respect to this particular case. If you request a remuneration, please gather and submit evidence of any monies that you request be paid back to you. This includes but is not limited to: monies paid to third party companies in attempts to rent/sell/trade your membership, monies paid to a hotel for the purchase of a membership/taxes/upgrades/maintenance fees/other fees/closing costs/additional services etc.


In specific scenarios persons maybe qualified to receive punitive damages. This is specifically for persons who have had health complications, or suffered extreme emotional/financial distress, directly caused by victimization. The overall investigation is still uncompleted therefore it is imperative that you do not talk to hotel staff or third party timeshare service solicitors about the case at all. Relevant decrees include: Articles 20, 21, 24, 32, 33, 64, 65, 85, 97 and “Federal Law for the Protection of Personal Data in Possession of Third Parties” under Mexican Federal law.

We encourage anyone who has been affected on any degree to address the situation by sharing information which may be useful to the case. Attached below are the most common issues that we are assisting with, however, all reports will be reviewed in detail.
  • You were lied to about terms and conditions on a Mexican Timeshare contract by the Company issuing the contract.
  • You have been contacted/harassed via phone/email with offers to sell or rent your timeshare.
  • You have had your private personal/contact/timeshare-contract information leaked by a Mexican based Hotel company.
  • You have been a victim of fraud by attempting to rent, sell or list your timeshare.
  • You were offered drugs, alcohol or money to attend a timeshare presentation.
  • You suffered a theft or assault on hotel property.
  • You have paid for renovations to your hotel, or new resort developments that have not been met, or if you are not being provided the services that you have paid for.

Este mensaje va dirigido, de manera exlcusiva, a su destinatario y puede contener información confidencial y sujeta al secreto profsiona, cuya divulgación no está permitida por ley.en caso de haber recibido este mensaje por error, le rogamos que de forma inmediata, nos lo comunique mediante correo electrónico remitido a nuestra atención y proceda a su eliminación, asi como la de cualquier adjunto al mismo, asimismo comunicamos que la distribución, copia o utilización de este mensaje, o de cualquier documento adjunto al mismo, cualquiera que fuera su finalidad, están prohibidos por la ley. En aras del cumplimiento del reglamento

Translation:This message is directed, exclusively, to its addressee and may contain confidential information and subject to professional secrecy, the disclosure of which is not permitted by law. If you have received this message in error, please notify us immediately. communicate by email sent to our attention and proceed to its elimination, as well as that of any attachment to it, likewise we inform that the distribution, copy or use of this message, or of any document attached to it, whatever its purpose, are prohibited by law. In order to comply with the regulation(UE)

22/386 del parlamento mexicano.
Look at the differences between the two domains:

The Scam domain information is as follows:
Domain Name: enuifgob.mx
Created On: 2022-10-29 - 186 days ago
Expiration Date: 2023-10-29
Last Updated On: 2022-12-15
Registrar: Automatizacion en Internet sa de cv
URL: http://www.microbit.com/
Registrant:
Name: Fabian Marquez
City: Ciudad de Mexico
State: Ciudad de Mexico
Country: Mexico

The Mexican Government Domain information:
Domain Name: gob.mx
Created On: 1991-02-28 - 11,572 days ago
Expiration Date: 2024-02-27
Last Updated On: 2023-04-15
Registrar: Registry .MX
URL: http://www.registry.mx
Registrant:
Name: Network Information Center, S.A. de C.V.
City: Monterrey
State: Nuevo Leon
Country: Mexico

So you see, the information submitted by our Aimfair Member is from a scammer - not the Mexican Government. Be very careful. Callers can be very persuasive. Remember: DON'T SEND MONEY


2023-03-23 Scams are on the rise. One Aimfair member contacted me to ask about this offer and said he gets 3 calls a day - at least. Another receives more. Both alerted me to this "offer":

Vidanta Refunds

Mediation & Litigation Sofía Camarena C.

March 2023

We hope this email finds you well. Due to an overwhelmingly positive response, we’ve added another telephone line where you may reach us with any and all doubts or concerns. Please don’t hesitate to contact us at 888-726-5606 to verify if you are eligible for a claim.

If you lost money to a scammer, trying to resell your Vidanta time-share, between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2022, and you have not yet submitted a claim, you still have time to request to get your money back.

How do I file a claim?

That's how the email starts. Eye catching right? Several people asked about this email stating we all qualify for a refund.

The offer is from:
MediationsScamArena.com
Dates 70 days old
Created on 2023-01-10
Expires on 2024-01-10
Updated on 2023-01-10

Mediation & Litigation
Sofía Camarena C.
claims at mediationsscamarena.com
888-503-8645

Well, check this out:

https://mediationssc.com
MEDIATIONS
Welcome to Sofia Camarena C. Mediation and Litigation Our Story Get to Know Us M&L SC was founded in 2016 with the purpose of mediating and litigating international cases. We prioritize cost-effective representation and results. We specialize in problem solving.

https://mediationssc.com › about-us
About Us - MEDIATIONS
Sofia has been a litigator for 27 years, and she has tried or arbitrated over 25 cases in Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, Florida, and the District of Columbia. Sofia has been retained for matters in 20 states and the District of Columbia due to her nationally recognized knowledge of property insurance. Contact Us

mediationssc.com
Dates 74 days old
Created on 2023-01-06
Expires on 2025-01-06
Updated on 2023-01-06

Here is another look alike:

https://mediacionesintsc.com › about-us
About Us - Mediacionesintsc.com
Sofia has been a litigator for 27 years, and she has tried or arbitrated over 25 cases in Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, Florida, and the District of Columbia. Sofia has been retained for matters in 20 states and the District of Columbia due to her nationally recognized knowledge of property insurance. Contact us

https://mediacionesintsc.com
Home mediacionesintsc.com
Welcome to Sofia Camarena C. Mediation and Litigation Our Story Get to Know Us M&L SC was founded in 2016 with the purpose of mediating and litigating international cases. We prioritize cost-effective representation and results. We specialize in problem solving.

https://mediacionesintsc.com
Home mediacionesintsc.com
Get to Know Us M&L SC was founded in 2016 with the purpose of mediating and litigating international cases. We prioritize cost-effective representation and results.

https://mediacionesintsc.com
Dates 138 days old
Created on 2022-11-03
Expires on 2023-11-03
Updated on 2023-01-03

You get the idea. Scammers are entrepreneurs! They get exposure and hook us with tempting bait - REFUND.

Nearly all of us have wished we had not spent as much money as we have. But none of want to get drawn into another scheme that will take even more money from us. No, these are not legitimate. Do your self a favor - enjoy your vacation and have fun at the facilities you can access.

AND DON'T SEND MONEY OR CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION



2023-03-08 Another fake offer allegedly from Vidanta. Note, the domain - vidantamember.com.mx - was formed 12 days ago.

Registrar Status
Dates 12 days old
Created on 2023-02-24
Expires on 2024-02-24
Updated on 2023-02-24

Following is the offer you need to avoid:


From: VIDANTA VACATION CLUB
To:
Sent: Tuesday, March 7, 2023, 05:15:02 PM EST
Subject: Vidanta Vacation Club Rental Program

Dear Vidanta Member:

In these uncertain times we want you to be able to do something with your vacation time that is not being used because of COVID-19, your account shows that you have 15 bonus weeks that you have not used and are about to expire, we understand that at this point it would be almost impossible to even think about vacationing, that is why we have an excellent option, you can rent the weeks through us and get $2,400 dollars for each week, there is a $965 dollar usage fee that has to be paid in advanced for every week you decide to rent. We have a large group of people coming and that is why and how we can guarantee the rental.

If you are ready to take advantage of this offer please call us to assist you,

VIDANTA HEADQUARTERS: 1-833-VIDA-123 (1-833-8432-123) USA & CANADA TOLL FREE

VIDANTA MEMBER SERVICES: 1-888-75-MAYAN (1-888-75-62926) USA & CANADA TOLL FREE

- Member can only rent once per year, as many weeks as you want but only at one time.

- Rental is 100% guaranteed and is all in writing.

- Please reply to this email with your contact information and the best time to call you.

NOTE: USAGE FEE HAS TO BE PAID IN ADVANCED, WE DO NOT DEDUCT IT.

Best regards

Luis Ramirez
Member Services Manager


Paseo de las moras S/N Fraccionamiento Náutico Turístico
Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit, 63735 México
USA & CANADA TOLL FREE & FAX 1 888 75 MAYAN (62926)
México & Other Countries: +52-1-984-184-5653 & +52-1-998-385-1534
members at vidantamember.com.mx

This mail (including attachments, if any) is intended for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, proprietary, confidential and exempt from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you received this communication in error, please notify the sender immediately. The Electronic Commutations Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. Sections 2510-2521, covers this E-mail and is individual or entity named above. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. Copyright © 2002-2025 VIDANTA VACATION CLUB all rights reserved.


Return to Current News ...OR... Return to Photos and Videos ...OR… Summary Page


2023-01-30 Scams are all over. They even repeat themselves. Timeshare Contract Review is one of them.

We first saw and posted an article about this group on January 6, 2023. John brought it to our attention again today.

TimeshareContractReview.com. The objective, according to the email is to inform and warn the recipient that he or she may be entitled to a partial or total refund. It goes on to say the recipient may be "impacted by fraudulent misrepresentation" in connection with the purchase of a Timeshare in Mexico.

The alleged infractions include:
  • Possible lack of notification of the right to cancel the purchase within 5 days under a stated Federal Consumer Protection Law.
  • Possible violations of Article 386 of the Federal Criminal Code of Mexico may have occurred during sales presentations. These include:
  • Promising guaranteed rental income from the purchase of a contract.
  • Selling contracts for more than the true value.
  • Making oral promises about the utility or value of the contract that are not true.
  • Making statements that upgraded timeshare contracts may be sold for a profit.
  • Selling contracts with no contractual rights to any Vidanta resorts.

These are just a few of the allegations presented by Timeshare Contract Review.

The message goes on to provide the options that are available. Contact the group by telephone (a non-traceable 888 number), submit your documentation online, or don't do anything if you have already submitted your documents.

Now the question that always returns is what on earth will this faceless and ghostly group do with your confidential information? There is no plan for any action. They just plant the seed that maybe the group will represent you in a case of some sort and generate a refund for you through legal action. Most importantly your confidential information will be in the hands of someone or group you can't trace.

No, it is not a good idea to follow-up on this opportunity. At the very least you will be giving away confidential information. At the very most, the end game could be asking for money to support a "class action" suit.

The bottom line is, this is a scam. Stay away and keep your information to yourself!


2023-01-07 Hola everyone. Like you most likely did, we received our reminder that COVID-19 kept you and me from using our 15 bonus weeks. Uh, oh, and they are about to EXPIRE!

Yes, that's what the correspondence said today. It is the same story we saw last year, at least five or six times - maybe more.

The offer goes on to say that we have an excellent option to rent each week through "vidantamembers.com.mx", which is NOT a Vidanta domain. In fact, the domain is only 98 days old. Here is what whois.domaintools.com reports on vidantamembers.com.mx:

Dates 98 days old
Created on 2022-09-30
Expires on 2023-09-30
Updated on 2022-11-16

The offer is convincing. In fact, an Aimfair member called today and asked about it. Here is a copy of the email we received today:

This offer arrived today - January 6, 2023, and it is the first time we have seen this scam......this year.
This offer arrived today - January 6, 2023, and it is the first time we have seen this scam......this year.

Don't let these "Opportunities" worry you. They are sure to come down the pike all year, especially if VidantWorld opens. Why? Because the scammers are counting on us wanting to rent our weeks and do so through them. Money lost for sure!!

Remember, only YOU and I can help stamp out scams - Don't Send Money!

Return to Current News ...OR... Return to Photos and Videos ...OR… Summary Page


2022-09-15 From Jimandshiela:
Angelo Lisboa 914-246-2303 1964 GLOBAL INVESTMENT
Angelo claims we own 70 shares worth $850/share of VIDANTA that will be cancelled soon to achieve SEC compliance for a public offering. He says to call VIDANTA Financial Department at 888-653-1042 for more information on preserving our "rights". Only thing is that VIDANTA does not own that phone number, per conversation with VIDANTA accounting department person I checked with.


From Tom and Karen:
Has anyone been contacted by a company called global investments of New York, offering to sell your timeshare stocks that you have earned through your investment in Vidanta. The claim is that the parent company Desarrollo Marina Vallarta is trying to go public in the US. In doing so legally they have to purchase back our shares in the property. This does not mean you give up your ownership just that you have a percentage of the company that they have to buy back from you before they can go public. Supposedly this transaction has to take place by September 16 of this year, and we should have received a registered letter from Said company. If anyone else has received this information or done any more research about it or by any chance sold back their share we would be very interested in knowing this. Just trying to find out if this is a scam or for real. Perhaps you could send out a quick letter on Aimfair to see if others are getting this info too. They’ve given a lot of numbers to call etc. etc. Scams can also look real doll too.

Thank you for getting back to me. You provide such a fabulous service.

Desarrollo Marina Vallarta

Thank you,
Our conclusion: Thank you for your note and letting us know about this potential scam.

There are a number of Global Investment Group companies, some of which are reportedly scams.

There is no evidence that Vidanta is going public. At least, it will not offer rights to its members without full disclosures. Very strict securities laws govern the issuance of securities, and Vidanta is not about to violate them.

Furthermore, there is no way an offer would be extended with a "drop dead date”.

Please send us the address, telephone number and website address, and we will look into this a little more. That said, this is a scam!

Cheers!


2022-09-11 We received an invitation to send information to Timeshare Contract Review. It is a domain that is about 36 days old. The sender states if you purchased a timeshare or vacation membership with Vidanta, you may be entitled to compensation that includes a partial or total refund.

This is unusual. Why? Because our Aimfair member received a postcard in the mail. It is pretty interesting because to date we have not seen any potential scams using the US Postal Service.

We looked up the address given. It appears to be a space in an industrial park in Houston where the tenant offers mailboxes for rent. So, if you wanted to meet someone from Timeshare Contract Review in person, you would not be able to.

Once again, the person requesting personal information is not traceable or verifiable. There is no basis for placing your trust in a new operation that asks for your personal information.

Needless to say, we don't feel this enterprise, if that is what it is, is worthy of your consideration. It is our opinion nothing good will come from working with this organization.

Thank you Rich for sending us this information. Remember everyone - the only way to stop scammers is to not send them money!!

Return to Current News ...OR... Return to Photos and Videos ...OR… Summary Page


2022-08-31 An Aimfair member sent us a note asking about repeated calls received from individuals claiming to be working for the Mexico Secretariat of Public Safety. The question raised by the Aimfair member was could this caller be legitimate because the telephone number traces to Álvaro Obregón near Mexico City, which is where the Secretariat of Public Safety was headquartered.

What we found out is this department of the Mexican Federal Government was dissolve by President Enrique Peña Nieto on January 3, 2013. It is no longer in existence. The department was replaced by the "National Security Commission" (Comision Nacional de Seguridad), a department under the Secretariat of the Interior.

Wikipedia article about Mexico Secretariat of Public Safety
Wikipedia article about Mexico Secretariat of Public Safety

Clearly, the calls are from an unknown contact and should not be taken seriously. The telephone number is 52-55-416-42367.

Thank you for letting us know about this new scam. Remember, only YOU can help stamp out scams - don't send money!

Return to Current News ...OR... Return to Photos and Videos ...OR… Summary Page


2022-08-26 National Real Estate Investors is 158 days old. It was created on 2022-03-21 and expires on 2023-03-21.

Needless to say the entity is not trustworthy. Why? First, the domain is only 158 days old. That is a major red flag.

Second, the address given on the company's website is not traceable. There is no suite number, which means neither the postal service or any other postal service would be able to deliver mail to the address. Bottom line, you would not be able to find anyone in the company.

Third, the building listed as the address where the company is residing is nearly if not totally empty. That's right; 117,000 sq Ft of office space is available.

No, don't fall for this offer. The only thing you will get is a massive headache over losing the money you paid to sell your contract.




2022-08-17 This just in...The Covid Bonus - 15 Weeks from Vidanta

You know this is erroneous! No facts here! Just a return to the false offer of bonus weeks. Don't fall for this. It is a Scam!!

Dear Vidanta World Member:

In these uncertain times we want you to be able to do something with your vacation time that is not being used because of COVID-19, your account shows that you have 15 bonus weeks that you have not used and are about to expire, we understand that at this point it would be almost impossible to even think about vacationing, that is why we have an excellent option, you can rent the weeks through us and get $2,400 dollars for each week, there is a $965 dollar usage fee that has to be paid in advanced for every week you decide to rent. We have a large group of people coming and that is why and how we can guarantee the rental.

If you are ready to take advantage of this offer please call us to assist you,

VIDANTA HEADQUARTERS: 1-833-VIDA-123 (1-833-8432-123) USA & CANADA TOLL FREE

VIDANTA MEMBER SERVICES: 1-888-75-MAYAN (1-888-75-62926) USA & CANADA TOLL FREE

- Member can only rent once per year, as many weeks as you want but only at one time.

- Rental is 100% guaranteed and is all in writing.

- Please reply to this email with your contact information and the best time to call you.

NOTE: THE USAGE FEE HAS TO BE PAID IN ADVANCED, WE DO NOT DEDUCT IT.

Best regards

Juan Hernandez
Member Services Manager

Paseo de las moras S/N Fraccionamiento Náutico Turístico
Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit, 63735 México
USA & CANADA TOLL FREE & FAX 1 888 75 MAYAN (62926)
México & Other Countries: +52-1-984-184-5653 & +52-1-998-385-1534
members at vidanta-members.com.mx

This mail (including attachments, if any) is intended for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, proprietary, confidential and exempt from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you received this communication in error, please notify the sender immediately. The Electronic Commutations Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. Sections 2510-2521, covers this E-mail and is individual or entity named above. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. Copyright © 2002-2025 VIDANTA WORLD VACATION CLUB all rights reserved.

Pretty convincing don't you think? You better not sign up for this scam, because you will loose your money.
Scams are everywhere! Don't think you can outsmart these people. They know their limits, just as our Vidanta sales staff knows their limits.
Return to Current News ...OR... Return to Photos and Videos ...OR… Summary Page




Thank you for keeping us updated....

Return to Possible Scams ...OR... Return to Timesharing