How they Scam You, What I learned, and some recovery steps

Yes, I was scammed (see post below on Chicago company "Performance Asset-Management").

Reading thru the various posts here, they used techniques that were not new, just slightly modified:

* The use of a "contract", which contains both incentives (rebate of any tax and fees) and penalties (payment of double their commission if you back out), was something a bit new...makes the scam more believable, and makes you reluctant not to follow through.

* Use of legal threats was somewhat intimidating. They used official Mexican gov't website, making their "tax payment" requirement seem plausible.

* They used a "company" vice an individual in Mexico, making that seem logical (albeit the "company" is no longer listed on the internet!).

* They have shills posing as "satisfied clients", who sound very convincing.

* They have a website.

* They picked a nice address in the Chicago business district that made it hard to confirm they had an office there.

My first mistake was not hanging up the phone at the mention of "timeshare". DO NOT HESITATE...HANG UP! If someone is calling you with any kind of "deal" on your timeshare, it is a scam! Period!

My second mistake was not listening to my instinct that the deal was too good to be true. IT ALWAYS IS! Trash everything they have sent you and forget it!

My third mistake was signing a contract, which was nothing but lies by the scammers. They were not a licensed broker, they had no rich international corporate client, and to this date I cannot even confirm they have an office. Therefore, their so-called contract, with all its legalese, was smoke and mirrors.

My fourth mistake was not broadening my search here at RedWeek. I merely put the company name in the search engine and got nothing back, so I thought I was safe dealing with these scumbags. Had I simply read a few posts, I would have noted that there were quite a few folks encountering similar scams, only the name of the scammer company was different. DO THOROUGH RESEARCH!

My fifth mistake was actually sending the wires. Once gone, it is unlikely you will be able to recover anything. NEVER SEND MONEY TO GET MONEY! They take yours and are gone.

Needless to say, as I now leave the timeshare arena (at least my timeshare group is buying back, for virtually nothing though), I feel bitter about the overall experience. I paid top dollar going in with the developer, and got scammed going out...but had some nice vacations thru the years.

It will take about two years of "not using" the timeshare to recover from the scam, considering what I would have paid in MX fees, airline fares, car rentals, and entertainment/food. Therefore those "vacations not taken" will be my road to financial recovery. Unfortunately, I cannot recover the sleepless nights and the feeling of disgust at myself for letting these guys take advantage of me.

I have so far logged complaints with the federal trade commission, the FBI Internet fraud division, the Illinois Attorney General, my home state Attorney General, and BBVA Compass bank....but am not holding out much hope that I will ever see any financial remuneration. But maybe these guys will get jailed, I sure hope so.

So watch out all you timeshare owners...they are out there, targetting you, and their scams will likely get more subtle, more believeable, and more costly if you bite.

Hello anyone out there who is trying to sell or rent their timeshare please let me know if you know of one who actually sold or rented it by using sell your timeshare now.. or any other so called timeshare marketing company who says and promise that you have the best condo etc all that bs and that they can sell or rent it now for its the best time to do so. All those empty promises . Can anyone tell me the safest way to sell your timeshare and get a decent price.

Forget about trying to get a price for it. List it for $ 1.00 or for free and offer to pay the closing costs. Just be happy to get rid of it.