Buying, Renting, and Selling Timeshares

Please report upfront fee scammers to Attorney General ..... there's power in numbers

Aug 19, 2011

CBS News .... timeshare resale scams on the rise (copy and paste URL):

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31727_162-20094089-10391695.html


R P.
Sep 06, 2011

FTC and FBI now raiding upfront fee resale scam companies ....

copy and paste url below:

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-09-03/business/fl-timeshare-mega-media-20110903_1_timeshare-resale-timeshare-mega-media-ftc


R P.
Sep 06, 2011

Upfront fee resale scam complaints 800 in 2007 - 11,509 in 2010 Fl AG ....

The amount of timeshare resale complaints in Florida jumped from 800 in 2007 to 11,509 in 2010, according to the Florida Attorney General's Office.

Keep those complaints going to AG's in the state the scammers are located .... it's working.


R P.
Sep 28, 2011

Today, the Florida number does not work. How about that?


Al R.
Oct 07, 2011

A timeshare scam company that calls themselves 'Global Travel Services' operates out of Ortigas Center, Metro Manila - Philippines. The real name of the registered company with the Philippine SEC is called "Uni Asia." It is owned in part by 3 ladies, one of which is Kay Ann Santos, another is Janice Alcala, and the 3rd is Eileen C. Salita.

The address is 3104 Tektite Tower East Building. The hours of operation are local time Philippines: 9pm-12 noon the next day. They call USA East-West coast throughout all the business hours.

The company is REALLY owned by an American from Colorado who calls himself Vincent Kahn. (pronounced Con - Scam owner #1) and George A Krizan (Scam owner #2).

Vincent Kahn lived in Mexico and the Dominican Republic and ran his call center scheme there while doing other "real" timeshare sales activities while being arrested for having 10,000 illegal leads (phone #'s with names/addresses used to illegally call people). Vincent Kahn apparently escaped from Dominican Republic via boat and got to Haiti, then flew back to USA before running away to Asia in the Philippines. He now lives in General Trias, Cavite and is an avid golfer, spending most of his time smoking marijuana and having unprotected sex with hundreds of underaged girls.

He is the one that brings in the cash twice a week and illegally pays everyone off the books so that he can always keep himself separate and keep the 3 unknowing ladies in full responsibility if anything were to go wrong, which it will eventually, as with all scams.

This so called Global Travel Services (made up name that can change any time) claims that they have a group that is interested in renting your timeshare for up to $3600 per week for any weeks that you have available. They claim to work with a partner company called Universal Exchange who is a wholesaler so you've never heard of them and they cant be contacted on the web or on the phone (give me a break). People believe this stuff so be careful. The company itself is simply a boiler room with no real services except people talking.

They say that you can either use YOUR exchange company like RCI/II and do the exchange that way, but in the end they will force you to use their exchange company Universal Exchange (which is how they make their money) because the hotel that they claim to be renting for "The Hyatt/Regency or Mariott" are not even timeshare companies, so OF COURSE RCI CANNOT EXCHANGE. So they will have either tricked you into using "Universal Exchange" which doesnt exist, or some of them will straight up tell you that you need to use Universal anyway.

Then, after you do your checking or if they can just scam you right away on the first call, you will give your credit card information to them so they can do what they call "pass it on the to exchange company so they can exchange your timeshare to the location which is in Cancun Mexico."

THERE IS NO CONVENTION IN CANCUN MEXICO FOR ANY DOCTORS, LAWYERS, OR ANY GROUP.

The $199 is charged by a random credit card processor who is based in the USA (the company goes through 10 processors a week if not more) because everyone is always cancelling and even the processors know they are doing illegitimate processes, thats why if you rent more than 1 week from this group, your billing statement will show random companies around the USA charging you. (this is not typical of decent rental companies).

Plus, there is no contract. And on top of all that, they will tell you that a 3rd party verification company will confirm things with you and record it. THATS FOR THEIR BENEFIT NOT YOURS. All they ask you is that you authorize to charge the card for some multiple of $199. THATS IT. They NEVER mention TIMESHARE during the verification because if they did, then the charge is obviously not valid since they are not even a timeshare company in any sort of a way. So the verification is done just to verify that you screw yourself.

Please be careful of this scam guys, the phone #'s for this company that claims to be in Las Vegas NV are as follows: 702 514 3430 or 702 514 3431

Here is the breakdown of the scheme:

Owner of the account: Vincent Kahn Owner of 2nd branch office/employees: George A. Krizan Owner of the company as per the documentation: Kay ann Santos, Janice Alcala, Eileen Salita

Employees (real names): Shirley Comia (scam sales) Jenny Borja (scam sales) Maureen Marino (scam sales Team Leader) Aejay Sto. Domingo (scam sales) Michelle Bernardo (customer service) Edward Artita (Tanya Edwards) (customer service)

Again, this operation (along with many others) are being done out of the notoriously unregulated telephone lines of the Philippines. Most of these people are poor and could care less that they are ripping off poor widowed, retired American people who worked hard all their life to earn their money.

Please let this scam and all the timeshare scams be known. THE MARKET IS NOT GOOD. PEOPLE ARE NOT BUYING/RENT ANY TIMESHARE!!!!!!!!!!! The typical person who gets scammed and tricked are usually widowed, retired, older people who own timeshares and cant afford to pay their maintenance fees or for some reason dont use the timeshare like they used to and would love to turn a profit on a losing asset.

Heres the kicker (MOST PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN SCAMMED BY SOMEONE ELSE WILL EASILY GET SCAMMED AGAIN)

Here is the last bit of evidence I have that will also make you laugh. Its the scam website, poorly designed by George Krizan himself. It has the word Carribean spelled incorrectly [carrabean] (any company really operating out of that region would obviously know the real spelling for that). And the website is just a bunch of 'rebuttals' that the scam callers use, and now theyre just printed on the website. I call this, evidence. The website (for your entertainment purposes is located at): http://www.globaltravelservices.info/

and also another website which they claim but is not actually theirs (click around, no real content): http://www.globaltravelservices.net

Extra information proving this is all a scam: 1.) The date of the convention they are renting for changes every month to the next 3 months in advance. They always say they are renting for a convention 3 months in advance so that by the time you expect your check, its too late to cancel the credit card charge.

2.) They claim to be from Las Vegas, or Houston TX, but they are located in the Philippines. (every single employee has a heavy Filipino accent) so why would they lie about their location if its legit?

3.) The Hyatt Regency and the Mariott Inn in Cancun Mexico charge between 90-150$ per night, so how could someone pay you $3600/ week? Thats ridiculous. Enough said there

4.) Some 3rd party company cant just call your exchange company (RCI/II) and move around your property. YOU MUST BE THE ONE TO DO THAT. Call RCI and II and ask them yourselves. Its obvious.

5.) Half the time, they dont even know what timeshare they are renting. If you make it really confusing for them, they will still push the sale because they can actually get your money regardless of what timeshare you own. You dont even need to really own one. If someone that didnt even own one called them, they would put you through the whole script and even get your CC and charge you and they think they can keep hiding that obvious gap in logic!

6.) They change their phone # very often. Here are a few of the phone #'s theyve used this year:

310 734 0187 702 514 3430 702 514 3431 830 632 2231 858 346 2222


Vincent K.
Oct 26, 2011

I heard about a company that is based in Las Vegas and how they are under investigation for timeshare scamming. I dont know what their name is but I cannot believe the type of people out there who scam those who need help.


Victoria L.
Dec 11, 2011

I sent off my paperwork to the Attorney General this week. I made copies of all documents that included the times and dates and who I spoke to for the last 3 years. That company calls themselves Global Resort Management. They are just like all the other companies I have been reading about. GLOBAL RESORT MANAGEMENT IS A FRAUD. so keep passing the word out. It will start to make a difference.


Myona S.
Dec 20, 2011

EAST ST. LOUIS • Ralph Johnson, 34, of Delray Beach, Fla., was sentenced Friday in federal court here to 46 months in prison for his role in a telemarketing scam that cost more than 22,000 people — including at least 54 from Southern Illinois — about $30 million, prosecutors said. Johnson is one of a handful of participants in the scene, which ran from 2007-2010 and involved cold-calling timeshare owners and pretending to have willing buyers.

They asked for several thousand dollars in closing costs from victims in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Canada. Johnson participated in 2009, when he was a telemarketer for Universal Marketing Solutions and Creative Vacation Solutions. He scammed more than $282,000 from 141 victims, prosecutors said. Johnson pleaded guilty Sept. 8 to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/man-gets-gets-months-in-scam-that-fleeced-thousands-including/article_0f03e0ee-2840-11e1-99cd-0019bb30f31a.html#ixzz1h67unwUc


R P.
Jan 03, 2012

13 employees at Lauderdale timeshare resale firm admit fraud

A parade of former employees of a now-defunct Fort Lauderdale timeshare resale company has pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud clients who wanted to sell their unwanted vacation rentals.

Thirteen telemarketers from Timeshare Mega Media and Marketing Group have gone before federal judges in the last two months, each admitting to regularly lying to customers as they squeezed thousands of dollars out of them. Clients would put down as much as $10,000, believing the company had lined up buyers for their timeshares and the money was an administrative fee that would be refunded later, according to court records.

Federal authorities say the buyers never existed, describing Timeshare Mega Media as a "naked fraud." The company — run by two convicted felons — took in about $5 million in less than a year, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

TFBI agents raided the company's East Oakland Park Boulevard office in July 2010, and the FTC filed a lawsuit against Timeshare Mega Media a few months later.

Prosecutors have just gone after low-level employees of Timeshare Mega Media so far. Fifteen have been arrested in the last six months, and 13 have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, The fraud charge can carry up to five years in prison. All are awaiting sentencing.

The 14th employee has indicated he will cut a plea deal; the last employee died two months ago.

As of last month, the FBI investigation into Timeshare Mega Media was ongoing, with the agency at least looking at one of the men who allegedly masterminded the company — Pasquale "Posh" Pappalardo, according to court filings. Pappalardo, 59, served more than six years in federal prison in the mid-1990s on drug, firearms and counterfeit money charges.

FTC officials have alleged Pappalardo founded the company with Joseph "Joey" Crapella. Crapella, 45, spent nearly eight years in a Florida prison after being convicted in 2000 of racketeering and grand theft in a scheme involving the sale and stocking of vending machines, court records show.


R P.
Jan 12, 2012

Upfront fee timeshare resale owner gets 15+ years in prison:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/busine...alP_story.html


R P.
Apr 02, 2012

Do you have information on the Oregon Attorney General's office? I was scammed by Universal Timeshares, claiming to be from Oregon, but they charged my credit card $1,800 from the Dominican Republic. No sale, no returned phone calls, a total rip-off...


Attila S.
Apr 02, 2012

Google them


Don P.
Apr 07, 2012

Any word on Sell Exclusive, based in Florida. I think we may have just lost money with a scam that required up front money to sell our Club Ocean Villas II timeshare in Maryland.


Connie B.
Apr 07, 2012

connieb198 wrote:
Any word on Sell Exclusive, based in Florida. I think we may have just lost money with a scam that required up front money to sell our Club Ocean Villas II timeshare in Maryland.

How long ago did you send them money? If it's within a certain time frame, new Florida law requires that they honor a refund request - assuming that the contract they made you sign was one for advertising your unit.


Lance C.
Apr 07, 2012

Yesterday. What is the Florida law?


Connie B.
Apr 07, 2012

If you paid them up front money it's probably a scam.


Don P.
May 22, 2012

RCI LAWSUIT CLASS ACTION

You May be Entitled to a Payment from a Class Action Settlement About the RCI Points® Exchange Program

A Settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit that claims that RCI, LLC violated certain consumer protection and other laws by renting timeshare inventory deposited by members of the RCI Points Exchange Program. RCI denies it did anything wrong. Am I included? You are included if you (1) Are a resident of the U.S. or its territories, and (2) Were a member of the RCI Points Exchange Program on or before April 25, 2012. If this postcard is addressed to you, you are included in the Settlement unless you exclude yourself. What can I get? If the Settlement is approved, Settlement Class Members who submit Claim Forms may receive a payment. Current members may get $12 and former members may get $10. Claim Forms are due by August 24, 2012. What are my other rights? If you do not want to be legally bound by the Settlement, you must exclude yourself in writing. The exclusion deadline is October 2, 2012. If you stay in the Settlement you will not be able to sue RCI for any claim relating to the issues in this lawsuit. If you stay in the Settlement, you may object to all or any part of it by October 2, 2012. The Court will hold a hearing on November 1, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. to consider whether to approve the Settlement and a request for attorneys' fees, costs, and expenses in the amount of $835,000.00. The Court has appointed attorneys to represent the Class. You may hire your own attorney at your own expense. This Notice is Only a Summary. For Detailed Information and a Claim Form: Visit: www.pointsprogramsettlement.com, Call: 1-866-647-5645 or Write: Settlement Administrator, P.O. Box 2662, Faribault, MN 55021-9662


Alex C.
Jun 13, 2012

I tried to call the Attorney Generals office today to complain about timeshares By Owner and guess what they seemed to of cared less so the way I figure it Florida will just become the new area all the scammer's go to try and rip off people. Why not? No one care's in the Capital. Make's me wonder how much money is going in their own pocket's to keep all these scammer's around.


Anna W.
Jun 13, 2012

I hate to tell you but you have probably have been taken just like we were and it seem's Florida doesn't care as they are most likely in their back pocket's taking hand out's


Anna W.
Jun 13, 2012

Florida when are you going to pass law's for people so we do not get ripped off. There are thousand's of us and you do not seem to care. I will never enter your state again until you get something done about these con artist's. Why don't you follow Illinois law's and put some of them in prison. Maybe that will make them think before they go into business with the Devil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Anna W.

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