New Fraud Alert

I just received a notification from Timesharing Today that they have been alerted to a new scam coming out of Orlando, Florida. The companies involved are :

American Vacation Group GWF LLC First Decision LLC

Do not send them any money. If you have already sent them money or been contacted by them contact the investigator in Orlando at :

michael.stevens@cityoforlando.net ( 407 ) 246 - 2971

Florida is not the only state this is occurring in: Philip Simon Nov 13 04:03 pm (PST) I was contacted by Mr. Edgar Holmes of the Classic Connection Travel Co., Inc. on July 31, 2013 to see if I were interested in selling my New Penthouse Unit at Hacienda del Mar in Cabo San Lucas for $41,900. He said he would receive a “finder’s fee” of $2,095 from our end of the proceeds of the sale. Subsequently he instructed me to wire to his escrow company’s Mexican connection $2,609 as a “Foreign Investor Registration Fee” to be submitted to the Mexican government. My wife and I met with our lawyer and he spoke to Mrs. Sonya Gooden, manager of Georgia Escrow Co., Inc. and he was convinced she told him the truth about the “…Fee. “ We were subsequently told we had to prepay the IVA tax of 11%, amounting to $4,609 USD. Again we met with our attorney, Robert Massi, Esq. of Henderson, Nevada and he said to us, “.. although I make no warrantee of the truth of this request , I’m a gambler and if it were me I would do it”. So my wife and I agreed to do it and I wired the funds as directed to a Mexican bank. The last straw was when Mr. Holmes of Classic Connections Travel sent me an email requesting a prepaid “Closing and Administration Fee” of $4,480 to again to be paid to the Mexican Government. We did not pay this fee; but we took our “file” to the US FBI and met with a special agent, who would refer this to the “White Collar Crime Unit” for further investigation. My wife wrote to the “Profeco” or Federal Consumer Protection in Mexico. I sent an email to Hacienda del Mar telling them I did not sell my timeshare and they assured me that it would not be taken away from us. I also wrote to the taxing authorities in Guadalajara, MX to notify them of what occurred. The end result of all this is we got screwed out of $7,652 (including wire fees) and we learned our lesson. Please don’t let this happen to you. Philip Simon Redweek Member Attachment(s) Scan_Pic0001.jpg

I would sue your attorney for malpractice. Anyone in these forums would realize that was a scam from the first contact. Go through the threads in here and you will see that scam used over and over again. Be carefull in the future. You will probably be contacted by someone claiming they can recover the money you lost to the scammers. It's the scammers again trying to get more money from you. NEVER pay anyone money to resnt or sell your timeshare.

This sounds like a true scam. But remember, most attorneys who are representing you for the first time will require a "letter of engagement" or a portion of the total fee upfront. Remember, attorneys are in business too and these are common business practices. Having said that, check out the attorney you are hiring. One good source is the local chapter of the American Bar Association. They maintain a list of complaints against attorneys. Of course, if you are doing business in Mexico, that is a different arena.