Victim Location 91750
Total money lost $67,000
Type of a scam Travel/Vacations
My parents (elderly) owned a time share in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and were contacted by this company. They told my parents that they had a buyer who wanted to buy their property for $125,000 because they wanted ownership in the resort so they were buying up a bunch of spaces. My father thought it was a good deal since he originally bought the timeshare for $65k. This company assured them that they were not a scam and even offered to have them speak with former clients – of course we know now they were pretend people. They were a bilingual company since they did so much dealings with Mexico and so my father, being a Spanish speaker and born in Mexico, felt comfortable with it. After sending some initial paperwork promising the purchase of their time share, the company immediately went into escrow. Initially it started with a closing statement showing that my parents needed to pay Closing Fees, Taxes, PMI, etc. so they did. My parents understood the purchasing process so to them it was understandable so my parents sent them $25k dollars – they only wanted wired funds – no money order, no cashier’s check, no credit card. This of course was the first red flag. So my parents pulled their savings and wired the funds. Their banks were suspicious but let them go ahead and wire it. It all went downhill from here. This company then asked for more money and more money and more money for things like "luxury tax" and SRE tax and more PMI insurance…..and throughout the entire scam they were in contact with *** *** and *** *** and Fernando Cruz – all agents there. We checked their website and working e-mail addresses. All seemed legit. My parents were promised a total of $174k dollars when this closed cash. They even sent us a wire transfer receipt with a stamped Mexican seal showing where the money was going and that it was being sent through JP Morgan Chase Bank. My father even threated them that he was gonna take legal action if the money wasn’t there but they continued to reassure him that all was going find. Well needless to say my parents got taken – BIG TIME! All of their savings and even borrowing from others. The last straw was when my dad sent the last wire in the amount of $8,575.00 for a "tax difference" and he told them that he was done sending them money and that he had a lawyer in Mexico. After that – this company disappeared. The phone numbers just rang and rang and the website was taken down. It was awful. Not only are my parents out over $60k dollars but they are also made fools. Their savings gone and now owing money to close friends and family who were trying to support them. Don’t let this happen to your elderly loved ones.