A widespread method of defrauding current Mexican timeshare owners is to promise to broker the sale of the existing timeshare in exchange for a small commission of approximately 5% to 10%. The scammers’ methods will include sending documents that appear to be legitimate and which appear to contain contractual protections for the seller, satisfaction guarantees, and money-back guarantees. Using common technology such as VOIP (voice over internet protocol), the timeshare resale scammers make it look like they are somebody (or somewhere) that they are not. In some cases, the call is coming from a call center in Mexico, but appears to be coming from a U.S. phone number. In some cases, the caller is actually in the United States but the phone number is fake.
First stage of the scam: “we can sell your timeshare.” Your initial contact is from a company offering to list your timeshare for sale, or claiming that they have a pool of buyers lined up who are looking to buy timeshare similar to yours. If you express interest, they send bogus contracts. You agree to pay a commission or listing fee, having been told that there is no risk.
Second stage: “we have a buyer lined up and we will be ready to close soon.” After letting you believe that there is a buyer ready, the first request for money will come. Often this is a request for you to pay the “listing agent” or broker their commission. Warning: if this money is being wired to a bank account in Mexico, there is almost no chance of ever recovering the money or reversing the wire.
Third stage: “Just one more wire transfer needed.” Once you have sent good money, they will try to extract as much from you for as long as possible. The exact words and claims made by the scammers will vary, but here are typical examples:
- Title search fees
- Advance maintenance fees
- Mexican title transfer fees
- Sales tax
- Mexican real estate taxes
- Capital gains taxes
- Legal fees