They find a buyer in Mexico and draw up a contract through an escrow company in New York City.
Little does he know that his time-share sale is connected to a dangerous Mexican drug cartel.
(MUSIC SEGUE)
[00:00:04] I’m not playing.
[00:00:04] Well why don’t you, why don’t you answer my calls?
I don’t care if your wife is in the hospital.
To be honest with you, I don’t give a damn.
[00:00:21] Yes.
[00:00:22] I’m frustrated now.
[00:00:29] Bob: Welcome back to The Perfect Scam.
I’m your host, Bob Sullivan.
Roughly 10 million Americans own a timeshare.
Many of them wish they didn’t.
And that frustration is an opening for these ruthless criminals.
Today we begin with James, a veteran who thought he found a way to unload an unwanted timeshare.
But instead found his way into the middle of a Mexican crime gang.
it’s possible for you to probably understand why James insists we only use his first name.
[00:01:57] James: I worked uh in law enforcement for 33 years.
And uh…
[00:02:01] Bob: 33 years, wow.
[00:02:29] Bob: I so admire that you still continued to serve.
[00:02:32] James: It’s almost a calling.
So back in 1996, they invest in a timeshare there.
[00:03:12] Bob: Love Lake Taho.
It’s amazing there.
[00:03:13] James: Yeah.
[00:03:15] Bob: So you would go every other year or so?
[00:03:53] Bob: Do you remember how much you spent on it?
[00:03:55] James: It was about $8,900 and change.
[00:04:07] James: There you go.
Yep, that was it.
What I would consider the early days of the, the timeshare boom, you might say.
We weren’t interested in purchasing anything.
And uh so that’s when he made the offer.
And I said, “Well yeah, sure.
We’re not using it, so we may as well get something out of it.”
[00:05:45] Bob: And could you place where he was from?
[00:05:48] James: Uh, no.
But he was a very fast talker.
I’m, I’m running that extra mile for your transaction.
[00:06:13] Bob: Within a week, Michael calls back with good news.
[00:06:18] James: Says, “Hey, I’ve got a buyer.
The buyer is a Mexican national.
And uh, he’s offering $22,470 for your timeshare up in Tahoe.
We’ll give it a shot.
He sent the paperwork.
But there is just one hitch.
[00:07:46] Bob: That’s a, that’s a lot.
That’s 10% of what they were going to pay you, right?
[00:07:49] James: Right, ex–, exactly.
And so he goes ahead and pays via wire transfer for that amount.
But a few days later there is another call.
And uh, I said, “Well, how much is that?”
And he advised $3,595 and change.
And I said, “Well thing’s starting to cost me.”
And said, “Don’t worry, the buyer in Mexico is going to reimburse your account.”
So uh, I said, all right.
[00:09:46] James: Yep.
It’s in, it’s in the escrow account with the, the company in New York.
[00:09:53] Bob: There it is, USCommercialEscrowCorp.com.
I’m looking at it right now.
The website says there’s an address right on West 35th Street in New York City.
There’s a 646-area code, phone number at the top of the page.
That’s a Manhattan area code.
It says, “We’re reinventing the closing process,” right on top of the page.
Again, he believes that his payment will arrive within a few days.
And it will help put all this behind him.
But instead, another call comes from someone new.
So that’s the, the Head Director of Foreign Accounts, supposedly at Bank of Mexico.
This time for $16,000?
His wife is sick.
She has cancer and she must begin treatment right away.
There’s a lot going on at home.
And then there’s an insurance fee for $18,000.
At this point, James begins to ask questions and doesn’t pay right away.
Jesus does not like that.
I’m, I’m with her right now.
Uh…
[00:12:30] Jesus: I just, I feel you’re ignoring my calls.
[00:12:40] Jesus: I’m going to be blunt with you, okay?
I’ve done nothing, I’ve done nothing but protect and gain capital for you.
I needed a verbal explanation and a verbal uh legal intent on your end.
[00:13:06] Bob: Weeks go by and the calls keep coming from Michael and Jesus.
But then there’s another snafu having to do with the Mexican government.
So she, she’s like, you know, we’re done.
Here’s Michael telling James he’s also frustrated by the holdup.
[00:14:53] James: Uh yeah.
Thats the goal here.
Believe me I want, I want to feel secure, I want you to feel secure.
My wife, she, she’s always questioning me, hey, what time you coming home?
Hey, why are you getting out this late?
You know I, I just feel so stressed out you know.
Things aren’t the same with my family.
[00:15:43] Bob: Jesus on the other hand is much pushier.
Here he is demanding a large payment from James, chastising him for missing deadlines.
That no longer applies.
I kept calling you yesterday, before yesterday.
I told you, it’s the full amount.
[00:16:13] James: All right.
I’ll see what I can come up with.
[00:16:29] James: Okay.
Don’t forget there’s timeframes.
Then all of a sudden, Jesus call you and theres a bad news.
Well, stop breaching the, stop breaching the deadlines.
But anyways, who am I to convince you, right?
[00:16:56] Bob: James is frustrated, distracted, and worried sick about his wife.
And Michael increasingly offer empathy.
[00:17:14] Michael: Look, I’m on your side.
[00:17:37] James: Well, I’ll see what I can do.
[00:17:56] Michael: I, I can hardly get any sleep, James.
I can hardly get any sleep, believe me, I’m trying my best.
I’m trying my best.
I’m not giving up on you.
He’s going to Mexico himself to fix things.
[00:19:10] Bob: But that trip, Michael says, does the trick.
James' timeshare sale is finally going through and the payment is on the way.
[00:19:24] James: Absolutely.
Yeah, I figured, hey, this whole thing’s over.
But we waited about a week.
[00:19:50] Bob: But the money doesn’t come.
Instead, there are more fees.
James' frustration mounts.
He’s got no good options.
‘Cause right now nothing has ever come in.
[00:20:34] Michael: I know, I know.
Yeah, yeah, and even I’m conscious of that, I’m conscious very much about that.
Hey, this came up.
And then what happened?
You know I, and honestly, I’m, I’m, I’m working my hardest.
I just can’t give up.
[00:21:37] James: All right.
[00:21:38] Michael: It’s the total opposite.
But I’ll speak to you tomorrow.
[00:21:42] Bob: But it seems tomorrow never comes.
[00:21:56] James: That would have been in probably January, late, late January.
The owner went to Mexico and, and uh after Michael went to, went there.
Both him and Bruce were involved in a similar situation like that.
[00:22:51] Bob: He wanted you to pay $150,000 so he could come home.
[00:22:54] James: Right, and that, and that would clear up everything.
But at this, at that point, both Michael and Bruce were begging me to do that.
I don’t want, I don’t want you to do that.
He’s doing everything watching out for me.
The emails that I had used had changed slightly.
[00:24:22] Bob: When you said no to Michael, what happened?
Help, help, if you might come up with those funds.”
That, that went on for a bit.
[00:25:22] Bob: Wow.
[00:25:23] Bob: Jesus, meanwhile, well he’s not as polite about things.
In fact, he begins to engage in outright badgering, threatening James.
I am the Head Director of Foreign Accounts and dealing with Miss Maria Hernandez at Bank of Mexico.
The Finance Intelligence Unit is my job.
We, we seized their, their money.
We hit where it hurts.
You’re not valuing my efforts?
[00:26:15] Bob: Even to the point of flat-out heartlessness.
[00:26:19] James: I’m not saying that.
I don’t care if your wife is in the hospital.
To be honest with you, I don’t give a damn.
[00:26:36] James: Yes.
But the conversion is going up, the conversion is going down.
[00:26:59] James: I’m beginning to, yes.
[00:27:01] Jesus: Well, begin to, kindly.
[00:27:06] Bob: No, it’s not a game.
That escrow website now shows James has spent nearly $900,000 towards these transactions.
He’s basically out of money and you might say, he follows Jesus’s advice.
He decides to contact a lawyer.
[00:27:35] Mike Finn: I don’t know.
James contacted our office; I didn’t take the initial call.
It came in through our intake and they were confused about what James was calling about.
[00:27:46] Bob: But Mike isn’t confused.
He knows what’s going on right away.
He gets calls from timeshare sale fraud victims every week.
James doesn’t know what to do.
He just wants a lawyer’s help to get his money back.
And at this point, he has no idea what he’s gotten himself in the middle of.
But Steve Fisher knows.
He’s an investigative journalist based in Mexico City.
He moved years ago from Pennsylvania to Mexico to investigate organized crime, a very dangerous job.
Heres what Steve learns as he is reporting on his story.
Well, timeshare scams kind of used to work like that.
Until….
[00:29:50] Steve Fisher: And then in 2010, something very important happened.
And it’s this scam.
And uh, and he’s like, “And I’ll teach you how to do this.”
[00:31:05] Bob: So is, is this what I imagine in my head?
Is that how it works?
Such big business that the cartel has dramatically shifted business models in recent years.
It requires a lot of logistics, a lot of people to get that shipment to its destination.
And that’s pretty much the extent of their investment.
[00:34:03] Bob: The men James has been talking to work in a very dangerous business.
[00:34:27] Steve Fisher: Yeah, that’s right.
But the theories kind of align with how the Jalisco cartel functions in general.
They’re good at making high profile, gruesome examples of those who would defy them.
[00:35:14] Bob: Gruesome examples of those who would defy them.
He’s still holding out hope that he can get his money out of that escrow company.
Maria, calling from Mexico, asks this timeshare lawyer for help finding victims of a timeshare scam.
That’s how Maria connects with James.
[00:36:14] James: At that point, correct.
And primarily because, because of this escrow account that I still had.
The escrow account still reflects that there’s money in my supposed account there.
[00:36:28] Bob: What happens to James $900,000?
And what can timeshare owners do to protect themselves when trying to get out from under a timeshare deal?
Well that’s next week on The Perfect Scam.
For The Perfect Scam, I’m Bob Sullivan.
Call the AARP Fraud Watch web connection Helpline at 877-908-3360.
Their trained fraud specialists can provide you with free support and guidance on what to do next.
That address again is: theperfectscampodcast@aarp.org.
Be sure to find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
For AARP’s The Perfect Scam, I’m Bob Sullivan.
