Carriage House Travel, Inc.
August 26, 2015
We received an email from R today. He was grateful for our post regarding Carriage House Travel, Inc. Here is what he had to say:Dear Aimfair,We exchanged another email. Following are the contents of this followup email to R:
Thanks for your notice about Carriage House Travel, Inc. at T-PS Nov42014 Carriage House. Unfortunately I didn't see it in time and got scammed by this fake company of criminals, probably operating out of Mexico, who offered to sell my Villa del Palmar Cancun timeshare. I have a lot of info. on them and have sent a detailed report to many government agencies in the U.S. and some in Mexico. It is important for everyone who was scammed by them to report their experience to the FBI, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (tied to the FBI), the FTC, and the Washington State Attorney General's office, which have websites that can be easily located by using Google (or I will send you the info. if you need it), because such organizations only investigate a pattern, not individuals cases. I reported these criminals to law enforcement before they shut down and went into hiding, but the government reaction was too slow and now they will be much harder to catch.
Yours truly,
R
Hello R,R's response was the following:
Sorry to hear about your bad experience. It is a shame individuals are out there to take advantage of well meaning and trusting individuals. We hope your losses were minimal. Some of Aimfair’s members have lost multiple thousands of dollars. And these are intelligent, trusting individuals.
The problem with this “business plan” is it is lucrative and relatively safe. One person who was being impersonated by a scammer actually spoke with the scamming party on the phone and recorded the conversation. The impersonator admitted to making over a million dollars, and all he does is ask people to send money. He admitted he would release the person’s identity about a month after the call, and he will be out of his life.
We started to duplicate documents for people to read in order to forewarn them about what they could see. In the end, we encourage our members to do two simple things: Confirm the company has an office at the address provided in correspondence and confirm the company is registered to do business in its domicile state. If a special delivery package or letter sent to the address listed in correspondence or on the website is returned due to “No Known Address”, there is absolutely no reason to consider doing anything at all with the caller or writer.
Rather than sending us your documentation, we would appreciate it if we could post your comments. Hopefully they will be useful to someone who is contacted by a “representative” of the “company”. Just let us know if you authorize us to use your letter, anonymously.
We also would appreciate you letting others know Aimfair is one of many places to check before doing anything. Finally, we would greatly appreciate it if you remind others that only they can write that check.
We truly appreciate you reaching out to us and your confidence in us.
Best regards,
Bob and Mary Ann Jones
Dear Bob and Mary Ann,Clearly, scams continue to circulate. In fact, just today we received a call from MHP Brokerage Group out of Kansas City, MO. The caller was asking for someone who was a total stranger, yet he called our telephone number.
Thanks for your quick reply and sympathy. Others had attempted to scam me before and I detected them, but the Carriage House Travel crew were very professional and clever at covering their bases to look like a legitimate business. I investigated their business location and thought I had adequate information, but it turned out to be incorrect. Your idea of mailing something to the address is a great one, and I wish I had known about that test.
Sure, you are welcome to post my comments, and I will be happy to let others know about Aimfair.
Best wishes,
R
We are grateful for people like R who contact and let us know about their experiences.
Timeshare Resale Scams - Infographic from the FTC
In the end, the only way to stop these scams is to follow a couple of simple rules during the due diligence process.
- Send a certified letter to the person who called you at the address listed on his correspondence or the website, and
- Confirm the company is licensed to do business in your state.