The Mexican Official Call - Restitution Fund Offer
May 15, 2015
It seems all of us are targets for cold callers who want to "rent" or "buy" our timeshare interests. Now there is a recurrence of an old twist to the world of scams. In this instance, a person alegedly from an arm of the Mexican Federal Government calls and invites your participation in a restitution fund.The deal is like this:
- You send the caller all your timeshare information (HA! Better not!)
- You send by wire money to ensure your place in the "Restitution Fund" (HA! Better not!)
- You have officially lost your money!
Hi Bob and Mary Ann,Inviting as this may seem, there is reason for concern.
I did not see this on your list of possible scams and cannot ask Vidanta because they have no reason to tell me. A supposed representative called several weeks ago and asked if we had put any money up front to rental agencies or real estate companies to rent or sell the unit. Of course because the sales rep at Grand Luxxe had recommended it, we did it early on and got ripped off. He followed up with a call to tell us there was an investigation by the Mexican government asking for information about these issues.
Below please find his letter:
As we discussed over the telephone, Subprocuraduria de Servicio y Verificacion SSV, working with SSP Procuraduria General de la Republica, have been appointed to investigate the victims of wrong doing concerning foreign vacation property investors. SSP Policía Federales have seized a number of financial accounts and real estate assets amounting in millions of dollars from a number of "Resort Marketing and Timeshare" call centers and scam offices involved in fraudulent transactions within the timeshare industry. We have attained catalogues with hundreds of unaware parties' names that were violated through these fraudulent activities.
It is unfortunate that we found your name and basic information through the attained catalogues. It has been confirmed that you may be eligible for restitution based on what you have told us. At this time it is not known what dollar value you are privy to. We will need to instruct our verification department through allegation forms so that we have authority to initiate a formal complaint to be approved for restitution. We require your return documentation to move forward.
Attached to this e-mail, please find a two page questionnaire/authorization form. In order to move forward with your case, we require that you fill out, sign, and return this document along with any and all documentation that you may have in conjunction with this case.
Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions.
Lic. Jonathan Pérez.
Dirección de Verificación
Procuraduría General de la Republica
Avenida Ejercito Nacional N.418,
Col.Miguel Hiladgo, Distrito Federal, México, C.P. 11570
Tel 01152-(558) 526-1173
From TripAdvisor Travel Forum:
Today,4/21/2014, I was contacted by a person saying he was representing the Mexican government. He said that he was part of an investigation into the fraudulent activities of the time share business in Mexico. He stated through his investigation he obtained my name and number. He said he was affiliated with P.G.R. and was to present his findings to CONDUSEF for restitution. He sent a Acuredo de Autorization and a Solicitud de Reclamacion for me to fill out and fax back. When asked how much this will cost he said nothing it is a Mexican Government operation to recover the fraudulent monies. His info is as follows: Lic. Jos'e Quintero Direccion de Verificacion Dr. Carmona y Valle 11, 4to, 5to y 6to Piso Colonia Doctores, Delegacion Cuauhtémoc CP 06720, Mexico, D.F. Tel. 52-5541-703710. Has anyone else received anything like this or is another scam? Any input is greatly appreciated.
And another:
From TripAdvisor Travel Forum:And another:
November 19, 2014:
Thank you all for your posts.
I received calls from Licensiado Rodrigo Nieto Gomez, working for some kind of non-profit, hired by the Mexican Gov. He sent me a bunch of docs requesting info.
Today I got a call from a guy from Banco de Mexico, Lic Roberto Acuna Lopez, about the verification deposit.
The SCAM: I have to wire a deposit $3,700 US dollars in a bank account in Mexico and they will send me the award of $50+K in 48 to 72 hours.
The address is the same as someone has posted:
Subprocuradoria de Servicios de Verificacion
Dr. CArmona y Valle 11, 4to, 5to y 6to Piso
Colonia Doctores, Delegacion Cuauhtemoc
C.P. 06720, Mexico, DF
Lic. Rodrigo Nieto Gomez
Dirección de Verificación
Dr. Carmona y Valle 11, 4to, 5to y 6to Piso
Colonia Doctores, Delegación Cuauhtémoc
CP 06720, México, D.F.
Tel. 52-5547-411211
email address: extranjeros.usa@subprocu-verificacion-gob.mx
Lic Roberto Acuna Lopez
BANCO DE MEXICO
Av. 5 de Mayo, Col. Centro,C.P. 06059
Del. Cuauhtemoc Mexico Distrito Federal
TEL: 011 52 554 7411203
FAX: 011 52 5510842607
email address: clientes.usa@banxico-gob.mx
They also use the name of a real judge in Mexico: LIc. Magdalena Malpica Cervantes.
I went to the "official website" of the Tribunal Superior de Justicia del Distrito Federal. I found her name but I did not find anything about Timeshare rulings.
IT'S A SCAM!!! FOR SURE!!!
From TripAdvisor Travel Forum:We all read these posts and take the warnings to heart. Let's all take the pledge to help wipe out the scammers.....don't send money and they will go away!
Dec 01, 2014, 6:12 PM
Please forward any further information. Recently was contacted by Juan Ortiz with similar credentials. This is a very elaborate scam this time.
Dec 02, 2014, 11:25 AM
Yes. See below.
Subprocuraduría de Servicios de Verificación is the entity appointed by P.G.R. to filter and conduct investigation on all victimized foreign vacation investment owners and present them to CONDUSEF for restitution. P.G.R. in conjunction with CONDUSEF have seized a number of financial accounts and real estate assets amounting in millions of dollars from a number of “Resort Marketing and Timeshare” call centers and scam offices involved in fraudulent transactions within the timeshare industry. We have attained catalogues with hundreds of unaware parties names that were violated through these fraudulent activities.
It is unfortunate that we found your name and basic information through the attained catalogues. It has been confirmed that you may be eligible for restitution based on the information that was seized by P.G.R. At this time it is not known what dollar value you are privy to. We will need to instruct our verification department through allegation forms so that we have authority to initiate a formal complaint to be approved for restitution. We require your return documentation to move forward.
Documentation required and attached is as follows:
v Acuerdo de Autorización is not a binding contract, it is a statement of permission from you. It must be signed by the legal Membership holder so that we may proceed with measures to recover damages on your behalf.
v Solicitud de Reclamacion is for detailing any losses or other related damages you may have suffered. This information is vital in determining the eventual remuneration you may receive. Please provide it on the designated document with accuracy.
Please forward completed Acuerdo de Autorización and Solicitud de Reclamación with the required signatures included by fax or email.
Lic. Juan Lopez
Dirección de Verificación
Dr. Carmona y Valle 11, 4to, 5to y 6to Piso
Colonia Doctores, Delegación Cuauhtémoc
CP 06720, México, D.F.
Tel. 52 5541618829
foraneos@subprocu-verificacion-gob.mx