(NewsNation) — Scammers are targeting timeshare owners across the country looking to sell in Mexico, draining them of millions of dollars through companies who falsely promise to sell or rent their properties — and a Mexican cartel is believed to be behind it.
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received over 600 complaints in 2022 about Mexican timeshare scammers, Courier Journal reported. Victims of these scams lost nearly $40 million, the report said.
Timeshare owners are targeted by scammers posing as sales representatives through unexpected phone calls, or emails.
“The sales representatives often use high-pressure sales tactics to add a sense of urgency to the deal,” the FBI explained.
Eventually, timeshare owners agree to a sale and are told they need to pay the fees upfront. Once the fee is paid, the “resale company” becomes evasive and disconnects any numbers or websites that were used for the scheme.
According to Brian E. Nelson, undersecretary of the U.S. Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel may be the masterminds behind the scam.
“CJNG’s deep involvement in timeshare fraud in the Puerto Vallarta area and elsewhere, which often targets elder U.S. citizens and can defraud victims of their life savings, is an important revenue stream supporting the group’s overall criminal enterprise,” Nelson said.
Sanctions were placed on members of the cartel in April by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control in an attempt to control their revenue sources.