Timeshare Investors of America- a possible scam!

[Pattiwalker Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pattiwalker]

Our sales guy Derick directed us to the D&B site, but we weren't able to check on them unless we paid a fee. That really sucked.
He kept telling us we needed to give him a check or our routing number at the bank so they could deduct the fee.
Just too scarey.

[vlopez Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close vlopez]

Leisure Resort Specialist

Can any one get a address in Mexico for the alleged escrow officer?
I understand a victim must file a report with bank. this is hard as do not speak English. I tried till I was blue in face. So I will call with my uncle and aunt who speak Spanish. I will then file a Police report against Estela Ruelas Bernal since she is the only real person. I am pretty sure LRS are giving fake names.

Where is there address now? Are they still giving fake address in San Fransico? LRS and Estela took $3397 from me. Crooks. The harm created is immense. LRS almost reel you in with psycholgy and fake paper work from government agency - all fake and not valid. Please report to local FBI and FTC and attorney general if you are a victim. The larger the case--the more likely agencies will go after these people.

[not fooled Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close not fooled]

Timeshare Investors of America (TIA)

Don't have a TIA (transient ischemic attack or "ministroke"). DO NOT fall victim to these scam telemarketers. I do have access to Dunn & Bradstreet & there is no company info other than fraud complaints.

Jay West, Wayne Knight & Ben Coleman all gave me their address as 20333 state highway 249 suite 200 Houston, TX 77070. The company is not listed as tenants. The address 7880 San Filippe Street Houston, TX was mentioned earlier in this thread- it's is for sale.

And lastly, no real estate transaction is ever paid up front by check or worse pulling funds directly from your checking account (no seller recourse there). That was the approach they tried with me. Caveat emptor!

[denwood Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close denwood]

Derick is still there!

Our sales guy Derick directed us to the D&B site, but we weren't able to check on them unless we paid a fee. That really sucked.
He kept telling us we needed to give him a check or our routing number at the bank so they could deduct the fee.
Just too scarey.

Derick has been calling me the past two days offering me 18 cents per point for the sale of my Wyndham points. He claims that he as a buyer looking to purchase 20 million points. He had an 'excuse' or reason for every question that I threw at him. When I told him that I could not put together the $5,000 retainer, he said that he would go to bat for me see if I could do it in two payments. I told him that that was not possible either then he started to insinuate that Wyndham would put a lien on my home. Defending that I have never missed a payment nor have fallen behind on maintenance, I quickly thanked him for his time and I hung up.

I don't know which list I have gotten myself on but I have been getting quite a few "sell your timeshare" lists. As I told him, I am happy with my timeshare and we use it quite often and even borrow against future points. We make our payments and take full advantage of everything. He kept insisting that I wanted to sell but that was not the case (except when he started throwing around a sales price of $100K...)

My name is on the Do Not Call list but I keep getting these scammers. Anyway to report them?

[timeos2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close timeos2]

Once one has your number & finds it valid they sell it to others. It can be very tough to get it stopped.

[carerraS4 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close carerraS4]

I was contacted by Timeshare Investors of America, 3300 S. Gessner Road, Suite 250, Houston, TX 77063, yesterday offering to buy my timeshare, my 2011 points, as well as refunding my 2010 and 2011 maintenance fees for a very good price. But they wanted a 9.5% deposit to be made by check ONLY which they promised to refund at closing. This deal was simply too good to be true. The contact person was Craig Rudolph who said he works in Chicago. This has all the makings of a scam, so I turned down the offer. If you have any specifics that proves this is a scam or not, please add to this post. There is no proof one way or another at the moment. They are promising procedes from sale within 120 days, meaning that most likely they are stringing along sellers for the next three months, and then will disappear completely once those closings don't happen. Would love for someone to prove our hunches wrong. I plan to offer them a better deal which they would be stupid to turn down unless this is a scam. I suggest that everyone else do the same. The deal is: No up front deposit, and you can have 10% of the sale procedes once the deal is closed. Only a crook would turn down that deal, if the original deal wasn't a scam.

P.S. At the moment this blog turns up high on the list of google searches for this company (right behind their actual web-site), so this post is going to be a very popular research starting point for people contacted by this company. Please only post if you are involved with this specific company, general warnings will only water this down.

i have not done business with this company but i did get a call from them wanting to buy my timeshare a few days ago. seeing how the original post was in January and its now July. how are they able to still be in business if it were not selling timeshares? that's already 7 months not including the time that they've been in business before the initial post in January. just saying. i want to make the smartest decisions possible but also with so many fraudulent company's out there how do we know we are not just labeling a good company as a bad one do to all the hear say. regardless, i still stick to the whole if its to good to be true then it probably is but i am just saying.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

In a market where thousands want to sell or give away their timeshare, anyone who calls you out of the blue wanting to buy your timeshare should raise very large flags. Odds are they are crooks if they want any kind of a fee paid prior to the transfer.

[vlopez Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close vlopez]

Scams Get Their Business License

Many companies calling to scam you hide behind fake names.

If it sounds too good to be true, it is a scam.

You have to pay others to buy Time Shares now or give them away.

I was scammed out of $3390. I just want to help others not to be helped.

[waynepa35 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close waynepa35]

Secret Service Investigation

I have been contacted by the US Secret Service regarding Timeshare Investors of America. The Houston office of the Secret Service is beginning an ivestigation into this scam. The agent in charge has requested that I provide him with a detailed summary of all of my contacts, discussions, promises etc and the names of the individuals with whom I spoke. I can provide the agents name and contact info to antone who wants it.

[timeos2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close timeos2]

i have not done business with this company but i did get a call from them wanting to buy my timeshare a few days ago. seeing how the original post was in January and its now July. how are they able to still be in business if it were not selling timeshares? that's already 7 months not including the time that they've been in business before the initial post in January. just saying. i want to make the smartest decisions possible but also with so many fraudulent company's out there how do we know we are not just labeling a good company as a bad one do to all the hear say. regardless, i still stick to the whole if its to good to be true then it probably is but i am just saying.

They can remain in business without selling a week as it takes time (usually many months) for enough evidence to be gathered to meet the level needed for charges to be filed. PLUS the money they depend on comes from the upfront fees charged not legitimate sales. So the very process lets them continue to operate even as they fail to do what they promise. Its actually another sign, among many, that this is at best a very suspect operation that is best avoided.

[vintner Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close vintner]

I have been contacted by the US Secret Service regarding Timeshare Investors of America.

Secret Service??? Really??
Why would they be investigating? How does a division of Homeland Security figure this to be a federal issue? Are they figuring this is counterfeiting, major fraud, or a threat against a major political person?

[HappyFolder999 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close HappyFolder999]

There's nothing that I hate more than scammers. These guys are definitely scammers. They have now changed names (predictably) and have moved on to another pitch. It's the way that these scammers always work.

If the "secret service" was really interested in finding them, they would have found them by now. It's not that difficult.

[waynepa35 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close waynepa35]

Timeshare Investors of America

I have been dealing with these people for several months and yes, stupid me gave them money. I clled them and told them that I had been contacted by the Secret Service who were investigating TIA. Today I wa advised that they were going to refund my money. Sounds too good to be true since scammers don' usually return anything. I'll post more as things develop.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

If anything, they will probably not refund any money and move and try covering their tracks instead. Generally the FTC is the one investigating wire fraud.

[HappyFolder999 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close HappyFolder999]

Luxury Capital Group is their new name

And the play the same game...stay away from these scammers. Nothing honorable about what these guys are doing.

They are defininetely located in the Los Angeles Area....