Just had a phone call...…. Profeco Scam!

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

Gentleman was was from Profeco claiming to be looking into timeshare fraud.
Said that the Mexican tourism has taken a major hit and the gov't is now looking into alot of allegations against numerous timeshares in Mexico.
He evan outlined the sales presentation my wife were given at one timeshare in particular.
When I brought up a second Timeshare he knew particulars about them as well and the fact that it was never built.

My wife and I reluctantly stopped paying on these a few years ago for fear it would effect our credit score. But nothing has ever come of it.

I'm now looking over the email info he sent me.
Does anyone know anything about this?

From the info he gave me on he phone they seem to be going after Villa del Palmar pretty hard.

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

Here's the email

Dear Sir & Madam----------,

Currently there are several Resorts Groups under investigation by Profeco, the Consumer Watchdog of the Mexican Government.
Profeco has received countless serious complaints regarding questionable practices within the Timeshare industry. Many members suffered monetary losses due to fraud or breach of contract. This investigation involves the Reparation of losses.

By now you would have received, or soon will receive, a call from one of the Legal Agents at the Procuraduria de Profeco.

Procuraduria de Profeco is the principal orchestrator in the execution of Laws and Regulations which had been developed to protect foreigners vulnerable to fraud, to address complaints, to investigate unlawful practices, and to repair damages if any have been suffered.

Attached you will find two attachments as will be explained by one of our Agents:
1. The Beneplacito is not a binding document. It is a Statement of permission from you, the Membership Holder, that we may proceed with measures to recover damages on your behalf.
2. The Electronic form 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 fill out and sign both these documents and return it to us. You can do that either by Fax or Scanning/email. The Electronic Document can be filled out and returned by pressing the SUBMIT (ENVIAR) button at the bottom of the page.
Our department has been given a limited time frame in which to contact and assist as many members as possible. Yours is not the only Group which has been penalized into settling with disgruntled members.
Therefore, please consider that time is of the essence in order to ensure an outcome in your favor.

At your service,
Lic. ----------------
Procuraduría Federal Del Consumidor
Tel: 52-55-3686-9765 Ext. --
Fax: 52-55-1084-7557

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

Haven't heard of any aggressive action by PROFECO, but noticed a quick resolution to the last complaint noted here against Groupo Mayan. I have seen recent complaints on Villa del Palmar elsewhere.

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

We received the same phone call and email information today. Anyone have any idea if this is true or not.
So far they say there are NO costs involved, but I am very skeptical.

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

I'm beginning to wonder if this is really PROFECO or someone with a scam trying to sound like them. There would be no costs with a claim to PROFECO, but I have never heard of them looking for people who may have been scammed. You could call them to be sure at 01 800 468 8722

[jerrry94087 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jerrry94087]

In my experience, if the e-mail begins from "Dear Sir & Madam", or "From the desk of", this is a fraud. Normal people don't write like this.
Call me prejudiced....

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

Mine had Dear Mr. and Madame Axxxxxx(my name) Now since they are not asking for money or a credit card number I am just waiting to see where it goes.
I actually found a legitimate email for the Profeco in Mexico City and send them the email and documents to see what they have to say about it.
I will post if I get a reply.

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

Mine had Dear Mr. and Madame Axxxxxx(my name) Now since they are not asking for money or a credit card number I am just waiting to see where it goes.
I actually found a legitimate email for the Profeco in Mexico City and send them the email and documents to see what they have to say about it.
I will post if I get a reply.

Thanks. Let us know what you find out.

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

I'm beginning to wonder if this is really PROFECO or someone with a scam trying to sound like them. There would be no costs with a claim to PROFECO, but I have never heard of them looking for people who may have been scammed. You could call them to be sure at 01 800 468 8722

I find it strange they are looking for people as well. Will see if I hear anything back from my email

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

If you know how to open and read internet heaters on e-mail messages, you may be able to verify that the e-mail actually came from Profeco or if the sender is spoofing the address.

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

If you know how to open and read internet heaters on e-mail messages, you may be able to verify that the e-mail actually came from Profeco or if the sender is spoofing the address.

Thanks for that suggestion! I do know how to open and read email headers. Should have thought of that myself.
The info I got when I looked up the IP address of the sender shows it is godaddy.com
Return-Path: <asesoria@profeco-gob.mx>
Received-SPF: pass (domain of profeco-gob.mx designates 64.202.189.20 as permitted sender)

Somehow I doubt Profeco is using GoDaddy.

Still no response from the email I sent to Profeco in Mexico city but the guy who sent the email called us back tonight.

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

We too had the same call and after reading through here looked at the email headers and found it going through GoDaddy. Googled the Profeco website and that looks like an official mex gov agency but it's page is profeco.gob.mx, the email has profeco-gob.mx so I typed the dashed address into the web brower and it takes you to a GoDaddy webpage that is active but not completed yet.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

Thanks for that suggestion! I do know how to open and read email headers. Should have thought of that myself.
The info I got when I looked up the IP address of the sender shows it is godaddy.com
Return-Path: <asesoria@profeco-gob.mx>
Received-SPF: pass (domain of profeco-gob.mx designates 64.202.189.20 as permitted sender)

Somehow I doubt Profeco is using GoDaddy.

Still no response from the email I sent to Profeco in Mexico city but the guy who sent the email called us back tonight.

We too had the same call and after reading through here looked at the email headers and found it going through GoDaddy. Googled the Profeco website and that looks like an official mex gov agency but it's page is profeco.gob.mx, the email has profeco-gob.mx so I typed the dashed address into the web brower and it takes you to a GoDaddy webpage that is active but not completed yet.

Well, that pretty much confirms that this isn't coming from Profeco . Before the internet header info my baloney meter was at about 85%. Now it's pegged out.

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

And since that IP is out of New York, I too would say this is a scam. They may be asking for a fee down the line or perhaps they just are just after personal information for identity theft. Should anyone want to play along with them (carefully), let us know how it progresses and just what they are after. Also, should anyone hear back from the real PROFECO, let us know what they say.

[magdalena3235 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close magdalena3235]

I got calls from them too.It is a fake PROFECO.I did my homework and it is a SCAM-very well planned one..They will ask you to open an escrow account in mexican bank and wire Money.In my case they wanted over $2,600. DON`T EVER SENT ANY MONEY!!! YOU WILL NEVER SEE THEM AGAIN...They even sent me a fake Court resolution showing how much Money I will get....I was getting calls from Marcelo Lopez and Gerardo Martinez Cristerna,they are calling from 52-55-3686-9765 and 52-554-1622980.I just sad I won`t send any Money.The man got pretty upset.I just check my email and already have an warning from USAA (my account lock) and I got fake judicial Notice from New York Court.IT CONTAINS A VIRUS!!!!DO NOT OPEN IT.(if you check a New York court webpage you can read about this SCAM).Be careful these men are very good,they are polite and will answer your every question.They work fast (phone calls and emails)-they know TIME is the essence.