Tags: Scams
Ameri-scam.
May 23rd, 2005, by Rich.
Two months ago I wrote a short article about a telemarketing call that I received from AmeriVacation. It has very quickly become one of the most viewed pages on this site, and also the most commented upon, by many people who are worried that they have been conned.
With just a little digging I’ve started to unearth some more information on AmeriVacation, and some “companies” that appear to be related.
It appears that AmeriVacation is only the latest front. They set up a website, to appear legitimate and then cold call people, anyone whose number they can get using an automated calling mechanism (which is very simple to do with a computer). They then sell a package that is not what it appears to be and then make it very difficult to obtain a refund.
Sadly the people that get scammed are often the most vulnerable people who can least afford to lose such a large amount of money.
Through my digging I discovered a little about the history of the scams, and a little about how they’re all related. What follows is a brief review of the links so that others may pick up the trail more easily.
The currently active websites (which can be linked through identical wording, identical phone numbers, IP addresses that resolve to the same physical machines, etc) are:
- www.amerivacation.com
- www.expertholidays.com
- www.yourvipholiday.com (bad press) (more)
- www.flbahamastravelhome.com
- www.mydiscountholiday.com (bad press)
- www.doublevacations.com
- www.affiliatedtravelnetwork.com
- www.brilliantholiday.com (bad popup press)
- www.destinationcenter.net
- www.myffc.com (bad press)
- www.mydiscountholiday.com
- www.floridaholidayusa.com - discovered July 2005
- www.holidayfloridausa.com - discovered July 2005
- www.sunrisetravels.us - discovered August 2005
- www.imperialvacation.com - discovered August 2005
- www.5starholidays.net - discovered August 2005
- www.floridatouristbureau.com - discovered August 2005
Now, anybody that sells a holiday from Florida, or sells a holiday to Florida must be registered. The last entry in the above list , “mydiscountholiday.com” claims a Florida Seller Of Travel License Number of ST35170. In fact, this next list of sites all claim to have that same license number.
- www.mydiscountholiday.com (bad press)
- www.usafamilygetaway.com (bad press)
- www.sandyvacationsllc.com (bad press)
- www.floridabureauoftourism.com
- http://www.destinationsforyou.com
- http://www.celebrationpromotions.com
Another useful thing for linking companies is the address, several of these companies have used “600 North Highway 1792, Suite 120, Longwood Fl 32750″ including:
- www.yourvipholiday.com
- www.usafamilygetaway.com addres link also mentioned here
That link is important because without it these appear to be two separate groups of companies, when in fact, it’s one big cloud.
The next link in the chain is the phone number, all the sites below are connected because they use the same UK freephone number 0800-917-7462. What’s especially nice is that three of them have also decided to share testimonials too!
- www.windsorvacations.com
- www.myvacationschoice.com
- www.vacations-paradise.com (bad press)
- www.sohovacations.com -bullshit testimonial (bad press)
- www.centuryvacations.com - bullshit testimonial
- www.firstclicktravel.net - bullshit testimonial
- www.usafamilygetaway.com
The other address in use is “7632 Southland Blvd, Orlando, FL 32809″ and this is used by:
- www.myffc.com
- www.mydiscountholiday.com
- www.brilliantholiday.com (bad press)
- www.destinationcenter.com
Currently www.destinationcenter.com looks like a bit of a sales force advertisement. However, by looking at the caches on google and web.archive.org, it’s apparent that it was also used as travel sales site (hence I got the address match above), selling these same packages - i.e. not just a coincidence, this was the same outfit.
So, who’s behind it? Well, according to this story, it all comes back to to a Altef Hemani (aka Alex Hemani), who has a history of such scams.
His name is as good as mud on the internet, so he’s tried to combat this by buying a few websites and and writing eulogies about himself.
Each of those sites, incidentally, is owned by the same company: Travel Express Investments 385 Center Point Cir, Altamont Springs, FL 32701.
What’s especially interesting is that the administrative contact for the domains is Arif Rajan who may be the same business man whos only newsworthy moment until now was that in 2002 he was was questioned and released without charge regarding money laundering for terrorist organisations.
Sources
Naturally the information I’ve been able to gather and present here is all freely available to the public. Please feel free to check, corroborate, dispute, disprove or otherwise extended it through your own investigation.
I have found the following resources most useful:
- http://whois.net/ which provides information about the owners of domain names.
- http://sunbiz.org/ which provides information from the Florida Department of State regarding companies, and the persons legally responsible for those companies.
- http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/ the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which regulates travel in Florida.
May 24th, 2005 at 11:00 am
Google Satellite Maps is your big brother.. :-)
Here is 7632 Southland Blvd, Orlando, FL 32809 and here is 385 Center Pointe Cir, Altamonte Springs, FL 32701, USA.
And here’s the route between the two.
May 25th, 2005 at 4:48 pm
I received a phone call from Amerivacation last night. They left an automated phone call advising that I ring 0800 091 4766 which I did the following day. I spoke to a girl who advised me was called Elizabeth Brown and then went on to advise that I had indeed won a free holiday to Florida except the free holiday was infact going to cost me £698 which isn’t free. I was advised that the holiday was an all inclusive deal and would be made up of a free cruise to Nasau, 7 days 6 nights in Orlando including 2 tickets to a theme park, $500 gift then 3 days 2 nights in Daytona at the Surfside resort which is 10mins from the Kennedy Space Centre, then 3 days 2 nights at the Ramada in Fort Lauderdale finishing with a 3 night 2 day cruise back to Nasau. This pacakage would normally cost £1899 I am told but because I have been awarded a £1301 voucher, all I would have to pay was just £698 for a ticket which covered 4 people. She then went on to say that all the information would be sent to me in an info pack that would be sent out to me but this won’t arrive at my home thats for sure. Elizabeth then wanted me to book the holiday there and then but I said NO, not a chance, my partner wouldn’t agree about spending the money without talking to her first. My partner wouldn’t have minded to be quite honest but there is no way I am giving my credit card details to an unknown person for something I don’t fully know about. Elizabeth then advised me that when I was ready to book I should ring either 0800 091 4761 / 2 which I am 100% sure I will not ring…… I suggest that if you read this then you shouldn’t take this offer up UNLESS YOU WANT TO LOSE YOUR MONEY!!!!!. I have just phoned them back to ask what there view is to the info on the web and they hung up…. Does this sound like a legitimate company….. I DON’T THINK SO !!!
May 25th, 2005 at 8:15 pm
My mom, who cannot afford this paid them £675 yesterday, what pisses me off is that she wanted me and my girlfriend to join her on a vacation. Have been unto Florida consumer affairs and they said that they have not received any complaints only enquiries about this company. As my mom only paid yesterday, I will send a cancellation letter registered tomorrow and see what happens. The consumer affairs people were very friendly and helpful saying to me that if I did not get a refund to inform them and they will take it up, ‘I do wonder’ if it is not a thing to suck money out of us europeans?????
May 26th, 2005 at 8:19 am
I have a friend who went on one of these trips (very nervously) and raved about it when she got back. It did live up to her expectations. the only downer was that the company who were supposed to organise the Bahamas trip went bust.
I ‘won’ a holiday and I have decided to take the risk.
The catch seems to be that I do have to sit through a 90 min presentation breakfast as the company believe that for every 10 people they get through the resort at least 1 buys a timeshare.
Apparently the company also gets some sort of tax payoff which is why the holiday is cheap (?). noticed that is was very difficult to get any feedback on the company via the internet. I’m talking about expertholidays.com. Has anyone heard of them, cos i’m nervous now.
May 27th, 2005 at 7:41 pm
The scam has now reached Norway! They called me, said I had won a vacation. this was their “Norway campaign”, and I only had to pay seven-ninety-five euro for the costs.wich I thought ment 7.95, but no:It was 795euros…. I think they immediately have charged my Visa around 1200 euros…. I feel so stupid! I froze my visa, but I have to wait untill monday to talk to the bank.. I think my real summer vacation just went out in the blue….
Though, when I was connected to the third-party confirmation(is this real? does this exist, or is it just a scam to make you wait untill they have charged your visa?) I went back on the offer, saying I could not afford it. I was then connected to this guy called David, and i told him to cancell my order. He said he would do so…. But my bank account says I have pretty much nothing left on my account…
May 29th, 2005 at 11:05 am
I also “won” this exact same deal as you. My daughter opened a web page and then all the bells and whistles went off saying that I had won the 3 day, 2 night cruise in the Bahamas. It gave a number to ring. So I rang the International number, and spoke with an American sounding woman, who spoke far quicker that I could absorb it. I even said this sounds all a bit confusing, but she said “no, not really.” But rather than explaining it further, she continued on. I stupidly gave my card details as by this stage, I was running on pure adrenilin. But my package did arrive as she said it would. They were quick to draw out the Euros ($1,100 AU) without me even sighting or signing this package. I thought this was strange. Being an Australian, I’m not up with “Hotel Taxes” and Port Taxes, which we would have to pay. There is no information on what these hidden costs are, how far it is between resorts, is there transport between them. None of this is covered. I have no idea how big Florida is, so I don’t know if it takes a couple of hours or days to get from one resort to the next. Also, there is no information of the resorts names, or if we have to go in any particular order. So… is there anyone out there that thinks I should persue this, or just cut my losses?
May 29th, 2005 at 9:23 pm
phone the florida fbi 850 224 4107, file a complain or phone 1800 help fla (435 7352)
im fr uk , just scammed last 2 wks. they took my money and they violated the Florida Sellers of Travel Act. Theywere really trained well there. u need to write a letter of cancellation they will charge you but it shd bec, of the florida law you have the right to cancel within 30 days full refund. but of course, they want to get some money, i still dont have any result so just dont give up.
May 29th, 2005 at 9:34 pm
do anyone knows what is the real address of Amerivacation club in Florida?
May 30th, 2005 at 2:25 am
i think ive been scammed too.i went through the whole process too.big mistake,i gave them my bankcard details too.Then i ended up saying no ,but it was too late they took my money anyway now i`m $1140 out of pocket.is there nothing we can do?
May 30th, 2005 at 5:56 pm
Hi
I am a Norwegian journalist doing a story on the firm called Amerivacation. I have been in contact with one woman in Norway who have recieved a phonecall from one of their sellers. She was asked to give away her visa-number but refused. The seller then became very agressive and told her she was a liar.
I see several of you people have had experiences with Amerivacation. If anybody from Norway (or anywhere else for that matter) read this and have anything to tell me pleas send me an email: tsd@tv2.no. If it is a scam it must be stopped. You will not be exposed if you don’t want to.
Kent ( who wrote the article may, 27.) I would very much like to hear from you.