Ameri-scam.
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.
681 Comments
Hi Sheila, re: “Where do we all
go from here?”, the next steps are described here. Let us know how you get on.
It has been 3 months now that i have been struggling with Sunkissed travel since they told me i had won a holiday. They debited 200 dollars from my credit card which is a quarter of the holiday, when I had no further funds on my card they still have not credited me. I have been sending e-mails and phone calls for 3 months now. No one seems to know whats going on and when I do talk to someone they say that my money is in the process of being deposited back. 3 Months still no money.
Hi,
Just had a call on my home landline number. We are UK in Cambridgeshire. Did not press 9 let it run out. A pleasant female N American voice “Margaret” on recorded loop. Won holiday in Florida/Caribbean Cruise!!! Company called HOLIDAY REWARDS – sounds so similar to the other on here perhaps another name is now on the go. Perhaps as they are using REWARDS – American Express may not be too pleased. Someone anyone – all of us -Let’s shut them down before they damage more people…
Thanks
Rich
Thanks for your comments, but I have already tried all the things you suggested, but nothing has so far worked. However, when I tried their new number, 0800 091 0919 today, I had a different voice who claimed this was the first time she had been made aware of my situation, she said I must have booked it under VIP Holidays, she had all my details on their database and she promised she would refund the WHOLE of the £698 – i.e.no processing fee reduction as previously, and I would be getting a credit into my bank account within 2 weeks. So watch this space!
I was very glad to find your site today! Apart from being very attractively layed out and produced, the useful threads about American Travel Scams in Florida is invaluable. I’ve just been hit by the now infamous “Sunkissedtravel.com” I got a cold call on my answer machine telling me I’d “WON” a holiday cruise. Being new to this game I called back and got smooth talked and sucked into the mire …. Next morning I realised that something wasn’t quite right about the interaction. I’m now busy trying to cancel, prior to receiving my “dream package”. Developing story, I’ll keep you informed as a help to other readers.
I wrote a couple of days ago about signing up for a trip with Sunkissed Travel (not presented as something I won, but an offer). I wrote two e-mails to the company (the first the day after) and left a message on its answering machine and today, Justin Hill called me back (I know they tried before today but I hung up by mistake when I was trying to answer the call. However, I saw the phone number on my mobile screen). He was polite and efficient and agreed to give me a refund. I had called my Visa card company yesterday and was told that the money was “on hold” but not yet debited and Justin assured me that any money they take would be credited back within 72 hours. He gave me his name and direct line and said to call him if something didn’t work out correctly. I feel very ambivalent because the trip sounded wonderful, but I am just nervous after reading the postings on this site. In any case, I hope the money is either not taken or just refunded in full if it is and if not, I’ll be back here with another post!
I worked for Destination Center last year here in Florida. Simply put, it’s a scam. It was run by some very nice people, and I had great conversations with them, but again, it’s a scam. The way it worked is pretty much how this article explains it. At least, that’s how it was explained to me when I worked there. We would receive “leads” from people who clicked on “internet advertisments” (ie., popups) claiming that they have been selected to receive this great holiday package. The target audience is all overseas in the UK. Everyday, I would manually dial phone numbers of people who have submitted their information to the company either by phone or internet and tell them about the fabulous vacation package they could receive for only x number of pounds per person. This, of course, included the cruise, the trip to Orlando, Ft Lauderdale, Daytona Beach, etc. If I got someone to agree to the package, the MOMENT I write all their information down, I was supposed to hold the paper up in the air and SNAP it (ie., fold it in half and then QUICKLY pull it out to the sides to produce a snapping sound). This would signal one of the managers to run over and grab the paper so they could get it to the “verification department” in the next room, which was nothing more than a girl with a pretty voice sitting at a computer reading a script and entering the information I just took down.
I was there for almost three months. I never made a single sale. None of this surprises me. The article, I mean. I found a bunch of the same websites when I did some research on the company myself on the Internet. Ah well, life goes on.
Thank you everyone for your comments. We just called Sunkissed Travel and we thought we better do some research first before committing to anything. Without this website we would have been conned too!!!
Thanks for the warning,
Mike and SJ (Australia)
25.8.05
Great website. As with everyone else I too fell for this ‘dream’ holiday via Expert Holidays. Myself and my fiance are getting maried in October and couldn’t afford our dream honeymoon break, but this ofcourse came along and I though someone is feeling sorry for us and just on time to use it for our honeymoon. I bargained for this at £299 for the 2 of us.
On 15th July my Visa card transaction went through for £316. I did not receive any package and I kept phoning them about it. Their responses did not give me any confidence at all, their website was suspect and then I found your site thank got it gave me some leads to take it further. This is what I did:
1. I told the company that I was not happy and I will refer them to an investigation organisation.
2. wrote a letter to them with a cancellation note
3. conacted the Florida consumer’s association and filed a comlain. They wrote back who said they will follow it and keep me informed.
4. raised a dispute of ‘goods not received but already paid’ with my Visa card who said they will dispute it for me.
5. In the meantime I did get an Email from DHL (package company) saying that they have a package for me and will be delivered tomorrow 26th August!!
6. Today 25th August received a letter from my Visa card who explained that they managed to rectrieve the money and refunded it in my account. Checked my statement and it is correct!! great!
I am now waiting with interest to find out what this package is all about even though I cancelled it.
So some people have already been on this holiday, reading at least one posting here? Great, I hope this is a scam and not a genuine holiday, now that I cancelled it!!!!!!!
Hi,
From my point of view, since they involve the US Goverment and the State of Florida the American Embessy or other American authority should be contacted and deal with this problem, probably with the help of the FBI.
P.S.: I’ve got a message similar to the one above from starr-getaways.com and I’ve told them that I want written proof that they are genuine and a confirmation from an American State Departement and they’ve hanged up. It’s up to you to draw the conclusion, I’ll contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation and see what comes up, the least that they can do is suht down their domain, that’s the easiest to do.
Seems to me that you have named this site wrong. Instead of it being called Ameri-scam it should be called [inflammatory racism removed]. Seems to me that if you were doing your investigating properly you would see that the companies that are in trouble are ones being run by these [other people (again inflammatory racism removed)] …
[more inflammatory yadda yadda yadda removed]
… Maybe there should be a site talking negatively about your country.
Dear “U.S. Citizen”,
Your post incites racist intolerance, which is abhorrent and illegal in many of the countries in which this website is read.
If you wish to comment on this site, you may, but please provide a real name, a real email address, and keep the content legal and ontopic.
If you are connected with one of the companies mentioned already, why dont you just openly discuss and defend its business practices?
Dear Rich,
[yadda yadda yadda (irrelevant and offtopic)]
This site is very one sided.
[yadda yadda yadda (irrelevant and offtopic )]
Hey Rich,
Take your Yada Yada & STICK YOU LIMEY BATARD!!!!
WAKE Up PEOPLE VISITING THIS SITE IT IS VERY ONE SIDED THEY ONLY POST WHAT THEY WANT TO POST AND IT IS JUST NEGATIVITY ABOUT TRAVEL HERE IN THE USA.
JUST TO LET YOU KNOW RICH YOUR SITE WILL BE GONE FROM HERE SOON.
THE U.S. TRAVEL INDUSTRY WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS.
Dear “U.S. Citizen”,
I repeat my previous invitation to you that you are most welcome to vehemently defend the business practices of any of the companies that are being discussed.
Such a discussion would, I hope, go a long way to alleviating the imbalance that you perceive in the content of this site, so I do encourage you to engage with the readership.
I am sorry that I have had to temporarily censor your comment because you have not provided your name, and a valid email address (as requested). If you can do so, then I will, of course, republish your words in full.
re: “they only post what they want you to post and it is just negativity about travel here in the USA.”
This is not so, to prove it I refer readers to this accompanying article from earlier this month, from which the following is an excerpt.
Just in case that isn’t clear, here’s what is says:
I think the DOACS has probably been aware of this website for some time, certainly for over two months because I’ve personally called them to discuss my concerns over the comments that were being left. I know that others who have been sold holidays after “winning them” have also mentioned it.
The comments that are posted are a snapshot of the experiences of people from all over the world. These people would have had a far worse opinion of the USA if they had remained unaware of the legal rights that Florida gives them.
These are non U.S. Citizens being given rights by a U.S. state – could there be a finer eulogy for the USA, and the credo of it’s people?
So, (“U.S.Citizen”) I politely re-extend my invitation to you to comment on the sales practices of the businesses that have been mentioned:
If you think they are okay, just part of the landscape, or really nothing to worry about, then that’s absolutely fine, you are welcome to say so, and please tell us why you have arrived at your point of view, because much of the fear and anger that people have expressed is fear of the unknown, so your comments could be very constructive, and help to turn this thread around to be something you personally feel is a positive thing.
Two things.
1. If anybody has any information about people pretending to be associated with the US Department of State (seems like there are a few comments along these lines), please forward all relevant information (phone numbers, websites, description of events) to me at bounced.mail.robot@gmail.com I have a contact who works with Department of State Investigators and (as you might guess) they take a very active interest in this sort of thing.
2. About the verification. If anybody has or can get the name of the verification company, post it here. Third party verification companies have a reputation to protect and so they might not like being associated with a company that is not reputable.
And I will say to the idiot apologist on here, that this site is very one sided because scams are one sided. In a scam one person is the victimizer and one person is the victim. It’s that simple.
Please note i was scammed in almost the same way by Amerisuites Vacation club who told me that i had won the holiday in association with Mastercard. Beware. I notified my intent to cancel and welcome package was returned. Heard nothing, tried emailing them to find their postbox wasn’t big enough for my message, reduced the size of message drastically to have it returned once again. I then received an email saying they had tried to contact me as i had to give my permission for them to reduce my refund by £120 for administration. This vacation seemed like an ideal surprise for my mother and father who has cancer and which may have been his last holiday.
Instead it turns out to be a nasty surprise for me £700 out of pocket so far!!!
Although i did get promise of a refund from a certain Robert Dickinson. Robert@amerivacation.com
Rich,
What a fantastic site you have. Albeit found too late to help my mother. R Lington asks for names of verification companies…on my mothers bank statement (paid by debit card!) it states the name ‘Holiday Florida Southsea’ I have looked this up on the internet and obviously cant find anything. Amerivations sent her the ‘package’ 6 weeks after they took the money out and a number of phone calls. When the package arrived it was sent back immediately with the cancellation letter. DHL delivered it to 7800 Southland Boulevard Suite 112 on May 22nd at 10.10am and it was signed for by a K Rivera.
Dozens of calls later and promise of immediate payment by the weekend (28 June) from Robert Davison (remarkably similar to Robert Dickinson! in above message)
Decided to call the FBI in Orlando today after spending another 2 hours on to 0800 0914761 and 0800 0914761. Spoke to a real helpful agent who took all details and promised to visit them personally and ring me next week. Will update when he does.
Keep up the good work. Gareth.
People visiting this site. It seems that the owner of this site wants
to slander the whole travel industry out there. I wrote in previous
posts that from investigating this site it looks to me that it is
not AMERICAN people in this country that are scamming people out
there, and he has refused to post the names that are already written
on other parts of this site. Those people are probably here in the
the USA ILLEGALLY. I SAY TO THOSE PEOPLE OF OTHER DECENT IF YOU
CANNOT ABIDE BY THE LAWS OF THIS GREAT COUNRTY THEN YOU NEED TO GET
OUT!!!!!! PLAIN & SIMPLE WE WILL NOT TOLERATE THIS IN AMERICA!!
AMERICA IS A GREAT COUNTRY AND A GREAT TRAVEL DESTINATION AND DOES
NOT NEED TO HAVE IT MESSED UP BECAUSE OF SOME IGNORANT FOREIGNER!!
I have allowed the previous post to be published entirely unedited since, althouh jingoistic in it’s tone, it does not stoop to the racist name calling of the previous posts that I regrettably felt necessary to censor.
I am disappointed that the author has again avoided the subjects of:
I note also that the author has again chosen to remain anonymous and has again provided an invalid email address.
The majority of people who have commented on this site would (and did) jump at the chance of visiting the USA when they believed they had won a vacation – so I would be interested to know why the author believes this is anything to do with USA vacations in general, when the topic under discussion is the business practice of a few selfish companies.
Finally, I think I should mention I am bemused as to why the author thinks that a small personal website has any significance compared to the marketing capability of the travel industry, in the largest industrialised country in the world.
Ameri-scam. You Have The Name Of This Site Wrong, That Is The Problem!!!
Reply from Rich:so I would be interested to know why the author believes this is anything to do with USA vacations in general, when the topic under discussion is the business practice of a few selfish companies.
Do these sound AMERICAN TO YOU. If they do not then you need to change the name of the site to vacation scam not AMERI-scam. Catch my drift
["U.S. Citizen" followed up with another comment, the content of which I agree with, and I have edited one word from a previous post in order to change its sentiment. I have not published that comment since it would only continue the cycle.]
“Ameri-scam” is the name of just one article on this site (and there are over 400 other articles so far). The story was so named because it followed on from the article entitled “Ameri-who?”, which detailed the initial unsolicited international telemarketing call that I received from AmeriVacation
These people could quite easily hold US citizenship – a situation no different to Albert Einstein or Arnold Schwarzenegger. They may also have been born in the USA, however, their legal status within the USA is irrelevant for the purposes of this article.
What is relevant to the people visiting this site, is that they have been sold a vacation that they were not seeking, but were coerced into buying. These people are often worried that they will lose their money because, minutes, hours or days later, they start to realise the full cost of their “purchaseâ€.
The related stories on this site provide telesales victims with a small signpost towards the correct information that helps them obtain a refund, and complain appropriately. This in turn helps the Florida State Department (and thus the USA) maintain its good reputation because the result is that victims of unethical businesses are fully reimbursed.
As R. Lington pointed out, if the site appears one sided it’s because the majority of people commenting are those victims.
Now, “U.S. Citizenâ€, I hope we have cleared up your concerns that nobody here wishes the American Tourist industry any ill wind, because:
The invitation for you to post on the ethical and moral implications of:
remains open, as does the invitation to provide your name and a valid email address.
Yesterday night I received a telephone call telling me that I had won a cruise. They told me to call a certain telephone number. So I did, but the number didn’t work. Then, fortunately, I chose to check with a dear friend from the USA first. So I haven’t been scammed!
Thanks, Dennis!
Rich,’
If you say these people were not seeking holidays then why would they
press 9 or why would they respond to a message left on a machine or
one that has popped up on the internet? If I was not interested I
would surely HANG UP, NOT CALL BACK OR IGNORE THE POP-UP. NO ONE IS
SITTING THERE AT THE PHONE TWISITNG YOUR ARM. It is also VERY RUDE
to have someone go through a presentation if you are not interested.
I myslef will be contacting all of the sites listed to see what they
actually are doing.
Hi again USC,
Why? Because everybody here was told thay had won a holiday – when you win something it is free. That’s why they make the call in the first place, they think it’s their lucky day.
As for your assertion that it’s rude to listen to a presentation if you have no intention of buying, well, normally I’d agree with you, but in this case, these people DON’T intend to buy because they think they’ve won something. The purpose of the presentation is to coerce them into buying.
I think most readers of this site would be of the opinion that it’s more rude to cold-call someone, interrupting them, and ignoring national do-not-call lists – it’s an invasion of their privacy (and I know you appreciate privacy because you’ve still not put a name or real email address on your messages).
You’ve once again not commented on the main issues, so I’ll put this in plain terms:
Do you dispute any of the above five statements?
THE NATIONAL DO-NOT CALL LIST APPLIES TO THE U.S. AND YOU MUST PUT
YOUR NUMBER ON THAT LIST, IF YOU DO NOT THEN TELEMARKETERS CAN CALL
YOU.
FEDMA COVERS CERTAIN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES AND WORKS IN THE SAME WAY.
IF YOU DO NOT PUT YOUR NUMBER ON THE LIST YOU CAN BE CALLED.
I ASK YOU HOW MANY OF THE PEOPLE THAT WERE CALLED HAVE ACTUALLY PUT
THERE NUMBER ON THE LIST?
Hi Rich, since my first contribution to your site i have been driven to research deeper into this matter. I find it quite alarming the extent this con has reached. Just a warning to other readers on this site. These “holidays” are being sold on Ebay maybe by the dodgy characters themselves or by totally unsuspecting victims or victims just trying to get some money back, as they should, but not in this way.
Hi USC,
It appears that when I wrote about “national do-not-call lists” you have assumed that I was writing about a (“the”) U.S. do-not-call list. What I was referring to was the do-not call lists of many nations. The concept of do-not-call lists is familiar to most of the readers and needs no more explanation.
It appears that FEDMA (The Federation of European Direct Marketing Associations) does not maintain a do-not-call list.
FEDMA specifies that national preference services should be respected. This is stated in their Telemarking Principles document.
Incidentally from the messages left here I believe the principles numbered 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 and 11 have been ignored on many occasions, by the companies that are being discussed.
That’s the idea. I’m on the UK Telephone Preference Service list, and I still got called, and lied to by a recording that told me I’d won a holiday.
Over 30 of the people who have commented have stated that they are on such lists.
So, now I’ve clarified those facts, I’m sure the readers would like a clarification from you. You have not yet said whether you dispute any of the six statemens above.
So, do you dispute any of the statements? (and if so, please say which one(s) and then say why).
Also, if you do wish to comment further, please be aware that people with dyslexia, and partially sighted readers have greater difficulty reading words when they are written in capitals only, so by turning off Caps-Lock, you will reach a wider audience.
No matter what you get for free, wether you win the lottery, win a car
or win a bottle of soda under the cap you still must pay taxes. If the
item is taxable you must pay the tax. That is the law.
Any cruise you book yourself on you must pay the port & service taxes
wether you buy it yourself or you win it. Those taxes go to those countries.
The law here in florida states that you have 30 days to cancel.
I was called one time by a company stating i had won a Bahama Cruise.
But I would have to pay my own airfare. Everyone should have common
sense about what i costs to fly and it usually isn’t cheap unless you
have a friend that works for an airline. They also told me i would need
to take a preview of there resort. They also offered me 7 days & 6 nights of resort accomadations in Ft. Lauderdale for $299.00 which is
$49.00 a night. So I said yes, i received my vouchers or cerficates whatever you want to call them, got myself my airfare and went down
to Ft. Lauderdale and stayed for 6 nights in luxury. For those of you that don’t know hotels, motels or resorts post their rates on the inside
door of every room. Much to my surprise i found out that the normal price for the room at the time was normally $149.00. Yes it did go
through a presentation for a resort that i declined but it was no big deal as seeing that i was getting a real good price on a room and a free
crusie. I went on the cruise which was 4 days & 3 nights to Nassau.
It was incrdible. I didn’t have to pay for anything except the port and
service taxes which were minimal and i would of had to anyways if i had bought a cruise. Also the hotel taxes were not much either. I only took
1 person with me but could have taken 3. Yes the cruise was FREE!!!!
Now Rich i do not see where 30 people on here said they were on a do not call list. You said you were on the list but it takes 31 days from
the date you entered your number to the site to take effect. The lists
are updated monthly so you may have been called by accident, which if
that was the case all you had to do was to tell the caller that you were on the do not call list and if they called again then they could get in trouble. Also if you had posted my comment which i have posted again you will see that i have responded to your 6 issues of which 2 are the same, but you have refused to respond to mine. Ameri-scam should be vacation scam.
Hi USC,
I responded immediately to your comment about the name of the article. I highlighted that it follows on from the article called “Ameri-who?” which is about “AmeriVacation”. It is answering my initial question of “-who?” and confirming that it is a “-scam”. In that context, the name is appropriate.
In the comments that follow both the “Ameri-who?” and “Ameri-scam” articles look for references to the TPS. There are over 30 people who have specified that they are registered, and yet still received a “you won a holiday” marketing call.
You’re also correct, 5 simple statements, not 6.
I think so far you have answered two of the five, these are:
I want to understand your opinion on these statements so that your surrounding discussion is put into context. So, do you agree or dispute the first three?
A warm hello to Rich (what a great blog) and all the victims on here. I have not had the time or energy to log on for a couple of days and was surprised to see the new tennis match between “US Citizen” and Rich.
Gosh, if I didn’t know better I’d almost be tempted to say that this “US Citizen” has a Spanish name and surname and that I’ve had the pleasure of speaking to him on the phone!
Get over yourself USC! If you’re involved with the scammers, then say so. We are not ripping off your country. We are just disgruntled “winners” and you seem way too hot under the collar for someone who has nothing to lose by our warnings/info sharing on this blog.
You go Rich!
Hi I just called about the same offer as everybody else. I was supposed to have won a great trip to Florida+++ but of course it costed money at the end of the exceptional great review of the price. I would not buy anything so sudden and told I had to wait, then she threatened me and said that the price would go to anoter person if I hung up. I did so, and now after have reading this I am truly glad I did so!!! Beware of travelling scam on Internet everybody!!!
Could you please advise me as I have just in the last two months t brought a package from the amerivacations. they rang me and till now I have thought that these were ligetimate. On reading the comments I now have second thoughts. Could you please advise if I should carry on with this vacation or not, or have I also lost all My money. It seemed to good to be true, but I don’t want to get out there to be left high and dry. Has anyone had a refund from this or not. I would like to here more form you reference this. Look forward to your reply. Ray
Just tried 0800 0914766 again (haven’t called them for a couple of months). Thry are still trading as Sunkissed travel and now targeting the netherlands (previously they were calling Ireland and Norway).
Wish someone would close them down.
Well another fish in the net !!!!
Shit but when I call Them at 0014072774957 from Italy I spent only 1,69 Euro for calling not yet !!! Fortunately I’m a SysAdmin of Firefighter in Italy and so I recorded some information about this guilty guy !!!!
https://www.travasaurus.com/
And I’ll start to deploy it in all the way that I can !!!
First : I’ll sign Them to Italian Computer Crime Police (Polizia postale)
Second : I’ll tell to all my friend about this neverending story on the phising on the net
Third : I’ll hack some Theyr server to gain other info about it and notice them to US Computer Crime
Well NOBODY give you nothing for nothing said in Italian Proverbs !!!!
That’s all FOLKS !!!!
Hi Fernando,
the tone of your message is similar to many others that have been lied to and taken advantage of, however, taking direct action such as the hacking you are dreaming of can only harm any legal case that is brought against the scammers.
Firstly, you’re suggesting that by hacking their servers you will find some information that the US courts may be able to use. In reality, the real risk is that you may unwittingly destroy evidence that does exist on their machines, or render it in admissible in court, because if it can be proved that a machine has been compromised, then the origin of the data on that machine cannot be so easily proven. What is more, it might lend credence to any claims of difficulty in providing refunds.
Secondly you have publicly stated your intention to commit a crime; this is never a good idea, because it makes it far easier for a court to convict you.
If you really want to do something active then concentrate on letting others know about the scam, perhaps through your local press.
Hi
I just got a call from Royalty Holidays offering me a holiday for four adults and two children for five days and four nights AND four passes to Disney for £498!!
Too good to be true? Suspecting another bloody holday package scam (are we not plagued by them? I googled them. Thank god the consumers are fighting back.
Good luck getting refunds everyone and just dont believe anyone who cold calls you!
Hey Rich, I guess KARMA really works huh.
Hello again USC,
Your comments are now drifting such that it’s difficult to discern how they relate to the topic under discussion.
Shortly after your opening remarks (which I had to censor because of the inflammatory racism), and shortly after you called me a “limey batard” [sic], you stated:
You have been given ample opportunity to air your alternative view of the mis-selling that is under discussion, however, after several pages of deviation you have failed to do so.
On several occasions you have been given the opportunity to identify yourself and to state whether you dispute several really simple points, yet you have repeatedly failed to address these issues even though they are fundamental to the situation that most readers find themselves in.
Please do seriously consider addressing the these statements and describing whether you dispute them, and if so, why.
After that, if you’d like to explain the relevance of the Hindu concept of Karma, then I’m sure it will make more sense next time.
Hello, i’m Emil from Poland.On the us website i have message that I’m
the million visitor on this website!I click on this banner,and I be on the travasaurus.com.In this website I read I’m the today randomly selected winner,and i win 2100$ and night travel around Bahamas.I dont call becouse i dont believe it!please tell me is this website is authentic,and cash is authentic:)I dont know what I am do!!!!!!!!!!
Dzień dobry Emil,
What you saw was an advert. You’ve not won anything because you didn’t enter a competition.
If you’re curious, call the number, just be sure you understand that you are calling a sales-person, and they will be trying to sell you a holiday.
Hello,
I am from New Zealand. One day I was looking on the CBS website when the sunkissed travel icon came up. It said that i had won a discount on this 17 day holiday for being the 1,000,000 person to access the site. It gave me a transaction number and a phone number to call. If sunkisstravel is a scam, how come they can get through on to the CBS website?
Just to let you guys know floridatouristbureau is now going by floridatouristbureauinc