tags: Scams
Ameri-scam.
May 23rd, 2005, by Rich.
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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.
November 16th, 2005 at 7:32 am
can any one of the conned tell me if they ever travelled to the promised destinations & never got what they were promised, after that that we’ll be talking
November 16th, 2005 at 10:00 am
I just want to make people aware of a company called Royalty Holidays who are based in Corrallton, Texas.
We were contacted by them in the UK, by telephone and was offered what seemed to be a very good holiday package to Florida along with a cruise to the Bahamas. We foolishly paid for the holiday by credit card as they offer a 30 day cancellation period followed by a refund within 10 days.
What a joke that is, we have been trying for 80+ days to recover our money, being made promises that turn out to be false by their so called Finance Director - Heather.
We decided to cancel within the 30 days because after researching the resorts online that they are promoting, they had horrendous reviews from past travellers, the worst I have ever read, a holiday from hell in the making certainly.
Anyhow, I am determined to recover our losses, even if I have to travel to the USA to do so, just be aware of this non-reputable company….what a joke of an outfit.
November 16th, 2005 at 10:11 am
Zara,
I suggest you visit this link http://www.oag.state.tx.us/agency/contacts.shtml it is the website of the State Attorney General’s Office in Texas where the Consumer Protection Dept are based.
You can complete an online complaint form and submit it along with scans of any documentation you may have.
I am waiting to see what reply I get from them and then take it from there.
If you also complain it will help strengthen both our complaints. Hope this helps.
November 16th, 2005 at 1:01 pm
Just to second to all negative comments on Royalty Holidays: My partner was cold-called on Nov 5 with the story we’ve all all heard before. She proceeded(after much pressure from 3 different sales staff including the ‘manager’)to give them our CC number, but quickly told them she wanted to back out. It was a matter of seconds, but she was told that the transaction was already in the system. Upon calling to cancel we were told of a UKP49 cancellation fee. They admitted not acknowleging the fee in the initial call, but said we had ‘agreed to the terms and conditions’(conveniently the ONLY part of the call they record). They assure this that this is legal.
Nick, the employee of RH, who earlier posted on this site is either a con or a fool himself.
This company is scam. Any doubts we had were cast aside the final time we called when we asked to speak to Dave (the manager at the time of the initial call), and were handed over to someone putting on a silly, Dave-like voice! These people are taking the piss.
Thanks Rich, you’re a star for not just sorting yourself out then keeping quiet. Your site has helped immensely.
November 16th, 2005 at 6:45 pm
I was contacted last year by a caller who said they were Amerivacations. Offering me a holiday to Orlando for 5 days, Datona Beach for 3 days, Ft Lauderdale for 3days and a 3day Bahama Cruise. They offered this at a discount rate as a valued Barclaycard customer for 4 people and could be used anytime within the following 12 months. This also included 2 adult Theme park passes and $500.00. I accepted this as my duaghter is disabled and intended to use this as a birthday gift to her. Since accepting the holiday my daughter has been very excited at the prospect of visiting Florida.
During the phonecall from Amerivacation they took my Barclaycard details and in my next statement the money
had been withdrawn from my account. I have now attempted to book the holiday and discovered it to be bogus. Inspite of them sending me a information pack with booking forms and telephone numbers for customer services and reservations. When I tried to call the number I was connected to an answering machine. I have also attempted to book the holiday through the website and e-mails only to discover that the whole thing is a scam.
I now have to explain to my disabled daughter that she now will not have the holiday of her dreams.
November 17th, 2005 at 5:27 am
Why are you X-ing out XXX?
Are they paying you?
November 17th, 2005 at 9:38 am
Hi Anonymised, if and when it becomes appropriate reveal the company discussed in that post, then I will be delighted to do so. Until that time, the reason for the anonymity is as important as the anonymity itself, so it too shall remain undisclosed. And, no, “they” are not paying me, that would be disingenuous: this is just my little website, and my reward has been that quite a lot of normal people have said thank you for helping them out of a troubled spot. You can’t buy gratitude, but it feels amazing.
November 19th, 2005 at 7:53 pm
Hi all,
On 28-10-2005, I got a phone call, telling me that I won a 19 days holiday package to Florida, all i have to pay is the travel expense plus £150 per person, great, I gave them my credit card number, they charged me £596.27.
Now I noticed this is a fraud company, my money has been Debited to the following company
RoyaltyHolidays
1415 Halsey Way Suite 310
Carrollton TX 75007
How can I get my money back?
Thanks for your advice
–Cathy
November 19th, 2005 at 8:52 pm
Hi Cathy, it’s all here. You’ll notice that although the company is not in Florida they must still be regulated by the Florida DOACS, so if you change your mind about taking the vacation that you bought, they are obligated to give you a refund if you cancel within 30 days. If they are not forthcoming with a refund, then your CC company are liable for the full amount, so contact them, and make sure you follow it up with the DOACS. Good luck.
November 21st, 2005 at 11:46 am
We were recently advised [by CelebrationPromotions] we had won a holiday to Orlando Florida, Daytona beach and then on to the Bahamas, after much discussion with my husband we decided that it may have been bogus and tried to get in touch with them re: a refund which was duly noted on their email site to give a 30 day money back guarantee. After spending all day trying to contact these people and after lengthy conversations with my phone company I was then told that this number was not an American number and the company was not listed in the state of Orlando, and could not locate any of the hotels I was presumably staying at. We are currently awaiting a refund… lets hope it comes or I will be taking legal action and going to the media.