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.
May 28th, 2006 at 1:02 am
Re - SunKissed Travel
I was sucked in by SunKissed Travel 18 months ago. I have dealt with Paul Guske /Michele Taylor/Alan/ and currently Dionne. I was simply trying to confirm package - then tried to transfer it - you would think that would be a simple transaction. After my “transferee” got fed up with all the bullshit - she pulled the pin. She is convinced SKT is a scam and so do I. I have still not resolved anything. They keep saying “please dont feel like that” “let us correct this for you”. I could kick myself for being so naive - anyone that is legitimate does not play you along for 18 months hoping you will go away. I have just sent a final e-mail to Dionne, I will post my reply - if I get one. To you Paul Guske and Michel Taylor, yes you were ever so convincing over the phone but you lived up to your promises. I cannot see how you “for some reason” don’t receive my e-mails. I hope I can post a positive conclusion to this saga and renew my faith in the human spirit.
Marilyn Williams
masandruss@hotmail.com
May 31st, 2006 at 11:05 am
Hi,
I am pregnant with my second child and have just been scammed buy these money suckers {calypsocay}. Being nieve and pregnant I got really excited about the cheap holiday, now my partner of 6 years and the father of my two kids is threatening to leave me I just hope the next person doesn’t get tricked like I did. One tip for all readers DONT USE YOUR CARDS ON LINE IT WILL RUIN EVERYTHING YOU HAVE WORKED HARD FOR.
June 1st, 2006 at 4:15 pm
I got a call yesterday and a after a recording I got a live representative who offered to lower my interest rate to 6.9% on all my credit cards. Right from the start this sounded sketchy so I asked what I had to do to qualify. She said I need to have at least $5000 in debt and at least $1000 in available credit on my card. Then she said if I did, they contact the credit card company and get them to lower my interst rate. Right! Like my credit card company is in it to pay them to get less money from me in interest. I mean this is how credit card companies make money. “Why would they do that”, I asked. The rep told me it is what Account Ledger Solutions does and the credit card company is happy to do it. Well, I am not that stupid. The company name she gave me was: Account Ledger Solutions and the phone…same as above 1-800-361-4140. Clearly a scam!
June 2nd, 2006 at 11:53 pm
Re: SunKissed Travel - a follow up on my previous comment.
I keep getting the same reply: “we are sorry you feel like that - how can we correct this for you?”.
They said that they cannot give me a refund as I did not request it within 30 days - how was that possible when I didnt receive the package for 2 months after I was sucked in?
I have NO DOUBT that SunKissed Travel is a scam - I am here to prove it. They have strung me along for 18 months - I have spent a fortune on calls from Australia to Florida - Paul Guske and Michele Taylor are full of it - I have dealt with them both - they are all full of promises when you speak to them but they are just very good at their game.
It really saddens me to think there are people like that in the world. I am going to do all I can to discredit this company - hopefully if enough of us find the right channels to follow this though - they will be put out of business before they can hurt too many more people. I cannot believe they took me for a ride - I never considered myself a fool but right now I feel like one.
I am happy if anyone wants to contact me scorpio1@nex.net.au
June 3rd, 2006 at 9:38 am
Hi Marilyn,
June 3rd, 2006 at 2:47 pm
Received a call yesterday from Royalty Holiday with Visa and Mastercard..(who by the way are competitors????)selling a vacation package to Flordia, Cancun or cruise which sounded too good to be true. Therefore had to investigate to where I have been directed to this page.
June 9th, 2006 at 1:24 am
Oh my God!!! I was really really naive of giving sunkissd travel my credit card details,believing that I have won a fantastic Holiday in Florida,Carribean and Cancun. I even told my inlaws that they can go with us on this holiday.., My father in law just died of car accident and I became pregnant ..so our plan to travel by May 2006 was put on hold..I called sunkissedtravel and tell them that I would like an extension of the travel and they agreed…till next year.2007….What Now? can I still got my money back? Pls help…
June 12th, 2006 at 12:48 pm
Marilyn,
I “won” a trip from Sunkissed last year 2005 in April. After trying to transfer the package to a friend I was unable to get ahold of anyone to confirm the transfer. No responses to my phone calls or eMails.
I filed a complaint with the DOACS. Hope I can get my money back.
What other options are there really?
June 14th, 2006 at 3:38 pm
I brought a travel voucher off ebay for 5 days all inclusive trip to Cancun. I was told that all I had to find was the flights. This was with royality holiday ( same address as above ) . I have now been asked for $199 per person for something call port fees. I have beed told that unless I pay these fees I will not be able to use my voucher. The person who sold me the voucher is no longer registered with ebay.
June 19th, 2006 at 5:47 pm
yes im another one who foolishly got sucked in by royalty holidays.got a package for £490.was told i had 14 days cancellation period.spoke to wife and cancelled within 24 hours.was then told they would give refund once they had received tickets back in post.i duelly did this but was then told they had received tickets after 14 days so money was non refundable!!!i have no tickets,no holiday and £490 credit card bill!!!