Beware of suspicious offers from online companies
It is Royal Resorts policy to alert members of scams attempted by companies or individuals operating online.
We have received several reports from members about suspicious phone calls from companies and individuals making offers in reference to The Royal Islander. In one case, the company involved is Realty600 Inc. with a New York telephone number 646-222-2767, but it appears that there are others. This is a scam. We recommend that you do not engage with them, listen to their offers or send them information or money.
We have also received reports from members about a fraudulent email sent from the following domain name: hotelsandresorts@documentosyservicios.com The email mentions “The Royal Resorts” and requests payment for an “all-inclusive maintenance fee”, giving instructions for paying the fee using the HSBC or Banamex app and making a transfer to Banorte. A photo of the swimming pool at The Royal Cancun and the old turquoise Royal Resorts logo appear in the email, which is designed to mislead the recipient. and the name of Isa Garcia. Please be aware that this is a scam. We recommend that you disregard any emails that you may receive from this company and its representatives - the name Isa Garcia appears in the email. Above all, do not transfer money to the account number listed in the email.
Royal Resorts is not associated with the aforementioned website in any way and our Legal department is sending a cease and desist notice.
Other members have recently reported calls from a company called IPAI in California. Its representatives are aggressive and insistent, calling repeatedly from different numbers. They begin by offering excessively high prices for fixed week units that are hard to believe and make false claims that Royal Resorts and Holiday Inn Club Vacations are going to buy out all existing members. This is not true. They go on to say that it is no longer safe to travel to Mexico due to violence linked to organized crime, this is also misleading and is not the case for the Mexican Caribbean, home to two of the world’s leading beach destinations Cancun and the Riviera Maya, or to the Yucatan Peninsula. When asked how they obtained the member’s phone number, the caller claimed that Royal Resorts is obligated to release a list of members to an international registry, this is also untrue. We recommend that you give IPAI and its representatives a wide berth and do not engage with them.
In the fall of 2023, we received a report from a member about suspicious activity by a company called International Property Services L.L.C. with a New York address. It appears that its representatives may be contacting The Royal Islander members. If you receive a call from this company, the recommendation is to disregard any offer its agents may make and not to send them information.
Other recent reports of scam attempts concern phone calls received by members asking about their last stay and even requesting credit card information. They come from two different phone numbers and the callers claim to have a connection to Royal Resorts via RCI and Wyndham Resorts. This is false because RCI would not contact members in this way and Royal Resorts no longer has a strategic alliance with Wyndham Resorts (see below). The first phone number has a California area code 510-335-4490 (Cf Communications DBA Telekenex Fremont Cal) and the second is a Florida number, from the Fort Myers area 239-549-7129. We recommend that you do not respond or provide the information the callers ask you for.
In August 2023, we reported a company called Income Property Association, Inc. operating out of San Diego, Ca. and member feedback continues about calls and emails they have received. The individuals involved are Jessica Garcia and a broker called Braden Parker. Other companies mentioned in the documentation are UK Capital Management and Lizhong Group. We recommend that you disregard any call or email with claims and offers that you receive from this company and its representatives.
Some Michigan members have reported being contacted for a meeting in their area with individuals claiming to be Royal Resorts representatives. We would like to stress that Royal Resorts does not have any off-site sales initiatives or staff visiting U.S. cities. If you are contacted, we advise you not to attend the meeting.
We would like to share another report of a possible online scam brought to our attention by members, this time it is a company operating out of New York City called The Real NY Realty. Members have received emails from a person called Erika Morales, which also refer to a realtor called Denis Johnson. They claim to have buyers for fixed weeks. They are requesting that members deposit a US$5,200 fee for the sale to go through and they send documents purporting to be the contract and even a bank statement showing the amount offered by the buyer. We recommend that you do not engage with them and, above all, do not send documents or money.
This follows reports about Real Deal Realty or My Deal Realty, representing Harada Corporation, which its agents claim is making an offer for memberships. The offer is suspicious, and Harada Corporation was mentioned recently in this article linked to another New York company called Comfort Homes 6 Inc., which has appeared in previous reports, and this also rang alarm bells. The recommendation is that if you receive an unsolicited offer to buy and it is at an above market price, if it is for a limited time only or mentions processing fees to be paid upfront then it is probably a scam and to give it a wide berth. Royal Resorts has no relationship with Real Deal Realty, My Deal Realty, Harada Corporation or Comfort Homes 6 inc.
We also updated you on suspicious activity involving individuals claiming to represent a Brazilian company called Matueté with a Mexico City address. Other names given in the documentation include Admin Hotelera CAADI S.A. de C.V., Jose Bustamante (with email transfers@themembers-services.com), Alan Garrett Smith with a San Francisco address and Lic. Valentín Ponce. If you are contacted by these individuals, do not be taken in by the Royal Resorts logo, which is a scanned copy. Royal Resorts has no relationship with this company or its agents. The fact that the offer they make is for a limited time only and a US$2,500 processing charge is mentioned should alert suspicions. We recommend that you disregard any correspondence received from the aforementioned company or these individuals.
Members should also be aware of a scam that is targeting members at The Royal Islander. The company involved is Hollywood Management Inc. based in Van Nuys, California and the name of the real estate broker is Fernando Rodriguez. Royal Resorts has no relationship with this company, and it already appears in our list of companies to watch out for based on previous member reports. If you receive phone calls or emails with letters of intent from its representatives, we recommend that you disregard them. Above all, do not send documents or money.
This year we also told you recently about suspicious calls and resale offers from a company called Comfort Homes 6 Inc. A New York address is listed, the telephone number reported is 332 237 6477 and the names of the representatives mentioned are Jacqueline Garcia and Brian Haynes. If you are contacted by them, please disregard any offers they may make. They claim to be looking to buy 2000 weeks for a Japanese corporation called Harada and to have deposited money in Banregio. They tell members that they have contacted that they are interested in The Royal Islander and that they are doing deals with members. The fact that they are asking for a US$4,700 fee upfront to cover VAT arouses suspicions and we recommend that members do not fall for this and give Comfort Homes 6 Inc. and its representatives a wide berth.
In 2022, we received reports concerning a man who claims to represent Wyndham and Royal Resorts and is calling with respect to what he says is “the Acquisition” signed in May 2021 by the two companies. He claims that there is a new buyout option on behalf of Wyndham travel agency, which according to him, is buying up villas. This is a false claim, and this individual is seeking to misrepresent and confuse members. Royal Resorts did not sign an acquisition agreement in 2021 with Wyndham. Wyndham did not acquire villas and there is no Wyndham travel agency. If you receive calls from 1-424-253-7052 and 424-253-7054, the recommendation is not to answer them.
As you may remember from our member newsletters, on June 2, 2021, Grand Residences Riviera Cancun became the flagship hotel of Wyndham’s new collection of luxury hotels: Registry Collection Hotels. The decision was made to seek a strategic business alliance with an international brand to diversify market opportunities, boost occupancy levels and gain access to new prospects for Grand Residences’ hotel and timeshare programs. However, with the acquisition of Royal Resorts by Holiday Inn Club Vacations Incorporated in May 2023, the strategic alliances with Wyndham Hotels & Resorts® and Wyndham Destinations® were terminated.
Other members report unsolicited calls or emails from companies making suspicious resale offers for their weeks refer to being contacted by individuals who claim to be stockbrokers in New York. They are saying that The Royal Sands is about to go public on the New York Stock Exchange and that they can help the member to reclaim their original shares of stock in the resort before this occurs. We would like to stress to all our members that this is false and an attempt to commit a scam. Please disregard any such calls. Royal Resorts and the resort companies are private companies and cannot trade in the New York Stock Exchange.
Members have mentioned two companies using this modus operandi to deceive and defraud. The first is Realty Broker International and a representative called Alexandra Brown. A second company is First New York Developers Group LLC, also known as First and Y Developers Group LLC, and an agent called Aaron Lee with the following phone numbers 001 917 3833977 ext 102 and 55 4169 6472 which this individual claims is the number to call to obtain the registered title number, an alpha numeric code needed to call the US again. A person called Alexa López has also been mentioned as one of Aaron Lee’s colleagues, phone number 554-1696472. Members have reported that they were told by these representatives that a 2.4% commission is charged for the transaction. One member also noted that there were errors on the documents she received from the company, in the name and the area code for Cancun. These confirmed her suspicions that it is a fraud. The recommendation is to disregard any offers that these two firms or their representatives make and to take no action
Another report that we recently shared with you was brought to our attention by a member at The Royal Haciendas who was contacted by Scott Allen, a representative of a company in New York called Walsh Realty, and by Brian Jennings and Travis A Lang from Crefa Escrows Ltd. His suspicions were aroused by the offer that they made and also by their email addresses which had xxx.net extensions as opposed to .com used by company websites. The documentation the member received from Crefa Escrows mentioned BBVA Bancomer as the bank they deal with.
Other Grand Residences owners report that they were contacted by a representative of Cherry Real Estate LLC and received a letter from an agent called Daniel Anderson. The recommendation is to ignore calls from this number: 206-333-8246.
Another resale scam that was reported involved a person called Ramón Aguirre who claims to represent a company called Royal Resorts Vacation Club. This is not Royal Resorts. The Royal Resorts logo, the name Real Arenas de Cancun, S.A. de C.V., a Cancun address mentioning km 4.5 Boulevard Kukulcan and the web domain royalresortssvc.com appear in correspondence he has sent. It is a case of fraudulent use of our logo and identity and our Legal department is investigating. This person and the company Trasmani S.A. de C.V., which appears to be a non- existent company in Guadalajara have no relationship with Royal Resorts whatsoever. We urge you to be very careful and to notify Royal Resorts if you are contacted by this person. Above all, do not send documents or money.
The use of our logo, the words Royal Resorts and even the km 4.5 in the address, which is the location of The Royal Cancun, may be misleading. Please be aware that Royal Resorts does not use “Vacation Club” as part of its name and the emails sent to members come from an official royalresorts.com email address. If you see royalresortsvc.com in an email you receive, it is not from Royal Resorts and you should disregard any offer that this individual makes.
There have also been reports of suspicious unsolicited phone calls or emails and offers made by representatives of DERTour Travel agency operating out of Mexico City, DGI Title in Atlanta, Hollywood Management Inc. in Los Angeles, Timeshare Broker Services and The Realtors and by agents called Christopher Adams and Jason Luria.
Another member recently contacted us after receiving a call from someone claiming to represent Royal Resorts and offering to buy her units. We would like to make our members aware that this is a scam. Royal Resorts is not offering to buy back units and anyone who may contact you with such a proposal is operating under false pretenses and is not associated with the company in any way.
Other members reported talking to someone claiming to be an agent or attorney representing the Mexican Government Tax Office and wanting to confirm personal information. We urge you to take no action if you receive such calls. The Mexican government does not contact Mexican citizens or foreigners in this manner.
We reported a similar case of phone calls from a woman identifying herself as a federal prosecutor in Mexico City. This person claimed to be investigating a case against Royal Resorts, but her questions were suspicious and indicative of a possible scam. Again, a federal prosecutor would not operate in this way.
Sometimes criminals will falsify documents or scan logos to make the letters and forms they use in their scam attempts look official. Be vigilant if you receive emails purportedly from the Mexican government with such documents. Genuine emails sent by Mexican government offices all have addresses that include .gob.mx, for example: the official email addresses for the Servicio de Administración Tributaria (SAT) or Tax Office are: sat.gob.mx or gob.mx/sat
For more information on types of domain names used in Mexico and international terminology and what to look out for when you receive an email from an unfamiliar address, scroll down.
Recent reports of suspicious online activity
Other recent reports of emails and dubious phone calls mention companies called Hollywood Management Inc. Real Estate, Hollywood Investments Company, 118 International Realty, Commodity Consultants International LTD and Blue Marlin Realty or Blue Marlin Realtors operating out of Chicago. The name of the Qingjan Realty Group Pte Ltd and of a broker called Victor Santiago appears in the documents that the member received from the latter company.
In June 2020, several members reported receiving unsolicited calls and emails about title changes from an individual called Marco Deleon operating out of Las Vegas and a company called Administración Hotelera Corporativa Columbus SA de CA. This individual claimed to represent CIT but is not associated with Royal Resorts, CIT or Interval Servicing in any way.
Also in 2020, several members contacted us about calls from a marketing company agent operating out of Cancun who offered them special stay rates at The Royal Sands and The Royal Caribbean. This is not a Royal Resorts promotion and neither the company nor its agent has any business relationship with us. The fact that this individual mentioned The Royal Caribbean, which was closed and under renovation at the time, should be a warning sign not to proceed.
In summary, in the last three years, Members have reported suspicious calls and emails from all of these companies:
Hollywood Management Inc. operates out of Van Nuys, California, Zinn Enterprises operates out of Alaska; Atlantic Realty and Realty Alliance operate out of Boston. The Brokerage Group, Network Real Estate, Black Diamond Group and New York Escrow Services have New York addresses. Zicasso is a Mexican firm supposedly with a parent company in Mountain View, California.
Royal Resorts has no business relationship with any of the aforementioned companies or their representatives. The Legal department has contacted them with a cease and desist notice.
We recommend that you do not engage with any of these companies or their representatives. Do not be taken in by offers to sell your unit quickly or for a price that sounds too good to be true. Do not submit the membership information requested, and above all, never send money or wire transfers if they mention a closing or processing fee, taxes or other fees that has to be paid up front. If they begin to use high pressure tactics hang up the phone.
When such companies contact you via email or phone to offer unsolicited broker, resale, title change, exchange or rental services and ask for cash in advance to cover “administrative fees”, “processing fees,” “commissions”, “guarantees” or “deposits” it is generally a good indication that they may not be genuine and if you pay it is very possible that you will not hear from them again.
Protecting your personal information
Royal Resorts has a rigorous privacy policy and is in full compliance with privacy laws. Our members’ personal information is confidential and we do everything possible to protect it. We do not sell and have never sold personal information to third parties.
Always follow these steps if you receive a suspicious email or phone call:
Domain terminology
Always check the domain name. Here are some examples of third level domains used in Mexico for you to be aware of:
.com.mx = Used by commercial entities
.net.mx = Internet providers
.org.mx = Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
.edu.mx = Educational institutions
.gob.mx = Government ministries, departments and institutions
Internationally, these generic Top-level Domains (gTLD) are the most commonly used and have the following definitions:
.com = Commercial site
.net = Internet service company
.org = Non profit organization
.info = Information site
.biz = Business site
Cyber crime is on the rise and unfortunately hackers and scammers are more active than ever. Take care when using the Internet. We recommend that you avoid disclosing your personal information on forums, blogs and other open media venues and participation in online referral schemes that ask you to send the names and details of friends. When you provide your contact information to others in order to rent, sell or lend your unit please ensure that it will be protected.