On March 2, 2023, the OFAC sanctioned eight Mexican companies linked to timeshare fraud on behalf of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG). A timeshare is a shared ownership model of vacation real estate in which multiple purchasers own allotments of usage in the same property. Timeshare fraud happens when scam artists call sellers of timeshares, posing as a reseller or real estate agent, then claims to have a buyer for the timeshare or guarantees he can sell the timeshare for a good price.
According to the OFAC’s press release, there are different types of timeshare fraud but schemes often involve the following:
First, third-party scammers, who claim to have ready buyers, make unsolicited purchase offers to timeshare owners;
If offers are accepted, scammers make requests of timeshare owners for payments of advance fees and taxes, supposedly to facilitate or expedite the sale with assurances of reimbursement upon closing; and
Once multiple payments have been made to the scammers, timeshare owners eventually realize that the offers were fictitious, that there are no buyers, and that their money is gone.
As a result of the OFAC’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated persons that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. Any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.
Read the Treasury’s press release here.