Tryon & Trade Group

Has any one heard of this group before? They are calling to buy my Grand Mayan and I am willing to sell if they are legit.

It's a SCAM !!! All they want is tour upfront money. They will lead you on with an outrageous offer to get you to take the bait. You have a better chance of winning the Nigerian lottery than these scammers paying you for your timeshare . If by any chance you fall for this scam please come back and let us know how much they took you for.

Thank you, I will not respond at this point. How did they have all the info on our account?

Scammers have access to timeshare ownership just like the post card companies. It makes wonder since they claim that owner lists are protected by privacy laws.

craigt96 wrote:

How did they have all the info on our account?

It's likely that either a current or ex-employee at either the resort or exchange company is selling all this owner information on the side.

Just curious, but they are not asking for any money up front, but payable to them at closing. What's the risk then?

Because it's a SCAM !! All they want is your upfront money.

lakmk wrote:

Just curious, but they are not asking for any money up front, but payable to them at closing. What's the risk then?

This is a common scam that we hear of frequently on these boards. The scam people claim and emphasize "No upfront fee! No upfront fee! All the fees are taken at closing." All the while , there is no buyer. Then the scam artists call the owner and say, "We have a buyer for you who has paid [money beyond your wildest dreams] for your timeshare. We have a check sitting on our desk with your name on it ready to send to you. However, the Mexican Government requires that you pay [insert name of bogus fee or tax here] before we can release the funds to you." They'll come up with a name for this fee or tax that sounds legitimate and reasonable but is totally bogus (eg., Property Transfer Tax, Documentation Fee, Filing Fees, Legal Establishment Fees, etc.).

Many owners fall for this because they're now so focused on what they're going to do with this huge amount of money (along with the freedom from their timeshare maintenance fees) that they're not thinking rationally. All they're thinking is "Great! What do I have to do to make this wonderful sale happen? A $1000 fee for documentation and legal transfer is peanuts compared to the big payday I'm about to get. I can't let a 'minor' documentation fee get in the way of this sale."

Therein lies the risk.

Thank you so much for your kind explanation!

They and their partner 'escrow company' took me for $20,000. This scammer sounds legitimate at first with legal sounding documents and guarantees. They request you pay the transfer fee, government taxes, settlement fee and broker fee all of which you be reimbursed by the buyer until you realize you have spent more money than the actual return, but you believe you will be fully reimbursed by the buyer, so you go along. Then there is a surprise, the 'government' requires another tax we did not anticipate. They keep the 'carrot' of promising an imminent settlement by saying just pay this tax/fee and then we can settle in three days after the wire transfer clears. However, there is no settlement and your wired money to Mexico is not recoverable. As they say, if an offer is too good to be true then it is a scam.

Contract holder information can be bought (or pilfered) from resort records with relative ease --- particularly in Mexico. All it takes is an "insider" looking to make a buck / peso. There is NO buyer, not at ANY price. This is just another a scammer effort to steal your money. First, they lure you in with the promise of big bucks. Once you take that bait, they will suddenly need a "refundable transaction deposit" or "title fee" or "transfer tax" or some other such fabricated nonsense "in order to proceed". The money must of course be sent to them immediately by (non-traceable) wire transfer. At that point, they''re done and they're gone --- along with your money. You' would never hear from them again nor could you ever find them or ever trace the wired funds. They will of course just resurface again later with a brand new name, but with the same old game --- as they have been doing for years.

The scammers in these type of operations don't necessarily have anything at all to do with the resort itself, other than having somehow obtained (either by under the table purchase or by theft) RTU contract holder information from internal resort records. Don't even talk to these parasites. If they ever call you, just say "not interested" and hang up immediately. They are lying, deceitful thieves --- no more and no less.

I was just scammed out of $18,000.00. I am very embarrassed. I spent more than a month checking this out and I still was duped. The guys I spoke with, sure these are fake names, are Richard Cohen from Old Stone Escrow in Cleveland Ohio and Joseph Demko from Tryon and Trade Group out of Charlotte NC. If you have been contacted by them let me know, I am working with the FBI

I was contacted by someone representing this company making an offer and I wanted to sell. They had convincing documents which sounded legal. They referred me to Camden Park escrow in Baltimore MD to handle the transaction. I was told I had to pay this fee and that tax and a whopping commission and settlements costs. You don't know what the fees would be in advance, so they suck you in bit by bit. The money must be wired to a bank in Mexico. I lost $20,000 before my bank caught on that it was a scam. Look on the internet for their phone and address and you will find neither exist. I reported these companies to the respective state attorney generals and the FBI. Do not take the bait. Once the money is wired to an unknown beneficiary, it can't be recovered unless the beneficiary agrees, which of course they won't.

What is your contact info.

The names Richard Cohen from Old Stone Escrow in Cleveland Ohio and Joseph Demko from Tryon and Trade Group out of Charlotte NC sound familiar. The names I dealt with were Andrew Cohen from Camden Park Escrow in Baltimore, MD and Molly Wilson and Mr Thompson in Charlotte, NC. I have written conformation from the criminal divisions of the Attorney Generals Office in both Baltimore and Charlotte that they are not legitimate companies. Check on the Internet, the phone numbers are cell phones whose owners are untraceable and the addresses don't exist. Cell phones with local area codes are easy to get. They could not tell me who the beneficiary was or why they were buying timeshares. I offered to come to their office for the settlement and got a stunned reaction, because there is no office. They sound legitimate but BEWARE these people are SCAMS.

I also reported them to the FBI, I hope that they can be arrested from further scamming.