Maybe Singapore should ban this as well…
International December 4th, 2007
Came across this about banning stuffs in Malaysia. Apparently, there’s a scratch and win scam going around, whereby people were approached to scratch and win some stuffs, but in order to collect them, they need to buy more stuffs, usually expensive stuffs.
What I find perplexing is that people actually take loans to find these expensive stuffs just to collect the prizes, which is usually a car. Doesn’t this sound suspiciously like that happens in Singapore? Except that they don’t tell you that you’d won a car – probably something less expensive, but they want you to buy into their timeshare s*ahem*c*cough*a*ah-choo*m…
KUALA LUMPUR – MALAYSIA has banned scratch-and-win contests after thousands of people complained they were duped and did not receive the promised prizes, an official said.
The Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry has made it illegal to hold such contests, said ministry Enforcement Deputy Director Iskandar Halim Sulaiman on Tuesday.
In scratch-and-win contests, consumers are given paper cards with an area coated with coloured plastic that can be scratched with a coin to reveal whether a prize has been won.
Mr Iskandar said direct sales staff often duped consumers at supermarkets or at their doorsteps with cards that showed they had won cars or other expensive items. However, to get the prizes, consumers were asked to first buy the company’s products, and in the end ‘never get the car’, Mr Iskandar said.
Almost 1,400 complaints were filed in the first 10 months of this year, with many people claiming they lost thousands of ringgit in the scams, often used by direct marketing companies, Mr Iskandar said.
Companies found illegally conducting such contests risk a fine, up to three years in prison and a loss of their business licenses, he said.
The Star newspaper quoted a 42-year-old civil servant, Ms Satilah Mahmood, as saying she lost RM27,000 (S$12,000) in a scratch-and-win scheme this year.
The home theatre system and massage chair she bought – to be eligible for more prizes – broke down within weeks, the newspaper said. It said the people who lured her with prizes moved out of their rented office.
‘My family is now saddled with debts,’ it quoted her as saying. — AP
Article obtained from straitstimes.com on 4th December 2007
About
Dear Lisa,
i have been a victim of CDA too, having parted a substantial sum to them with the promise that my membership will be sold at a very attractive return.
I have made many fruitless attempts to contact staff from CDA but to no avail.
In Oct, I did a company search and CDA still existed. Not sure when you recently visited CASE who informed you otherwise.
I am at a loss how to strategise a battle against such companies, in particular CDA, and like you said bring them to justice.
Hi AK, Lisa,
It is very difficult to get back the money you have paid to companies like CDA. One reason is the authority is indifferent about all those activities and CASE is not keen in fighting for the victims. It may be too complicated for them to do so. The authority should know that the trend now is no longer time share companies cheating victims into buying other TS from them, which CASE has said it provides consumers with another option for holiday. That is no more the case. Companies like CDA have been telling TS members they can off load or terminate TS memberships for them with very attractive returns etc. Members who are eager to get rid of their TS membership are very likely to fall into the traps. You may engage a lawyer but the chance of winning may only be 50% or less, aside from the fee you will have to pay to the lawyer. In the contract document drafted by those scam companies like CDA or Jeremiah Thomas & Partner (just to name two of such swindles), you will find they are well protected. We hope the authority can take action to stop all those scams before more people are victimized. It is not enough telling victims that they should be aware of the “five days cooling period”, which actually protects the scammers rather than the victims once they miss the 5 days period. Victims are usually not too concerned about the 5 days thing until it is too late.
Hi
Does anyone went the worldex soft launch & claim the prize? Does anyone there has succesful make a trip to their FREE destination?
I had purchase their Company profile. Whom willing to had a copy please e-mail me to sophiatan2009@yahoo.com
I provided FOC
Hi,I have called up CASE after me & my wife found out that something smells fishy the next day after we sign the agreement with Worldex. The CASE officer said TS complains remains the top everyday and added that “there is no successful transfer of TS like what we are being told”, by these scam companies in Singapore ! I followed CASE instruction to send a termination letter via registered mail to Worldex within my cooling off period of 5 WORKING DAYS.
I have also called CYNTHIA KAUR to inform her of my termination but she said that I have to speak to GEORGE. Eventually GEORGE called both of us to tell us more stuffs in order to convince us again.
My wife actually called Hutchinson to check on what Worldex have been doing. To our surprise, EVERYTHING BECOMES CLEARER THAT THIS IS ANOTHER SCAM COMPANY in Singapore again !
Both my wife & I have been calling Worldex everyday (except Sat) and left numerous msgs regards to our termination and refund of deposit procedure. The receptionist always said that GEORGE will call us back. Today is already the last day of our cooling off period and guess what, GEORGE have not return any of our calls till now ! It is not like what he is when he called us after hearing our termination of agreement news immediately !
I remembered there is this guy MELVIN from Worldex, who is trying to convince us to make appointment to go Worldex. He claims that he is a Singaporean too and hope to solve our problems ! CYNTHIA KAUR from Worldex also acted very well after hearing our unfortunate encounters in TS companies. She also claims that she is Singaporean ! WHAT HAVE HAPPENED TO OUR SINGAPORE SOCIETY ! How come these scamers still have the guts to call themselves Singaporeans !
Since we are “tricked” into these TS & 3rd parties TS related companies, we are always upset on the issue that why Singapore would allow such acts going on and on in this small country. We are we still allowing these scamers to come in and ruin our society. I just have to keep reminding everyone not to fall into the trap which thats the way we can do to save everybody! I am not sure how can we spread these news to the entire Singapore….
I like to share my story with all. I received a travel voucher from ASIALINX, sponsor by DYNAMIKZ NETWERKZ about a year ago. Sometime in Sept. I apply to go to Bangkok in Decemeber from DYNAMIKZ and paid a booking fee of S$200.00 for 4 people. In October, DYNAMIKZ confirmed back that they had booked the hotel and also the air-ticket (AIRASIA). They then asked me to pay the taxes (hotel and airtickets) and super peak period surchargge.
Please note that the person I am communicating with in DYNAMIKZ is DAVE VIJAY and not DAVE JASWAL(same person). He claims that DYNAMIKZ is not a travel agency but a marketing agent.
I then email them to enquire on the taxes & super peak period surcharge. The most stupid reply I got was that the taxes was base on TIGER AIRWAYS not AIRASIA ( note that the tickets were purchase from AIRASIA). The super peak period was base on their own whims. I asked them to provide/justify their claims but they had been unable to provide any so far. If you check online, the taxes are clearly seen and they tried to charge me double for the taxes. As a marketing agent, they only book airtickets and hotel reservation yet they want us to pay for peak period which is ridiculous.
I then approached CASE for advise. CASE wrote a letter to them. They refuse to budge. DAVE VIJAY talks big and refuse to refund me my booking fees. I then file a claim against them in the Small Claims Tribunal. We were supposed to meet on the 10th of November for the consultation. GUESS WHAT!! No representative from DYNAMIKZ was present. DYNAMIKZ was ordered to refund me my booking fees including S$30.00 for disbursements. DYNAMIKZ was given until 10th of December to pay up failing which, I can enforce the ruling.
I email to DAVE and he told me to enforce the judgement. On the last day of the date given for DYNAMIKZ to pay, I email him on whether DYNAMIKZ was going to pay and SURPRISE, he asked to me collect my refund.
I am happy to inform everyone that I got my full refund including S$30.00 as disbursements.
AS A WARNING/PRECAUTION to everyone, go online and check and double check if necessary.
TAXES — make sure that the taxes are from the airline that the tickets were purchase from.
PEAK PERIOD SURCHARGE — this are normally charge by travel agents/agency who provide a service during the holidays and not by a booking/marketing agent who does nothing except booking your airtickets and hotel reservation.
GL, you don’t have to panic, just go to CASE and get them to send in a fax to inform Worldex that you have decided to cancel your program with them and you are still in your 5 days cooling period. They are just trying to hide but as long as you go to CASE and they helped to draft the letter and faxed over the copy, it is considered official. All the people, please stop believing in all the scams that you hear from Worldex and even Ferguson Lang & Co. is also under the names of Mr. Peter Mitch Mabbort and Simon and their so-called office of Ferguson Land & Co where everyone could check around is only 1 small room and please stop jumping from 1 trap to another one, please stop giving your hard-earned money to these scammers like George, Cynthia or Cyndi. There is no way you can get out of it, you will just be sunken deeper and deeper. For those who bought Worldex, at any time, you want to cancel your program, you can still go to CASE as long as when the time you signed, they did not inform you of your right regarding the cooling off period and not shown you the notice of cancellation when you sign, you still can cancel and ask for a full refund of your money and they have breached the regulations.
Hi RIchard,
Does you make a trip to your destination or just a scam to cheat more money? Well, i had recieved their(worldex) call again…begging me to claim their prize.
Tell me if i not go,boss will cut his salary, Christmas is coming…ask me go down & she able to earn more money…all nonsense story…Take care
Hi! the guy MITCH MABBORT ..this is a scammer and he dont deserve to be a PR in Singapore at all! he BRING AND BEING A disgrace to our country. I am fortunate that i am not his victim but he have cheated people that i cared and loved around me.
This guy runs Worldex and now he also run another company selling land investment that is in Hungary but all pure bullshit cos its another plot he is planning to get quick money. the company i heard if not wrong is call Ferguson Lang & Co THAT phones people regarding the investment and guess what? it really bullshit.. they dont have that land at all and the returns they claims are not true at all.
I learned from someone that the client wanted the reservation $ back and he did not want to return ( the reservation form stated 100% refund) and in returns wanted to sue the client for beach of contract. What A JOKE!! Juvenille !
Seriously, this guy is scaming a lot of innocent people out there and will continue to do so and i hope there is someone that will look into this case and pin this guy down. But i will not rest till justice acts upon him.
The contact for this asshole( Mitch Mabbort) is 93637717 his direct mobile contact. He is the person that is behind all these and ofcos got other people as well..
Guys! check this out. the address for ferguson lang & Co and the Worldex website contact are the same…
391B Orchard Road, #23-01, Ngee Ann City Tower B,
Singapore 238874
Tel: (65) 6735 2692, Fax: (65) 6735 0861
Email: asia@holidayplus.net
391 B Orchard Road Unit 2301
Ngee Ann City Tower B S(238874)
Main: (65)6832 8012
Email: admin@fergusonlang.com
Xavier, why are you so pissed off with this guy?? A friend of mine is happy with the company. Are you some disgruntled person??
Hi, I tried taking up Terrence offer for company profile on Worldex but got this reply:
Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:
sophiatan2009@yahoo.com
Technical details of permanent failure:
Google tried to deliver your message, but it was rejected by the recipient domain. We recommend contacting the other email provider for further information about the cause of this error. The error that the other server returned was: 554 554 delivery error: dd This user doesn’t have a yahoo.com account (sophiatan2009@yahoo.com) [-5] – mta167.mail.sp2.yahoo.com (state 18).
Hi,
I also received a call from worldex offering to buy my CVC Concepts (bought thru LGB) and invited me for a 2 hr (at least) evluation. This is in addition to another call from Dinesh Chua & Partners, which turns out to be a Law Organization. Guy there, Jason claims to be a legal administrator and helping to submit cases to Dhillion and Partners and others who help to fight cases to win back your monies. I asked who pays their fees, they reply LGM as they have misrepresented and were negligient. Jason tried to impress by showing me Contract Law books with paras highlighted. My imporession wasnt good and it flet like another scam. He had audacity to say my skeptism is good and I should question everything and not simply believe. These people are really good and professionals!
So CM, did you went down to Worldex?
CM, there are now many companies with the last word of the company name ‘Partners’ or ‘Associates’ to sound like law firms and claiming they can help TS victims recover their money. They can tell you to be careful of scammers but they themseves are scammers! Be careful and don’t fall into another trap.
Hi Sophia, I did not make the trip. I took action against them and won. I got my money back. They wont let me make use of the voucher. Take care. Do not be so trusting.
ASIALINX is a big time SCAM!!! Lost an exorbitant sum of money to this “well organized SCAM” company. For those who have fall trap to their “investment” scheme, very well know what im talking about. Pass the word around guys to stop all these unscrupulous companies from taking away our hard earned money!!! There’s another company that had been calling me up by the name of Igeneric. These “companies” sprung up like a mushroom. Probably another one of the SCAM companies i suppose… Do NOT let these companies bring more misery than we the victims already have…
John
Dear all
I have went to Worldex and pay a deposit of $2000+ to them one month ago. Now i am very confused what to do? Do CASE really can help us solve it and get back the money? Does anyone got any ways of how to get rid of the timeshare as i afraid of getting into legal matter?
Hi John,
We are in the same boat. Been to CASE to seek for refund but was told that after the mandatory cooling off period, nothing much that they can do for us… There were exchange of letters between Worldex and CASE but Worldex won’t budge! Why cant the govt do something about this?? I ended up paying them in full…
John,
Since you have passed the so called ‘cooling off period’, I don’t think you can have the refund. I have said in my earlier post that the cooling off period withdrawal actually protects the scams more than the consumers because majority of the victims are ignorant but believe in the scam’s “professional” explanation. When they feel something has gone wrong it is already weeks or months later. The agreement does not allow you to get back the money. You can try talk to them but I think the chance is nil. These people are heartless. Further more you have to pay the full amount according to the contract. Be prepared to pay the full but make it as a lesson, although an expensive one.
The same question, why can’t the government take action? In Singapore, people generally believe whatever the government does is right. As such, it is naturally believe the companies which are allowed by the government to operate are doing legal things. Why can’t the government stip up before more victims fall into the traps!!!!???
Please don’t blame the authorities or the government. Many victims itselfs not standing up and having “none of my business” attitude contributed to these long lasting ‘professional’ operation. Worst was many still choose to dream on than to face the facts.
But trust me, the authorities won’t take long to uncover all these ‘professional’.
I’ve just received a call from Dinesh Chua & Partners regarding to the TS. They asked me to get downn to their place tomorrow(sunday). Does law firms work on Sundays? And do we need to get queue no to see them? And further more why there’s no letter sent to us? He mentioned that they are filing this to court on Monday. Does lawyers talk to clients on the phone just like that? I really lost and also doubt about them. Can anybody advise?
To Ben (whose full name is Ben Soo),
This guy currently work in these “professional” companies who supposedly now are “helping” these victims after he himself “help” them to get into timeshare contracts in the first place. He’s a real professional. No harm Ben Soo. Your advices to these victims are good but not good enough to save yourself..
PW,
Dont watse a single minute of your time over at Dinesh Chua & Partners. You already answered to your own doubts. Lawyers do not work on Sundays, period. Something to think about.. Lawyers do not look for clients nor doctors. We look for them. Concluding my statement, do you think Dinesh Chua & Partners is a law firm in the first place?? I rest my case.
Hi,
Can’t blame anyone but our self being taken for a ride or two!
Have a Timeshare bought in 94, have never used it, but am trying to get rid of it, a he** of a lot easier said than done, still trying but have taken it as a loss.
If one “own” a timeshare and are trying to get rid of it, think twice (at least)as you will loose more $$$ in the process, this has been proven time and time again, reading all the complaints against the local timeshare resellers, why have we not yet learned anything, is it the lure of a free/semifree holiday? The best way to get rid of these companies is to hang up when they call, never get tempted to visit their premisses, treat them as the plague!
One should have thought that after all these years with timeshare blogs full of complaints, people should have learned their lessons, it seems we have not!
Travel and Leisure.uk and RDO UK, states clearly to be very cautious of resale companies which:
1. Contacted COLD without any invitation from your self.
2. Request any form of up-front payment, thb list goes on and on, in my experience all of the resale companies have broken these laws/rules, go on the web and look up the above companies and read their DONT’S, similar rules should be applied in Singapore, if not allredy implemented, why not?
http://www.expatica.com/de/news/european_news/Spanish-police-hold-alleged-timeshare-
fraudsters_58315.html
Spanish police hold alleged timeshare fraudsters
Twenty-two people accused of running a bogus timeshare scam have been detained in Malaga and Tenerife.
24/11/2009
Madrid – Spanish police said Monday they had arrested 22 people accused of running a bogus timeshare
scam.
Police said the suspects, who were detained in the southern city of Malaga and on Tenerife in the Canary
Islands, tricked their victims into believing they had found people who wanted to buy the right to use
their homes.
But once the victims had handed over money they thought was to cover expenses for the deal, the
intermediaries and those supposedly interested in using their homes would disappear, according to a
police statement.
After this initial scam members of the network tricked several of the victims again by pretending to be
lawyers and offer to help those who had been defrauded, police alleged.
“They would claim to have recuperated the money that had been defrauded and assured them that it would
be returned to them, demanding fresh payments for their services,” police said in a statement.
Police did not disclose the nationalities of the suspects. They carried out 11 searches as part of their
operation and seized two guns, an electric shock device, several shackles and more than EUR 30,000 in
cash.
A timeshare involves people buying an entitlement to stay for a period each year in a property.
The system has given rise to a string of bogus timeshare scams across Europe, particularly in Spain.
AFP / Expatica
—————————————-
http://www.expatica.com/de/news/local_news/gang-held-after-15000-hit-by-eur-10m-timeshare-fraud—
30317_28638.html
Gang held after 15,000 hit by EUR 10m timeshare fraud
26 May 2006
MALAGA — Eight people have been arrested in connection with a EUR 10 million timeshare fraud which is
said to have affected 15,000 owners.
In a police operation, codenamed Trafalgar, detectives arrested the gang who aimed their fraud at
Britons or other northern Europeans, who owned or wanted to own timeshare property on the Costa del Sol.
The gang used a complex web of up to 300 companies and employed up to 1,000 people to disguise their
operations.
Four of those arrested were British, two South African, one Belgian and another gang member was
Norwegian.
Police named the gang leader as Willem Marthinus P., 58, from South Africa. His wife, Gunn Iren K, 48, a
Norwegian, was also involved.
Other members of gang were Briton Malcom David K., 32, who allegedly falsified documents and obtained
lists of thousands of timeshare owners who were targeted by the gang.
Other suspects named were Belgian Johannes V., 51, whose job was to distribute falsified documentation,
Britons Willy S., 44, and Steven Stewart R., 53, South African Leon O., 49; and Briton Rupert Quentin
M., 37.
They were arrested in Fuengirola, Mijas and Coin on the Costa del Sol.
Spanish police said the gang moved to the Costa del Sol in 2000.
They used legally registered companies and employed telesales operators to contact timeshare owners and
offer the chance to sell their shares in a property, offering to contact possible buyers in return.
They tricked owners into sending quantities of cash to Spain to pay for legal, management or tax fees.
It would often take some time before the victims would realise they had been defrauded.
At the same time, they were selling the same product to potential buyers with the promise of inflated
profits.
The gang were also promising to take legal action against other companies which they were actually
running.
They claimed they could act for fraud victims.
They then used fake papers purporting to come from Spanish lawyers and notaries, and repeating the
fraud.
After police action in 2001, they re-started the fraud, this time using third parties to hide who was
really running the scam.
They would create a web of fictitious companies, with some genuine businesses, all the time pretending
they were prestigious timeshare companies.
But after a few months, they would disappear, then reappear elsewhere to repeat the same fraud.
Anybody heard of River Marketing Limited?
at Tong building ?
Me too received the email from River Marketing Limited. Went to their place. It’s Worldex… Don’t get conned again..
Please report timeshare cheating/ fraud to the police/CAD. You will be helping yourself and others. The more people report, the stronger the evidence.