Global World Event Planners Marquis Holding and Title Services Elite Resort Services and Direct Escrow Transfers are operating under different names Grand Rapids, Michigan

The companies, Elite Resort Services and Direct Escrow Transfers, that were reported by Stephanie Lewis on December 4, 2010, have set up shop under different names.  These same individuals are now operating under the names of Global World Event Planners (GlobalWEP) out of Grand Rapids, MI and Marquis Holding and Title Services out of Beaverton, OR.

We were contacted by a Bryan Davis of GWEP, located in Grand Rapids, MI on May 12, 2011, and told that they had a buyer lined up for our timeshare located in Mexico.  They offered a nice price and made sure to tell us that there were no up front costs associated with this sale.  All fees would be paid at closing.  We were told that the buyer would pick an independent escrow service to handle closing procedures.  We were emailed a purchase agreement and instructed to sign and send it back with copies of an official ID and proof of ownership.  We signed and returned the purchase agreement but I did not send the ID or proof of ownership.  To me something just didn't seem right about getting an unsolicited offer and I did not want to give them important personal information. 

After sending in the purchase agreement, I was contacted by a Fobio Sansoni (not sure on last name spelling) from Marquis Holding and Title Services.  Fobio stated that the buyer had picked them as the escrow service for our sale.  He also stated that he had checked with the authorities in Mexico and that our ownership was valid and that we were current with payments and maintenance fees.  He asked if Global WEP had sent me an exclusive resale contract, which they had not.  Very shortly thereafter, I received said exclusive resale contract with another request to submit the ID and proof of ownership.  GWEP even stated that I could "scratch out" the ID number on my license in an attempt to make me feel better about it.  I was then told that a call needs to be scheduled to review the contract and "record" our conversation so that the closing company would have everything legal.

While all of this was going on, I was trying to do research on these companies to see if there were any scams.  I could find nothing using these company names so I decided to do a "who is" search of the web addresses and that is where I discovered that these companies were related to the companies that scammed Ms. Lewis in 2010.  The "Who is" search revealed that both of these web addresses were created on April 27, 2011 by the same person (even though they claimed to have been in business since 1998).  The person hosting the web domains is Curtis R Grant from Mexico.  Other research via the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and other sources revealed that these previous companies are using voice over internet protocol phones to make it look like they are in the United States.  The BBB reported that the previous companies did not exist at the addresses given and neighboring businesses never heard of them.

After realizing that these companies are related to other known scammers, I sent one last email asking  a list of specific questions, each of which became increasing revealing to their scam.  Needless to say, I have not heard from them since.  Thankfully, I did not provide any personal information nor did I send any money.  I am providing this report so that maybe someone else can be spared the hardships that Ms. Lewis experienced at the hands of these people.

Here are some things that threw up red flags for me about this transaction and things to consider if you are ever approached, unsolicited, about selling your timeshare:

1.  All of the people we talked to had American names but Mexican, or Spanish, accents.


2. All of the phone calls had a hollow, echo sound to them.


3. Whenever we talked to someone, they always had to go grab a paper so they knew what to say.  Probably a script for the scam.


4. A google search of the phone numbers found nothing definitive, which was puzzling because they told us they have been in business since 1998.


5. A google search of the phone number also located the land line in different town than their claimed location.


6. A google search of the toll free fax number brought up another company.

I cannot stress enough the value of doing a "who is" search of the websites your are given by timeshare resellers.  Just do a google search using "who is" and then use the website to discover the owner and/or responsible parties for the website.  If a named server is provided, click on the name and you will see all of the other websites hosted on that server.  That is how I discovered that these companies were related.