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Cancun is one of the most popular tropical beach vacation destinations in the world, with millions of travelers booking trips to the tourist hotspot every year.
As with any booming tourist destination, the popularity of it, paired with the desire for travelers to save money on vacations, translates to an opportunity for scam artists to take advantage of tourists.
And Cancun tourists are now being warned about the significant increase in a vacation scam that involves a fraudulent travel company taking money for bookings that don’t exist.
A New But Not So New Scam
The new scam that is popping up in Cancun, which allegedly involves an owner of a travel agency taking money from travelers to book a vacation and then not delivering, is really not so new at all.
While this specific company, or individual, seems to have just begun operating in Cancun, reportedly, they used to operate in Mexico City too.
According to alleged victims of the scam, they fork over a deposit for plane tickets and hotel bookings, the scam artist shows them the tickets and reservations, and then cancels them and keeps their money.
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The Alleged Offender
The name of the travel agency being accused of scamming travelers out of their money this time is Luxury Dreams.
The individual who runs it is Elidet Oderay Gonzalez Rios, and multiple complaints have been made against her.
Some reports have indicated that she may also have a male accomplice that goes by the name of Juan Carlos Rangel Mendez.
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How The Scam Works
According to victims of this scam, the “travel agent” requests a certain percentage of the trip cost upfront.
They then show the individual booking the trip the tickets and confirmation for the hotel but later cancel them and tell the customers there was a problem.
They then tell the customer they’ll be refunded, but it never happens.
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The Extent Of The Problem
So far, complaints have been made by 15 different people regarding this specific scam.
Some of the fraudulent “vacation packages” that were sold to travelers making these complaints were being sold for more than $5,000, as some of them were purchased for a large group of travelers.
Victims of the scam have apparently taken to social media to complain about the scam and have filed complaints with the government as well.
One Victim’s Story
One victim of this scam was allegedly robbed of over $3,000.
The victim stated that the travel agent/scam artist “asked me for the payment of almost 60,000 pesos, which I did through two transfers, the days passed, and with pure lies he [two months passed] and when I no longer wanted to wait, I asked him for my refund.”
Sadly the refund did not come, and this traveler lost a total of $3,522.
The Problem With Holding Someone Accountable
While authorities do open cases when they receive complaints of fraud, there is little they can do.
This is because most of the individuals perpetrating these scams do so while using false personal and business names, and they can operate from anywhere.
Avoiding these scams, then, is left to the traveler.
How To Avoid Being Scammed When Booking A Cancun Vacation
The important thing to remember when booking a Cancun vacation is that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Many of these scammers advertise ridiculously low prices for vacations to draw people in, and it works.
This should be the first sign that something might not be quite right.
To be safe, always book through a reputable travel company or online travel agency.
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