Timeshare fraud is not exclusive to the United States, a country that has reported the existence of this type of crime linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), led by Nemesio Oseguera, alias “El Mencho,” since at least 2012.
The Jalisco Attorney General’s Office has acknowledged that these crimes are also occurring in the state, and although relatively few victims have reported them, the losses are estimated at nearly 70 million pesos, considering only those cases that were reported to state authorities.
According to information from the Jalisco Attorney General’s Office, between January 2016 and August 2025, at least 70 people reported to the Jalisco Attorney General’s Office that they had been victims of this type of crime.
Considering a full year, 2023 had the highest number of victims of this type of fraud, while between January and August of last year—2025—14 people were affected.
Overall, the losses amount to 66,120,750 Mexican pesos, or, expressed in dollars, just over three million, seven hundred fifty-six thousand. According to information provided by the Jalisco Attorney General’s Office through the Transparency Mechanism, the victims who filed reports were affected in both Mexican pesos and dollars, and although the amounts varied, each victim lost, on average, close to one million pesos after being defrauded.
It is unknown whether the victims were Mexican nationals or if there were also foreign nationals residing in our state.
This has also been confirmed by the State Attorney General, Salvador González de los Santos, who stated that the modus operandi has been identified. The criminals offer people apartments or spaces as “timeshares,” a vacation ownership model where the right to use and occupy a unit (condominium, apartment, suite, or hotel room) is acquired for a specific period each year, with the cost and use of the property divided among several buyers.
He also stated that authorities are in communication with the United States government to exchange information regarding reported cases in the state and abroad, although no local action to combat these crimes has been publicly announced so far.
Furthermore, while the Jalisco Attorney General’s Office acknowledges that there are victims of these types of scams in the state, there is currently no public awareness campaign specifically addressing these crimes. The State Prosecutor’s Office maintains an open channel for reporting fraud in general through in-person complaints, which must be filed at 14th Street in the Industrial Zone of Guadalajara.
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A diversification of organized crime with losses in the millions: Specialist
Francisco Jiménez Reynoso, an academic at the University of Guadalajara and a specialist in security and justice, noted that this is just one of the ways in which organized crime raises resources to finance its operations, beyond drug sales, which in recent years have taken a back seat.
“Organized crime businesses have taken on new forms, expanding their activities to generate profit and enrichment, including fuel theft, which has yielded substantial returns. But the criminals continue to grow stronger and diversify. Another significant source of income has been call centers and timeshare fraud, where young people, perhaps forcibly recruited, with fluency in English are likely involved. This has led to call centers moving out of the prisons where they were previously located and operating, and establishing themselves in various neighborhoods throughout the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area and Puerto Vallarta,” he said.
This is confirmed by data shared by the U.S. Treasury Department, which, following the designation of 17 new companies and a sports club on February 19, now totals at least 74 businesses identified with operations related to timeshare fraud. Of these, at least 49 have been or are believed to be operating from Jalisco, representing approximately 66% of the total.
Furthermore, according to reports from U.S. authorities, the FBI had registered at least 6,000 U.S. victims as of the most recent count in 2025, who reported losses of more than $300 million between 2019 and 2023 related to timeshare fraud perpetrated from Mexico.
In 2024 alone, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) recorded nearly 900 complaints related to timeshare fraud in Mexico, with reported losses of more than $50 million.
Source: informador
