Alright so here it is. I have been on two Carnival Cruise Ships before and I have entered in legitimate raffles while on board to win cruises. I received a letter from Imperial Majesty/Carnival/Ramada about winning a cruise about 5 months after my latest cruise with Carnival to Mexico. Thinking that this is the raffle I entered into while onboard the ship, I gave them a call. A guy named Rick (employee ID: FT8792) answered the phone and immediately asked for my confirmation number and name. He put me on hold and when he got back to me a minute later, the scam started. He began talking about how I have won a Carnival cruise to the Bahamas and a 7 day rental car from Alamo or Budget in Ft lauderdale, FL. I would also receive 3 days 2 nights in Ft Lauderdale at Ramada, a cruise on the Regal Empress with Carnival to Bahamas, another 1 day 1 night in Ft. Lauderdale when I get back from the cruise and 3 days 2 nights in Orlando (all at a Ramada) On top of that I get a 4 day 3 night stay at the Hacienda Resort in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and 3 day 2 night stay in Las Vegas (either Excalibur, Golden Nugget, or Emperial Palace)
So then he explains that its would only cost $798 and a port tax of $99 or $129 for the 3rd or 4th person i bring with me. He then asks me which card I would be using and all I said was American Express. He told me to stay on hold for a while while he gets the whole package straightened out. Another man picks up claiming he is the manager and I believe that his name was Robert.
The manager decided to offer me a couple more things: 3 days 2 nights in San Diego, CA and Palm Springs, CA at some more Ramada hotels. He also said he would upgrade my room on the cruise to an upper level seaview room. So he asks for my American Express and I ask him if I can call him back so I can have some time to talk to my mom about it.
He decided to stay on hold and I spoke to my mother about the package deal. When i got back to him, I gave him my American Express number, the expiration date and the 4-digit security number (my biggest mistake) One more thing to add on, the gentlemen said that I could take these trips anytime in the next year and a half and there are only blackout dates from Dec15 to Jan 7 for Puerto Vallarta and Las Vegas.
The manager then sent me back to a lady which would get together an audio receipt which American Express would receive. So the lady on the phone stated everything that was in the package. She asked me if I was at least 18 yrs of age and what the name on the account is. She then asked me for the card number again and by then I was already looking online and researching this "too good to be true deal".
When I saw multiple posts about this scam I told the lady that I am having second thoughts and I do not want to go through with this transaction and i DID NOT give her the card number for the second time so it was not recorded in this "audio receipt". She directed me back to the sales person Rick and he began asking questions as to why I do not want the package any longer. I simply said that I do not believe that this is legitimate and I do not want it anymore. He gave me a website to look at: www.imcv.net to prove to me that this is legit.
It was Imperial Majesty's "website". It was getting fishier at that point because while I was speaking to them on the phone earlier and googling the customer service numbers they gave me: 18002039783 and 9544856031, I also looked up the imperial website and the one he gave me is not the same. The real website from imperial is www.imperialmajesty.com So i asked him why Imperial has two different websites and one looks a lot less professional than the other and he basically states that a lot of companies have several websites like Mcdonalds, etc... Everything was a lie.
He then stated how he feels insulted and that he in not a telemarketer and that he is basically trying to give me a good deal and that I am probably online and I have found many people that have stated that this is a scam. He then asked if there were some people online that stated that they did NOT receive the package and I said yes. He said that that was a lie and everyone receives the package and I told him I just want to cancel it and that there is no way they could charge my AMEX.
I signaled my mom to call AMEX right away while I was still on the phone with him. Rick said it has already been charged and he knows what will happen after I hang up: I will call AMEX try to freeze my account but the payment is already pending. AMEX customer service will tell me to call back when the payment has gone through and tell me to get a cancellation number from him and that he will not give it to me... Wow!
He hung up afterwards. So what he said is true. This whole conversation with Rick and Robert happened today, Jan 11 around 4pm and AMEX was immediately contacted and they said that they cant do anything till it goes through. They will issue a dispute once the transaction goes through and I might need a cancellation number depending on the terms between AMEX and Ramada.
(Ramada is what showed up as the company which has charged me $798) So I have to wait a day or two to figure out what can be done. Thanks to all who put up a scam report and I hope no one falls for this. It is ridiculous and if anyone has suggestions or they have gone through this I would appreciate it. Thanks
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