Sydney woman falls victim to property scam in Mexico when Australian expat couple sells their ‘café’ idea

A Sydney woman claimed she was left bruised and bloody after falling victim to an elaborate property scam involving two Australian expats living in Mexico.

Mary, who asked to use the assumed name for fear of retaliation, told Daily Mail Australia that she was currently stranded in Mexico City after her proposed property deal in the southern Mexican city of Oaxaca fell through. turned sour in December.

Mary, 55, hopes to return to Australia “as soon as possible” but said she was “too scared” to leave her hotel room in the country’s capital.

The Australian woman, who is still battered and traumatized by the encounter, had a warning for anyone else considering doing business with people abroad.

“Don’t trust anyone,” he said.

Mary said it was a mutual friend who introduced her to the expatriate Australian couple living in Oaxaca, “about a year ago.”

The couple told him they had been living in Mexico for two and a half years and proposed a business involving ‘sustainable ownership’ and coffee growing in Oaxaca, a state in southwestern Mexico.

The trio talked for months, with the pair finally earning Mary’s trust over a year of back-and-forth communications about the business venture.

Mary, who previously spent seven years in France, had wanted to move abroad for some time and felt she was ready for ‘another adventure’.

But when Mary arrived in Mexico on December 28, things took a dramatic turn.

Mary said she and a French woman, who had also arrived in the country to join the so-called deal, had an online meeting with the couple, which is when things “started to fall apart”.

Mary, who has work experience in the legal sector, and her French counterpart had come up with a series of legal questions for the couple to make sure the deal was legitimate.

But the couple couldn’t answer “95 per cent” of the questions, according to Mary, ringing alarm bells for her and the French woman.

She said there were gaps in her story about the property, that Mary said it was actually “communal land” and that the couple were “very insistent” that she hand over the money.

Mary said that when she arrived at the couple’s home, they went ‘wild’.

He claims the woman took his bag with his passport and phone and ‘thrown’ it into a nearby hostel, telling him that she would get her belongings back when she was taken to another accommodation.

Mary claims that the woman took her to the shelter in a van and did not speak to her during the trip.

Increasingly concerned for her safety, Mary said she considered getting out of the moving vehicle to escape.

In a strange town where she “didn’t have a direction” and couldn’t speak Spanish, Mary said she felt like she was in a “hostage situation.”

He felt “vulnerable” because of the remoteness of the place, which he said was “30 minutes from the city center.”

His altercation with the woman at the nearby shelter, where Mary claims she was physically restrained, left her with bruises on her arm.

But that was only the beginning of his injuries.

Mary said that when she yelled at the woman to give her passport back, the woman got into the van to drive away.

Fearing she would be left in another country without her passport, Mary said she stood in front of the van, believing the woman would not dare run her over, but said the woman hit her, causing “bruises and scratches”.

She said the woman told her ‘this is Mexico, there are no laws here.’

Fortunately, Mary had a spare mobile phone, although most of the correspondence with the couple was on her main phone, which she has not yet recovered.

He managed to get the attention of a local family on the street and, through an interpreter, was able to make a police report.

Still in shock, Mary said she immediately left the shelter because she feared the couple would learn her whereabouts.

“There was a clear link between the woman and the shelter,” he said.

The local family collected her belongings from the shelter and took her to a hotel in the village.

Mary said the Australian couple then began an “extortion campaign”, demanding via email that she pay them a year’s rent or they would contact the police about alleged “damage” to their car.

Mary believes the couple had “hacked” her phone, claiming the couple’s two sons are “professional hackers” who spend all day on their computers.

She said she was concerned about other Australians who might be attracted by attractive foreign investment and the “very disturbing” fact that the scammers were Australians.

His advice to others who may find themselves involved in overseas deals organized online was to “make sure you have your own accommodation.”

‘In a place like Mexico, there are many scams. Don’t trust anyone,’ she said.

‘If you think someone is ‘on your side’ because they happen to be Australian, think again.’

She felt that she had been ‘prepared’ for the year that she was in contact with the couple.

She said the husband, to whom she had been primarily engaged, appeared to be “kind and understanding.”

“I thought we had the same values, that we were all on the same page,” he said.

“I’m not stupid, but I feel stupid,” she said.

Mary said that she considers herself smart and “not easy to fool”.

“I’m not stupid, but I feel stupid,” she said.

Lawyer Tony Taouk, who is working with Mary on her legal case, has contacted the Australian Embassy in Mexico and requested an investigation, but “does not expect the Mexican police” to pursue this case zealously.

“The Mexican police are notorious for their corruption and poor policing,” he said.

Taouk said he reported the couple to DFAT and has questions about possible legal ramifications as they are Australian citizens.

Mr Taouk hopes his client will return to Australia “shortly”.

Australian government website smart traveler advises that anyone considering working abroad should ‘do [their] investigate first.

‘Make sure the person and their organization are legitimate. Make sure the job they offer you is legal,” he says.

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told Daily Mail Australia that they had “provided consular advice to an Australian woman in Mexico” but were unable to provide further details due to privacy obligations.

Australia safety commissioner warned on its website that Australians “shouldn’t be ashamed” if they fall for an online scam.

‘Hundreds of thousands of highly intelligent Australians are scammed every year. It shows that we are still a trusting society,” the website reads.

‘Report scams to your local consumer affairs agency, Scamwatch or the Australian Cyber ​​Safety Center to help warn others and help track down scammers.’