Nick Morales and his wife love to travel and collect souvenirs from around the world.
When they got a post card for a free 7-day cruise in the mail, they followed its instructions, and attended a meeting at a McAllen hotel.
There, Morales said, several sales representatives greeted them.
"They said they were (named) Pro-Consumer and it was a buying or purchasing club, where we could purchase directly from the manufacturer," Morales said.
For over two hours, Morales said, he and about 20 other people listened to sales representatives making offers too good to pass-up, that promised thousands of dollars in savings for cars, camera equipment and travel.
"That to me sounded very suspicious, but it also was very lucrative,” Morales said. “I mean it was great - it was going to be fantastic to be able to fly where we needed to at a competitive (or) even more than competitive price."
Morales jumped on the opportunity.
"We had to buy into the program right then,” Morales said. “(We had to buy) one of two programs - one that cost $5,000 and an initial fee, plus yearly fee; or the $6,000 one, with a slightly larger yearly fee."
With three days to cancel the membership, Morales and his wife bought the $6,000 deal.
They went home and did some research on the company, and that's when they discovered several warnings that the deal was a scam.
The very next day, Morales canceled his membership.
Morales believes he dodged a lot of trouble, and hopes his story will discourage others from getting involved and protect their “hard-earned money.”
"These guys are here in the (Rio Grande) Valley,” Morales said. “Be very careful and do your research even before you go see them. It is too good to be true."
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKGBT