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• Simple Plan
• August 13, 2023 Setlist

Simple Plan Setlist at Dos Equis Pavilion, Dallas, TX, USA

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• Song played from tape Main Title ( John Williams  song) ( Star Wars ) Play Video
• I'd Do Anything Play Video
• Shut Up! Play Video
• Jump Play Video
• Addicted Play Video
• Welcome to My Life Play Video
• Iconic Play Video
• All Star / Sk8er Boi / Mr. Brightside Play Video
• What's New Scooby Doo? Play Video
• Where I Belong Play Video
• I'm Just a Kid ( Chuck crowdsurfed ) Play Video
• Perfect Play Video

Edits and Comments

4 activities (last edit by event_monkey , 23 Oct 2023, 21:42 Etc/UTC )

Songs on Albums

• I'd Do Anything
• I'm Just a Kid
• Welcome to My Life
• All Star / Sk8er Boi / Mr. Brightside
• What's New Scooby Doo?
• Where I Belong

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Dos equis pavilion.

• Sum 41 Start time: 7:00 PM 7:00 PM
• Simple Plan This Setlist Start time: 8:00 PM 8:00 PM
• The Offspring Start time: 9:20 PM 9:20 PM

Simple Plan Gig Timeline

• Aug 11 2023 Germania Insurance Amphitheater Austin, TX, USA Add time Add time
• Aug 12 2023 Simmons Bank Arena North Little Rock, AR, USA Add time Add time
• Aug 13 2023 Dos Equis Pavilion This Setlist Dallas, TX, USA Start time: 8:00 PM 8:00 PM
• Aug 15 2023 Cellairis Amphitheatre at Lakewood Atlanta, GA, USA Start time: 8:15 PM 8:15 PM
• Aug 16 2023 MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre Tampa, FL, USA Start time: 8:15 PM 8:15 PM

22 people were there

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• scottdebruin

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Simple Plan: Hard As Rock Tour

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State Champs

Latest setlist, simple plan on april 18, 2024.

Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, Australia

Tour Update: Simple Plan Reflect On The Impact of Their Music

Simple Plan teams up with State Champs for the ultimate co-headlining tour, with special guests We The Kings.

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Simple Plan tour dates 2024

Simple Plan is currently touring across 7 countries and has 32 upcoming concerts.

Their next tour date is at Eichenring in Scheessel, after that they'll be at Southside in Neuhausen Ob Eck.

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Upcoming concerts (32) See nearest concert

Hurricane Festival

Southside Festival

Arènes de Nîmes

Jera On Air

Cardiff Castle

Castlefield Bowl

Rock Werchter

Le Radiant - Bellevue

Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort

Scotiabank Arena

Canadian Tire Centre

Budweiser Stage

Darien Lake Amphitheater

Xfinity Theatre

PNC Bank Arts Center

Xfinity Center

Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater

Freedom Mortgage Pavilion

Jiffy Lube Live

PNC Music Pavilion

Ameris Bank Amphitheatre

Ascend Amphitheater

Blossom Music Center

DTE Energy Music Theatre

American Family Insurance Amphitheater - Summerfest Grounds

Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island

Canada Life Centre

When We Were Young

Past concerts

Hordern Pavilion

Fortitude Music Hall

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Recent tour reviews

I attended Simple Plan's concert, and it was fantastic. Lead vocalist Pierre Bouvier was in excellent form and had a great connection with the audience. They performed many of their biggest hits, including "Welcome to My Life," "I'd Do Anything," "Perfect," and more, all of which elicited enthusiastic sing-alongs from the crowd. I bought my tickets through TimeForGig.com, which was a hassle-free experience. The band's performance was energetic, and the visual effects were impressive. A great show overall!

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I went to the Kentish town concert on the 9th of June and also had the meet and greet afterwards! It was an amazing, unforgettable, magical expierience! I thouroghly enjoyed it!! I had the most amazing time, made so many amazing new friends, got to meet my favourite band afterwards (they were so nice and i love them even more now!!) and got to see my favourite band playing my favourite album and all my favourite songs live! I would HIGHLY recommend going to see simple plan in concert (and if you can afford it get the meet and greet), i didnt even question the money/regret it, i would do it all again, it is totally worth it! :D

Last night with Simple Plan was amazing!!! One of the best moments in my life...

To meet them after the show was so exciting..and the guys were so cute.

I found incredible men behind the artists I always loved.

They thanked me so much for being a fan and I couldn't believe it, I was like "OK, why do they thank me?? I am the one who has to thank them"

And then I received so many hugs from them, and I felt they were sincere, not obliged to hug me but they really want to do that! I felt the incredible love they have for their fans so as they felt the love we have for them.

Amazing singers and beautiful people. Last night, when I met them for the first time in my life, was a dream coming true..I'll never thank them enough for everything they gave me in this years.

I hope to have the chance to meet them again soon. I love you Simple Plan!❤

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• Category: Punk / Garage Rock

Simple Plan upcoming concerts (32)

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The Offspring Book 2023 Summer Tour With Simple Plan + Sum 41

It's 2023, and the bad times are still rolling for The Offspring . The band just announced a summer run in support of their Let The Bad Times Roll  album that pairs them with their recent tour mates Simple Plan and Sum 41 , having previously played international shows together.

The 24-date U.S. trek starts Aug. 1 at White River Amphitheatre in Auburn, Washington, traveling the country before coming to a conclusion Sept. 3 at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts a little over a month later. All dates, cities and venues can be seen below.

"One of the best things about being on tour is traveling the world playing to great audiences, and it's even better when you can do it with your friends – we had sold out International tours with Simple Plan and Sum 41, and we're excited that they'll be joining us this Summer in America. It's going to be great," said Dexter Holland of The Offspring

"We couldn't be more excited to get back on tour all across the US with our friends The Offspring and Sum 41! We had such a blast touring with both of them last year that we just had to do it again and put together what we feel will be one of the most awesome tours of the summer. There's nothing like going to see a show outside on a perfect summer night, and we hope our fans will join us and enjoy this really special show. See you there!" said Chuck Comeau of Simple Plan.

"We're so excited to be back touring the States with The Offspring and Simple Plan this summer," added Deryck Whibley of Sum 41. "There's nothing better than hitting the road with your friends, and we can't wait to bring the tour to you - see you soon!"

READ MORE: 55 Scene Albums That Went Platinum

Tickets for the run will be available starting with the Citi pre-sale this Tuesday (March 21). The general public on sale will follow this Friday (March 24) at 10AM local time through Live Nation .

The Offspring / Simple Plan / Sum 41 "Let the Bad Times Roll" Tour 2023

Aug, 01 — Auburn, Wash. @ White River Amphitheatre Aug. 03 — Salt Lake City, Utah @ USANA Amphitheatre Aug, 05 — Mountain View, Calif. @ Shoreline Amphitheatre Aug. 06 — Irvine, Calif. @ FivePoint Amphitheatre Aug. 08 — Chula Vista, Calif. @ North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre Aug. 09 — Phoenix, Ariz. @ Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre Aug. 11 — Austin, Texas @ Germania Insurance Amphitheater Aug. 12 — North Little Rock, Ark. @ Simmons Bank Arena Aug. 13 — Dallas, Texas @ Dos Equis Pavilion Aug. 15 — Atlanta, Ga. @ Lakewood Amphitheatre Aug. 16 — Tampa, Fla. @ MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre at the FL State Fairgrounds Aug. 18 — Charlotte, N.C. @ PNC Music Pavilion Aug. 19 — Bristow, Va. @ Jiffy Lube Live Aug. 20 — Darien Center, N.Y. @ Darien Lake Amphitheater Aug. 22 — Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio @ Blossom Music Center Aug. 23 — Clarkston, Mich. @ Pine Knob Music Theatre Aug. 25 — Noblesville, Ind. @ Ruoff Music Center Aug. 26 — Tinley Park, Ill. @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre Aug. 27 — St. Louis, Mo. @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre Aug. 29 — Milwaukee, Wis. @ American Family Insurance Amphitheater - Summerfest Grounds Aug. 30 — Cincinnati, Ohio @ Riverbend Music Center Sept. 01 — Burgettstown, Pa. @ The Pavilion at Star Lake Sept. 02 — Wantagh, N.Y. @ Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater Sept. 03 — Mansfield, Mass. @ Xfinity Center

Your Guide to Rock + Metal Bands Touring in 2023

More from loudwire.

THE OFFSPRING Announces Summer 2023 U.S. Tour With SUM 41 And SIMPLE PLAN

THE OFFSPRING has announced the "Let The Bad Times Roll" 2023 tour with special guests SUM 41 and SIMPLE PLAN . Produced by Live Nation , the 24-city tour kicks off on August 1 at White River Amphitheatre in Auburn, Washington, making stops across the U.S. in Irvine, Phoenix, Atlanta, Tampa, St. Louis and more, before wrapping up in Mansfield, Massachusetts at Xfinity Center on September 3.

THE OFFSPRING frontman Dexter Holland said: "One of the best things about being on tour is traveling the world playing to great audiences, and it's even better when you can do it with your friends. We had sold-out international tours with SIMPLE PLAN and SUM 41 , and we're excited that they'll be joining us this Summer in America. It's going to be great!"

Chuck Comeau of SIMPLE PLAN said: "We couldn't be more excited to get back on tour all across the U.S. with our friends THE OFFSPRING and SUM 41 ! We had such a blast touring with both of them last year that we just had to do it again and put together what we feel will be one of the most awesome tours of the summer. There's nothing like going to see a show outside on a perfect summer night, and we hope our fans will join us and enjoy this really special show. See you there!"

Deryck Whibley of SUM 41 said: "We're so excited to be back touring the States with THE OFFSPRING and SIMPLE PLAN this summer! There's nothing better than hitting the road with your friends, and we can't wait to bring the tour to you. See you soon!"

Frequently regarded as one of the best rock bands of all time, THE OFFSPRING have garnered a reputation for their unmistakable sound and social comment. The multi-platinum band first achieved worldwide success in the 1990s with the release of their album "Smash" , which sold over 11 million copies. Following "Smash" , they continued to release hit after hit, popularizing rock at a mainstream level. The group is also currently working on new music.

Throughout their career, they've sold over a staggering 40 million albums, and toured arenas, and built a global fan base. "Let The Bad Times Roll" marks the band's tenth studio album and third album produced by the legendary Bob Rock . True to the irreverence at the core of their rock music, the band and lyricist Dexter Holland took a view to today’s cultural moments and didn't shy away from creating topical material in this album.

Tickets will be available starting with Citi presales on Tuesday, March 21. The general onsale will begin Friday, March 24 at 10 a.m. local time on LiveNation.com.

Tour dates:

Aug. 01 - Auburn, WA - White River Amphitheatre Aug. 03 - Salt Lake City, UT – USANA Amphitheatre Aug. 05 - Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre Aug. 06 - Irvine, CA - FivePoint Amphitheatre Aug. 08 - Chula Vista, CA - North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre Aug. 09 - Phoenix, AZ - Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre Aug. 11 - Austin, TX - Germania Insurance Amphitheater Aug. 12 - North Little Rock, AR - Simmons Bank Arena Aug. 13 - Dallas, TX - Dos Equis Pavilion Aug. 15 - Atlanta, GA - Lakewood Amphitheatre Aug. 16 - Tampa, FL - MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre at the FL State Fairgrounds Aug. 18 - Charlotte, NC - PNC Music Pavilion Aug. 19 - Bristow, VA - Jiffy Lube Live Aug. 20 - Darien Center, NY - Darien Lake Amphitheater Aug. 22 - Cuyahoga Falls, OH - Blossom Music Center Aug. 23 - Clarkston, MI - Pine Knob Music Theatre Aug. 25 - Noblesville, IN - Ruoff Music Center Aug. 26 - Tinley Park, IL - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre - Chicago, IL Aug. 27 - St. Louis, MO - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre - St. Louis, MO Aug. 29 - Milwaukee, WI - American Family Insurance Amphitheater - Summerfest Grounds Aug. 30 - Cincinnati, OH - Riverbend Music Center Sep. 01 - Burgettstown, PA - The Pavilion at Star Lake Sep. 02 - Wantagh, NY - Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater Sep. 03 - Mansfield, MA - Xfinity Center

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Simple Plan

With boys like girls & we the kings + jax .

• Sat, 06 Apr Simple Plan  /  Metro City 18+ - Perth (2nd show) BUY TICKETS 06 Apr 2024, 7:30 pm Metro City 18+ - Perth (2nd show), .
• Sun, 07 Apr Simple Plan  /  Metro City 18+ - Perth BUY TICKETS 07 Apr 2024, 7:30 pm – 30 Apr 2024, 7:30 pm Metro City 18+ - Perth, ‎
• Tue, 09 Apr Simple Plan  /  AEC Theatre - Adelaide BUY TICKETS 09 Apr 2024, 7:30 pm – 30 Apr 2024, 7:30 pm AEC Theatre - Adelaide, ‎
• Thu, 11 Apr Simple Plan  /  John Cain Arena - Melbourne (Upgraded) BUY TICKETS 11 Apr 2024, 7:30 pm – 30 Apr 2024, 7:30 pm John Cain Arena - Melbourne (Upgraded), ‎
• Sat, 13 Apr Simple Plan  /  Hordern Pavillion - Sydney BUY TICKETS 13 Apr 2024, 7:30 pm – 30 Apr 2024, 7:30 pm Hordern Pavillion - Sydney, ‎
• Sun, 14 Apr Simple Plan  /  The Fortitude Music Hall - Brisbane BUY TICKETS 14 Apr 2024, 7:30 pm – 30 Apr 2024, 7:30 pm The Fortitude Music Hall - Brisbane, ‎
• Mon, 15 Apr Simple Plan  /  Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane -2nd Show BUY TICKETS 15 Apr 2024, 7:30 pm Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane -2nd Show, .
• Thu, 18 Apr Simple Plan  /  Hordern Pavilion, Sydney (2nd show) BUY TICKETS 18 Apr 2024, 7:30 pm – 30 Apr 2024, 7:30 pm Hordern Pavilion, Sydney (2nd show), .

Ticket price includes $1.00 donation to Simple Plan foundation  

One of the most enduring names in the world of pop punk, Canadian rockers SIMPLE PLAN are set to return to Australia in April 2024, with special guests and fellow pop punk royals BOYS LIKE GIRLS and WE THE KINGS. With SIMPLE PLAN's Australian tour already sold out in Perth, Sydney and Brisbane, today the band also announces second and final shows for all three sold out cities, as well as a venue upgrade for Melbourne. And now also joining the down under adventures in 2024 will be rising pop star JAX, who also recently collaborated on SIMPLE PLAN's reimagined single Iconic. A new show in Perth at Metro City will take place on Saturday 6 April, with Brisbane's Fortitude Music Hall adding Monday 15 April, and Sydney's second and final show locked in for Thursday 18 April at Hordern Pavilion. Melbourne's venue has also upgraded to John Cain Arena, with all previously purchased tickets remaining valid, while a low ticket warning is in place for Adelaide's Entertainment Centre Theatre for Tuesday 9 April. Tickets will be on sale on Wednesday 8 November at 11am local time. "Thank you to all our amazing Aussie fans for all the love and support and selling out all these dates! We’re so excited to be able to play more shows for you and move our Melbourne concert to such an iconic venue. We always jump at the chance to spend more time Down Under so we couldn't be more grateful!"

"We’re stoked to add our friend Jax to the tour - she’s amazing and we know our fans will be thrilled to see her perform!"

"This line-up is insane and we can’t wait to see you all in April!" Simple Plan  

"After working with them on the incredible song "Iconic" and rocking the stage alongside Simple Plan at When We Were Young, I'm so excited that the band has invited me to tour with them on their Australian tour! This is going to be epic!" Jax

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For more audio journalism and storytelling, download New York Times Audio , a new iOS app available for news subscribers.

How One Family Lost $900,000 in a Timeshare Scam

A mexican drug cartel is targeting seniors and their timeshares..

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.

Hello, James.

Hey. How’s it going?

Yeah. I’m not having much luck. So the problem is funding. And all of my money is in Mexico, all of it.

From “The New York Times,” I’m Katrin Bennhold. This is “The Daily.” A massive scam targeting elderly Americans who own timeshare properties has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars sent to Mexico.

Once you move forward and make your payment, if anything were to happen, he will directly pay you the full amount of what you’re entitled to, including the gains. He will pay you the full amount.

You’ve got all my money. It’s been sent. I sold a freaking house.

Listen to this. I sold a house that I grew up in so that I could come up with funds to send to Mexico.

I don’t even have anything from the sale, nothing.

My colleague Maria Abi-Habib on one victim who lost everything and the people on the other side of the phone.

That’s it. That’s it. There’s nothing —

You know what? That’s what has been said every freaking time. Every time, just pay this. That releases the funds.

But that’s why we won’t allow it to happen again. This is the last time, James.

It’s Friday, April 12.

Maria, you’ve been looking into this scam that’s targeting Americans. Where did your investigation start?

So several weeks ago, I received a phone call from a lawyer based in St. Petersburg, Florida, who had been contacted by a family who was very concerned that the father, this man named James, was in the middle of being scammed. He’d sent hundreds of thousands dollars to Mexico. And he was considering sending another $157,000 when his daughter decided to call up this law firm and try to get her father to stop, stop sending money to Mexico.

So I called him a few weeks ago as I was trying to understand what was going on.

Hi, James. How are you?

Good. Thank you.

He’s asked that his last name be withheld for privacy concerns because he’s quite embarrassed about the story that I’m about to tell you.

You’re retired now, but what were you doing for work? And if your wife was working, what was her job?

I was with the Highway Patrol.

James is a retired state trooper from California. And his wife Nikki is a former school nurse.

She was born in ‘51. So 71-ish.

Two. She’s just reminded me, 72.

And they’re both in their early 70s. And they own this timeshare that is in Lake Tahoe, California. And they bought it in the 1990s for about $8,000.

And for someone who did not grow up vacationing in a timeshare, remind me how exactly timeshares work.

Timeshares are essentially vacation properties. And they tend to be beach resorts. And multiple people can buy into this property. The ownership is a shared ownership. And this gives you the right to use the timeshare for one to two weeks out of every year.

And so James and Nikki used their timeshare every other year with their daughters. But as they hit retirement age and their daughters are growing up and starting their own families, they’re just not really using it that much anymore. And timeshares require the owners to pay off yearly maintenance fees. And so they’re starting to think about maybe letting go of their timeshare and selling it.

Then one day, in late 2022, James gets a phone call from a company that is purporting to be based out of Atlanta, Georgia called Worry Free Vacations.

Worry Free Vacations?

That sounds enticing.

Yeah. And they start off with a simple question, which is, do you want to buy a timeshare? And James says, I already have a timeshare. And then they say, great. Well, what about selling the timeshare? Do you want to sell? There’s this Mexican businessman, and he’s interested in your timeshare. And he’s willing to buy it for about $20,000.

So we figured, well, what the heck? If we can make a few bucks on it, we’ll go for it.

And James jumps at the opportunity.

And did he do anything to try and verify that this was real?

Yeah. So remember, James is former law enforcement. And he feels very confident in his abilities to sniff out untrustworthy people. So he goes online, and he googles this Mexican businessman and sees that, yeah, he is a real person.

He’s a very well-respected individual in Mexico, very well off. And —

And this makes James feel at ease, that he’s selling to a legitimate person, that Worry Free Vacations are who they claim to be and that he’s going to double his money overnight, essentially.

And what happens next?

Well, a couple of weeks after he makes the agreement with the buyer, he’s told that he needs to send a couple thousand dollars to facilitate the purchase.

What does that mean, facilitate?

[MUSIC PLAYING]

I can’t remember specifically whether it was supposed to be cross-border registration —

So he’s being told that there are these fees that are paid directly to the Mexican government.

Or SPID or some other fee that was Mexican government required or not.

A lot of these fees are the same types of fees that you would pay in the United States for a real estate transaction. So he begins wiring money to an account in Mexico.

After that —

— a few days later, we get a notification. Well, everything went well, except that we have to pay an additional fee.

Every time that he sends one fee, he’s being told that he’s got to send another fee right afterwards.

Does he get suspicious at any point?

His wife is suspicious. After the first couple of payments, she starts saying, this does not feel right.

But James is the former law enforcement officer, right? And he’s the one that basically handles the family finances. And he’s confident that all of this is going to work out because he’s being told that the buyer of the timeshare will reimburse James for all of these fees once the sale goes through.

Michael from the Worry Free Vacations was constantly reassuring me the money’s in that account. Check with the commercial escrow account. It’s there. It’s just these fees have to be paid, and you’re being reimbursed for all of this.

They’re sending James documents that show all of the reimbursements that he’s owed and how much money he’s going to get. And this just makes him feel like all of this is kosher.

We have this commercial escrow company that was involved out of New York. So there was an air of legitimacy that I was comfortable with.

Maybe OK, these guys just need one more fee and everything is going to finally be cleared.

But about a year in, James starts to get suspicious. He begins asking questions because he wants his money.

And every time I asked, hey, is there a way I can get a partial release of these funds, there was always no, these funds have to be paid from your account before they’re released.

But Worry Free Vacations, they pivot. And they tell him that, listen, there are all these complications. It’s going to be really hard to get your money out from this transaction.

I could pay about $30,000 and change to reinvest the $313,000 into an environmentally-conscious development in Loreto, Mexico.

Instead, we’ve got this other investment opportunity in Mexico.

And I’m sure you know where that is, over on the East Coast of Baja.

And that is going to make you a huge return, even more money than you had thought that you were going to make, much more than the $20,000.

I’m supposed to have 54 million pesos in a Mexican bank account.

So this is now no longer just about his timeshare. They are now partners in a real estate investment.

Right. And there’s this whole new round of fees and fines associated with that.

So how many payments would you say?

Quite a few. Couple dozen at least, maybe more.

When was your last payment?

It would have been 17 January.

Uh-huh. And what was that for?

Good question.

And all along, he believed it was necessary to pay these costs just to get the money that he’s owed.

The amount of money that I’ve sent to Mexico is just freaking exorbitant. And I mean, it is approaching $900,000 or more.

And at this point, he’s sent about $900,000 to Mexico over about a year and a half.

Nearly $1 million.

That was almost all the money that he and his wife had saved for their retirement.

It also included money from the sale of James’s childhood home and money that he had borrowed from his daughter and son-in-law, about $150,000 from them.

It’s awful. So they were completely cleaned out by these guys.

Yeah. And this is when his daughter asks a law firm to look into this, which is the point in the story when I meet James. And when we start talking, it was clear to me that he just did not know what to think, even after losing this much money.

So this started in 2022. When did it end?

We’re still in it.

And he’s still talking to the scammers.

And as a matter of fact, presently, there was a request for $157,000 and change to clear up this whole thing. It would clear the entire issue out. Now —

And James is even considering putting a second mortgage on his house to send that money that he’d been promised would finally clear all this up — one final payment of $157,000.

It really sounds like he’s still wanted to believe that this was somehow legit.

Yeah. It was pretty clear to me that he was being scammed. But I didn’t definitively know what was going on, so I asked him if he could start recording his phone calls with the scammers.

Would you be so kind as to do me a favor?

Would you be willing to give them a call and record them?

[LAUGHS]: I’ll let you in on a little secret. I’ve been recording them.

And it turns out he already had been.

Worry Free Vacations.

So he shared the recordings of these calls that he’d had with these scammers over the last year or so. And it was just remarkable. It gave me huge insight into how the scam worked and the way that it sounded over the phone.

Is this is Michael in? I think he’s trying to call me. I couldn’t get through pick up.

Yes, I believe he did try to call you, sir. Give me a second. I think he’s only going to be in for a couple of minutes. One second.

There are two main takeaways for me listening to these calls.

Good afternoon. Michael McCarthy.

Michael, I missed your call. I was trying to pick up.

Yeah, don’t worry. Yeah, I figured something was wrong with your phone. Everything OK?

The first is that these scammers had really gotten to know James so well, and they really made James believe that Worry Free was a company that was working for him.

That’s why we need to hurry up and get this money over to you. Because hey, I’m losing my mind too. I’m not even here to convince you, James. I’m not — I’m your broker, and —

One of the things they continuously say is, trust me.

Look, I’m doing everything I can in my power and will on my end. So James, just look — like I told you from the get-go, I’m going to resolve this. And we are doing it. I just need you to focus on the goal.

They would refocus the conversation on what James needed to do to get his money back.

Look, if you make your payment as a security deposit, right away they will release the funds to you. With these —

And the other thing —

I’ve been having so much trouble trying to reach you, and I have not been successful.

— is that the scammers had created this elaborate cast of characters.

Why don’t you answer my calls?

And some of them were really aggressive. James shared a recording of this one man who claimed to be an agent for the Mexican government. And he basically started yelling at James.

I don’t care if your wife is at the hospital. To be honest with you, I don’t give a damn! But you know where I do give a damn? It’s your money, and my name is written all over it! Do you understand?

And he even threatened James. If James didn’t pay off these fines, then he would lose all the money that he’d sent to Mexico already.

You could get the best lawyer you want. You could get whoever you want. And this is not a threat. This is facts. But anyways, who am I to convince you, right?

Well, thank you for the information. And — are you still there? Hello?

Wow. So these scammers were basically doing a good cop, bad cop routine to stop James from walking away and to squeeze every last penny out of him.

If you provide me your email, contact information, I will certainly be happy to forward all of the wire transfer information from my bank account to you so that you can see where those funds went.

Yeah, that would be great. I have your email.

James asks me, a reporter who’s based in Mexico, who speaks the language, if I could help him figure out where his money had gone to.

Thank you very much. I really appreciate your assistance.

I’m just doing my job. Thanks again, and we’ll talk soon.

And the only way that I could figure that out was to understand who was on the other side of the phone.

We’ll be right back.

So Maria, who was on the other side of that phone line?

So by the time that I’d met James, I’d already gotten a tip from US law enforcement agencies that they were seeing a new trend. Mexican drug cartels were getting involved in the timeshare scam industry.

Drug cartels?

Yeah. And not just any drug cartel. This is one of the most notorious, violent, bloody drug cartels that exists in Mexico and Latin America, the Jalisco New Generation cartel. And when I looked at James’s bank records, guess what? All the money that he was sending was going to various bank accounts that were all located in Jalisco state in Mexico.

Wow. So why would the drug cartels get into the timeshare scamming business?

It is a huge business. The FBI told me that it’s about $300 million in profits over the last five years.

But the thing is is that the potential for it to actually be multitudes more is huge. Because the FBI estimates that most of the scams are actually not even reported. In fact, only about 20 percent are. So that means the total timeshare scam business could actually be much larger than the $300 million that they have knowledge of over the last five years.

But wait. I thought the drug business was a pretty lucrative business in itself. So why get into the scamming of elderly people for their properties in Lake Tahoe?

Well, you have to remember that these drug cartels, they’re not just doing one thing. They’re doing multiple things. They’re essentially conglomerates. Because it’s really expensive to run a cartel. You need to pay off officials, both Mexican and American. You need to maintain basically an army in order to secure your routes up to the United States, ports of entry into Mexico from Colombia. And any big business, you need to diversify your income to make sure that you keep the money flowing. Because you never know when one business is going to be shut down by authorities or taken over by your rivals.

We’ve reported that they’re now in the avocado business and the construction business. And timeshare fraud is basically no different than any of those. So we’re seeing that the cartels have their fingers in many pies, the legitimate and the illegitimate economy here in Mexico.

It’s kind of fascinating to think of these drug cartels as like sprawling diversified business empires. But when did the cartels first get into the scamming business?

So Jalisco New Generation started about 15 years ago.

And when they started to consolidate their empire in Jalisco state, they found that there were all these scam timeshare call centers all over the state that were being run by various players, and that this was a huge, huge moneymaker. Because essentially, all you have to do is call up retired senior citizens in the US and Canada. It doesn’t take that much money to run that kind of a scheme. There’s no product you’re making.

So essentially, they conducted a hostile takeover of these call centers. They went in. They kicked down doors and dragged out the people who were managing these call centers by their hair and threatened to kill them unless they gave up the call centers or started handing over a cut of what they made. And slowly, slowly Jalisco New Generation cartel took over the entire timeshare fraud industry.

Interesting. Were you able to find any of these call centers?

So these call centers are pretty hard to find. They look like any other storefront. But I was able to visit two that were located in an upscale neighborhood in Guadalajara, which is the capital of Jalisco state. And it was just really perturbing because it was just so normal. Two villas about a mile away from each other outside. Outside of one villa, parents were walking by, holding their children’s hands as they did drop off at school.

It was right next to a park where people taking their morning exercise or their dogs for a walk. There was no real sign that the cartel was doing business there. But a few months before, Mexican law enforcement had found the bodies of eight young people who had used to work at one of these call centers and said that the Jalisco cartel had killed them.

Wow. What happened?

So I wasn’t able to talk directly to any of the victims’ families. They’re just too scared. But in general, this is usually how it starts.

The cartel seeks out English speakers to work for their call centers. Sometimes they don’t even tell them what exactly they are doing. They would tell the recruits that the job was adjacent to the hotel industry.

You have to remember, Jalisco is a huge, huge tourism magnet for Americans and Canadians and others. And the cartel would get their call lists from bribing hotel employees to give them the names of people who stayed at these hotels and also at the timeshare resorts. And the people who would work at the call centers are provided the names and a manual of what you need to do when you call, like a loose script of how to try to suck as much money as you can out of these people up North in Canada and the States.

So we don’t know for sure what exactly happened with the eight young Mexicans who were killed last year. But through an intermediary, one sibling told us that when their family member knew what their job actually was, they became extremely uncomfortable and tried to leave the call center and find another job maybe.

But the Jalisco New Generation cartel is known for being extremely brutal. They chop off heads, and they’ll put them on the gates of a playground, for instance. So that everybody in the neighborhood knows what went down. And in this case, it’s possible that they wanted to send a warning that there’s no defection from their timeshare call centers.

So basically making a very scary example of these guys, in case anyone else is thinking about quitting one of the call centers.

Exactly. And one man, who runs an organization who advocates for missing people and actually organizes search parties to comb the forests of Jalisco state looking for the missing, says that he knows of about 30 people who have disappeared from the call centers in Jalisco state since 2017. So while Americans and Canadians might be losing much of their life savings, in Mexico, this is actually deadly.

Are the authorities doing anything about this?

Not really, other than the fact that these two call centers were shut down. The authorities haven’t arrested others. They’re not putting pressure on Mexican banks, for instance, to look into these payments coming from senior citizens in the US or Canada. And you have to remember that people are really afraid. But you also have to remember that in Mexico things are not that clear. There is a lot of corruption and government collusion with organized crime and cartels.

And the tourism industry, it is huge in Mexico and particularly in Jalisco state. This is a multi-billion dollar industry. They don’t want Americans or Canadians or Europeans who are coming to Jalisco for its beautiful beaches and its mountains to hear about these stories regarding the cartels being involved in the tourism industry and think, I’m not going to send my family there for that beach vacation. It’s just simply too dangerous.

So everybody has an incentive to have the scam continue, whether because they’re too afraid and don’t want to speak out or because they’re in on it.

So in a way, local authorities have an interest in sweeping it under the carpet in order to just maintain this idea of a tourist destination.

Exactly. I mean, the spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office was very responsive to me until I told her what I wanted to ask her questions about. And then she just simply never answered any of my texts or phone calls.

So Maria, based on everything you know, all the information you have, would you say that you’re confident that the cartels were the ones who scammed James?

Yes, 100 percent. Everything I’ve seen points in that direction.

What did James say when you told him this?

So it took him quite a while to really allow himself to believe it. On the advice of his lawyers, he stopped picking up the phone calls. And about a week ago, they stopped after the scammers kept trying to call him.

But you said he was in it for over a year. Why do you think it took him so long?

Can you tell me, after all of that had been presented to you, why do you think you weren’t willing to be entirely convinced?

Well, I actually asked him that question.

That’s a very good question. Why wasn’t I able to pick up on that right away? And I think in the back of my mind, I’m finding out that I’m a little more stubborn than I thought I was.

And for him, it was pretty complicated.

And I think that I didn’t want to believe that I had fallen for this. I didn’t feel I was that foolish and stupid when it came to this. You know? I guess I didn’t want to believe that I could be fooled.

To come to terms with the fact that he had lost so much money was to come to terms with the fact that he wasn’t the person that he thought that he was, that he wasn’t this kind of clever former law enforcement officer who was used to fighting the bad guys and winning.

I’m disappointed in myself. There’s a huge level of anger towards the perpetrators. And all of those things wrapped into one. And part of that, I think, contributes to not wanting to actually believe that I was wrong.

Hmm. Yeah, I hear you. I’m sorry. I can hear the pain in your voice.

[LAUGHS]: Yeah.

Some of it’s based on shame, right? That he lost all this money, everything that he’s worked for, and the fact that this was all supposed to be money that his children and his grandchildren were going to inherit. And now it’s gone.

And have you told your daughter that you think you’ve come to terms with the fact that this might have been a scam?

Oh, she’s been involved. Yeah. They know.

My daughter does.

I’m sorry. This is a tough time.

So I’ve got to make some sort of arrangement to compensate them for this on top of our regular debt. So yeah. It’s been a swell experience, all of it brought on by my — evidently, my stubbornness to believe that I couldn’t possibly be a victim.

How’s your wife doing throughout this whole process, with this new knowledge?

She’s not real happy, obviously, at all. I hear a lot of “I told you so.” And at this point, I’ve got no defense. She’s absolutely right. There’s no question about it.

Do you worry this is going to affect your marriage?

Yes, there has been an effect.

And do you think that at this point there’s any way for James and his family to get some kind of justice or at least find some kind of closure?

Ay. Justice? Unlikely.

At this point, I’m not necessarily expecting much in the way of restitution.

And as for closure, it’s a little bit too soon to tell. In a way, James has gone through several stages of acceptance for what happened. There’s fear. There’s shame. There’s resignation. And now he’s talking to me partly because he feels like it’s a public service, that he needs to be vocal so that other people don’t go through what he’s gone through and fall for the scam. And I think it also helps him feel a little bit empowered in a situation for over the last year and a half he was at the mercy of these people who were calling him multiple times a week.

I want to try to get as much information to as many of these official organizations as possible. I have a streak of anger through me now that I’ve developed to the point where I’m not going to let this go.

Well, Maria, thank you.

Thank you for having me.

Here’s what else you need to know today. OJ Simpson, the football star who was accused and later acquitted of murdering his former wife and her friend, died of cancer at his home in Las Vegas, his family said Thursday. He was 76.

Today’s episode was produced by Astha Chaturvedi and Will Reid, with help from Clare Toeniskoetter and Lindsay Garrison. It was edited by Brendan Klinkenberg and Michael Benoist, contains original music by Marion Lozano, Rowan Niemisto, Dan Powell, Pat McCusker, and Will Reid, and was engineered by Chris Wood. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly.

[THEME MUSIC]

That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Katrin Bennhold. See you on Monday.

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Hosted by Katrin Bennhold

Produced by Asthaa Chaturvedi and Will Reid

With Clare Toeniskoetter and Lynsea Garrison

Edited by Brendan Klinkenberg and Michael Benoist

Original music by Marion Lozano ,  Rowan Niemisto ,  Dan Powell ,  Pat McCusker and Will Reid

Engineered by Chris Wood

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Warning: this episode contains descriptions of violence.

A massive scam targeting older Americans who own timeshare properties has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars sent to Mexico.

Maria Abi-Habib, an investigative correspondent for The Times, tells the story of a victim who lost everything, and of the criminal group making the scam calls — Jalisco New Generation, one of Mexico’s most violent cartels.

On today’s episode

Maria Abi-Habib , an investigative correspondent for The New York Times based in Mexico City.

Background reading

How a brutal Mexican drug cartel came to target seniors and their timeshares .

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