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Dream vacation prize too good to be true?

Posted at 4:57 PM, May 17, 2017
and last updated 2017-05-17 19:24:50-04

Samantha Moore took her family to the Traxxas Monster Truck Show in Portland, Maine in April. At the show, she entered a raffle for a free vacation.

"Just a bunch of people handing out little green pieces of paper left and right, saying, 'put your name and number down to enter to win a drawing,' ”Moore said.

A few days later Moore got a call telling her she won. Eliza Lee also won and got a voicemail which said: "For the Orlando/Disney/Daytona Beach trip…well some good news, you guys got picked. Congratulations!"

Moore thought she won a free vacation so she says she gave her credit card, as requested by the company, to verify her identity. "I was on the phone with him for actually about an hour."

Moore said the operator transferred her to the manager, Jason White.

“My brother came right through my door, told me to hang up the phone,” Moore said. "He had just gotten the same call, and right then and there I knew I was in trouble."

WPTV investigated the West Palm Beach company in question following a tip from Maine TV station WCSH.

Moore claims the company tried charging her credit card after canceling the trip and being told it was not free.

“We never charged her card,” White said.

White is the president of Trade Show Travel Company.

Dozens of complaints have been filed against the company dating back to 2013. Some are online and some were officially filed with the Florida Division of Consumer Services.

Multiple complaints named Jason White but they listed various company names: The Reservation Desk, Dream Travel Vacations, Inc. and Go Travel Forever; all companies White denies working for.

White also denies any affiliation with other companies or names, even those that list the same address as the one where WPTV visited him off of Australian Avenue.

White says he “shares resources" with Dream Travel Vacations, a company in Fort Lauderdale with an "F" rating with the Better Business Bureau. When WCSH called that company, the receptionist told them Jason White is a manager of theirs.

Additional research found White has a criminal record. He served time for felony assault of an elderly person and felony robbery.