Victim Location 90045
Type of a scam Rental
This week I responded to a Craigslist ad for a rental in Westchester (90045) that was a scam. The listing on Craigslist has since been taken down.
I got suspicious so I went to the physical address *** * *** *** *** *** ** ***, and while it was obvious no one was living in it, something didn’t feel right, especially since the "Charles Davis" ("owner) was out of state, living in Houston, TX. I did an internet search and found the house had recently been sold. I emailed the listing agent to ask if the house had been sold or just taken off the market (that was the story "Charles Davis" told me). The listing agent confirmed the house HAD been sold and was scheduled for tear down. This is when I knew it was a scam.
But I proceeded to communicate with the "owner," because I wanted to get more information so I could report it and I was asked to submit my deposit ($3000) to the following bank:
Bank Name: Bank of America
Account Name: Micheal Ethan
Account Number: *** *** ***
I offered to have a friend who lives in Houston meet Charles with 4 months advance rent in the form of cashiers check, had he taken me up on that, I would have called Houston PD, but of course he didn’t.