Con artists are posting fake advertisement for rental homes online then stealing cash from customers who are pressured into handing over money to secure their vacation booking.
The ads offer deals that are too good to be true.
Huntington Beach resident Lorrie Burkes was one of those almost taken in, and thought she hit the jackpot after she found a desert escape for a girls' weekend away. However the listed home in the Palm Springs area actually belonged to a woman who knew nothing about the advertisement.
"It's $300 a night... it had swimming pool, gourmet kitchen. Just perfect," Burkes said.
However she knew something was not right when the supposed renter told her to make a deposit into his bank account, urging her to act fast since vacation rentals are getting snatched up quickly.
"He would start bugging me , 'Well, are you going to wire the money to me? I haven't received yet,'" Burkes said, "I googled what he had put in as his bank account number and routing number and that came up with a hit on a scam website."
She looked up the property address, which led her to the real owner.
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"I said do you happen to have somebody by the name of harry working for you? She goes, 'No! he's stolen our stuff, that's a scam,'" Burkes said.
Police are warning about the same scam being used in Burkes' own Huntington Beach community, where officers are investigating several cases of houses being listed as holiday homes. Sometimes even foreclosed properties were listed.
"They push for the funds , and because of the deal they're getting… the people don't want to lose out, so they hand over the cash in order to hold the rental property," Officer Jennifer Marlatt of the Huntington Beach Police Department said.
