Investigators with the Culver City Police Department are looking into a string of online rental scams that occurred in the city for over a month.
According to a CCPD press release issued Sunday morning, detectives were alerted of multiple reports of rental scams between July 4 and Aug. 27 of this year, many of which were “initiated on social media.”
“In each instance, a victim responded to a Facebook ad for an apartment rental,” police stated. “They agreed to meet the ‘seller’ at a location in Culver City, where they would exchange cash and a rental agreement.”
After this interaction, the victim would attempt to enter the rental unit, only to find that the keys did not open the door. When the victim reached out to the suspect, they would no longer respond to messages, investigators said.
Authorities say suspects use multiple methods to dupe individuals into agreeing to a fake rental, including phantom listings of locations that don’t exist or are unavailable, fake virtual tours that may be pre-recorded and advertisement manipulation replicating genuine listings.
To avoid becoming a victim of an online rental scam, CCPD recommended the following steps:
- Verify contact details: Cross-check contact information in the listing with trustworthy sources
- Avoid personal servers: Do not engage with anyone requesting the use of a personal server for communication
- In-person inquiries: Ask questions about the property in person, rather than via email or online if possible
- Be cautions with payment requests: A reputable landlord won’t ask for payment before meeting you face-to-face or showing you the property in person
- Utilize professionals: If renting a property prior to seeing it, consider working with a licensed real estate broker or a trusted property management company
- Research Listings: Repeat advertisements – the same listing under a different name – could indicate a potential scam
Police released descriptions of three suspects, two women and a man. No description for one of the women was immediately available; however, one of the suspects was described as a 20- to 30-year-old Hispanic woman with a heavy build and red hair who was seen wearing a pink jacket with lettering and gray shorts.
The third suspect was described by police as a Black man between the ages of 20 and 30.
Anyone with information surrounding the online rental scams is asked to contact Culver City Police Department Public Information Officer Jennifer Atenza by calling 310-253-6120 or emailing jennifer.atenza@culvercity.org
Individuals can also call the CCPD Watch Commander at 310-253-6202.