Crime & Safety
Cops Search For Man Running Airbnb Scam Out Of Brooklyn Apartment
The man has scammed two women into signing a lease and paying for an apartment that he had rented on Airbnb, police said.
BROOKLYN, NY — Police are asking the public's help to find a man in Brooklyn who is running a scam out of an apartment he rented on Airbnb.
The man, who police released photos of on Tuesday, has been pretending he owns the Brownsville apartment, found near Lott Avenue and Christopher Avenue, in order to rent it out on Facebook Marketplace, police said.
So far, he has conned two women into signing a "contractual rent agreement" and paying a first month's rent and security deposit, police said.
Find out what's happening in Prospect Heights-Crown Heightsfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
In both scams, one on Dec. 12 and another on Sunday, the man gave the women keys to the apartment, but they never actually got to move in, police said.
Both the 18-year-old woman and 43-year-old woman had given the man $2,350.
Find out what's happening in Prospect Heights-Crown Heightsfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Police released photos of the man that the 18-year-old took during a meeting with him Central Park:
Anyone with information in regard to the identity of this individual is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls are strictly confidential.
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