Police have nabbed an alleged house scammer who’s accused of stealing greater than $30,000 from potential tenants who needed to lease in East Boston.
Timothy Andreev, 40, of Mashpee, has been arrested on eight excellent warrants for larceny by scheme, in response to Boston Police.
This arrest stems from eight reviews of house fraud in Eastie over the past month, police mentioned.
The alleged victims instructed police that they had been searching for an house to lease in East Boston utilizing Facebook Messenger, and so they contacted Andreev who was exhibiting the house.
He’s accused of exhibiting the residence, after which the alleged sufferer would ship him a deposit to safe the house. Andreev promised the individual that they’d obtain the keys at a later date.
Afterwards, Andreev wouldn’t return any of the victims’ calls and would block the victims, police mentioned.
Andreev acquired a complete of $32,000 over the previous month, in response to police. As a results of the investigation, detectives sought eight warrants out of East Boston District Court for larceny by scheme.
Police discovered him in Mashpee on Wednesday, and positioned him underneath arrest with out incident.
Following his arrest, police issued a listing of ideas for folks to keep away from being scammed:
- Do not wire funds to folks you have no idea.
- Do not put cash towards a home or house you haven’t seen.
- Confirm the identification of the owner by researching public data to search out out who owns the property you might be searching for to lease or buy.
- Do not fill out purposes on-line till you’ve met instantly with the property supervisor.
- Know native rental costs.
- Look for on-line critiques, references, and testimonials from previous inhabitants.
- Be cautious if a possible tenant needs to lease property sight unseen.
- Be cautious if a possible renter says they’re out of city and can ship you a cashiers’ verify.
- Be cautious if a possible landlord says he’s in another country and desires the lease despatched to a overseas account.
- Do not settle for overpayment for properties. If you obtain a verify for greater than the required quantity, return it. Do not deposit it.
Boston Police added, “If you find yourself the target or victim of a rental scam, stop all contact immediately, and if you have already sent money, it is extremely important to report any transfer of funds to your financial institution and file a report with the Boston Police Department.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”