SEATTLE — A Seattle mom is out $3,700 after she says she was scammed through a Craigslist apartment ad. Allison Simon was trying to find an apartment for her 33-year-old disabled son. She found an apartment in Belltown that was listed as available to rent.
“I saw this advertisement on Craigslist advertising a one-bedroom, one-bath, and sublease, and it has a beautiful view of the Space Needle,” Simon said.
She reached out to the person via email and got a response. The person who said their name was Leslie Frank.
“He sent back an email, 'Well I’m a family man, I have children too and I love to be around family and friends' and that he works for FedEx and the only reason he wasn’t going to be in Seattle was because he was sent to Tennessee job related,” she said.
Simon said everything seemed fine until the man refused to speak with her on the phone. She said he told her he was hard of hearing and couldn’t talk on the phone.
“I thought it was a red flag but then I said okay my son is disabled I don’t want to doubt anyone if he’s saying, and he did say in the email that next week he was going to pick up his hearing aid,” she said.
Soon after, she signed a lease and was told to wire the man $3,700 for the first month’s rent and a security deposit.
“He said there’s three ways you can send me the money: you can Venmo the money, send a cashier’s check, or send it to my CPA, who is handling all the finances,” she said. Soon after the money was wired, she got a message from the scammer demanding more money.
“Leslie then says, 'I want you to send another $3,700 right away if you really want this apartment,' and I emailed back and said I am not sending you another dollar and in fact you’ve already broken contract," she said.
Simon has requested a refund from him multiple times but never heard back.
The managing broker for the property listed told KING 5 he’s unfortunately not surprised this happened.
“This happens every day. My industry, real estate, is targeted regularly,” Bill Pallis said. He said the property was never available for rent, only for sale. He said the scammer pulled the photos from his listing for the Craigslist ad and took advantage of Simon’s situation.
“She desperately wanted a place for her son and emotion often takes the place of common sense and reason and we want to trust, that’s our nature but it’s come to the point where we have to protect ourselves,” he said.
Simon said her son is now staying in a hotel until she can find him a place to live. She has filed reports with SPD, the FBI and the FTC.