Angel Williams has been looking for housing for months. The end of her lease was quickly approaching, and she said she wants to move closer to her job in Florence to cut down on the money she is spending on gas. Now she is out of more than $1,500 and has no home to show for it after she was scammed.Covington police are now investigating. A few days ago, Williams thought her dream home was within reach. She took her three kids to see the home, after she toured it on her own. "I'm about to get this dream home that I always wanted for me and my kids," she said. "We prayed over it and everything. Me and my mom prayed over it and it was just like this is just meant to be. This is a new beginning for me.""Walk in your walk-in closet. Feel like a queen," one of Williams children said during the tour.Williams said the children fell in love. The family took several videos inside what they believed was going to be their new home. "Everything seemed legit," Williams said. "I get there, they give me the lock code number, I get the key, I go in."She had been communicating via text, email and phone calls with the man posing as the landlord. Twice, she said he gave her an access code to go inside the home. She said the codes were different each time. Williams found the man's contact information through a listing for the four-bedroom Covington home on Craigslist. She asked the man if he accepted Section 8 vouchers, which is housing assistance from the federal government. The man said he did. He also sent her a renter's application and year-long lease agreement. She signed both. "He was like, 'I want you to get to know me a little bit better before you get the property, get to know the property a little bit better.' And I'm like, 'OK' and I'm doing that. And it's just like everything just seemed legit. I get the application. It has the equal opportunity property on there and everything," she said. The man told Williams he was a truck driver, processes payments on the road and only accepts a specific kind of prepaid gift card as payment.Williams purchased $1,700 worth of gift cards Monday and sent photos of them, along with the receipt. The money was supposed to cover $1,300 for a security deposit and $400 for first month's rent. "An hour goes by and I'm like alright I'm waiting for the keys. Texted him, texted him, called him, couldn't get through," she said. "When it got about 5 o'clock and he didn't text me back or call me back about the keys, I knew something was wrong. I felt it in my stomach."Williams had no receipt, no keys and no home. The person she had been contacting went silent. "I tried not to cry in front of my daughter but I'm like 'daughter, I feel like we got scammed. I feel like this man just took all of our money,'" she said. "Please Lord, this is not true. This man didn't just take everything from me. So I tried calling again and he didn't answer."According to the Kenton County property valuation administrator, the home is owned by AH4R Properties Two LLC. American Homes 4 Rent is legitimately renting the home for $1,950 dollars a month. WLWT reached out to the company alerting them of the scam and asking who has access to the property. The company has not yet responded.Tuesday evening there was a fraud alert sticker on the door of the home. WLWT is not reporting the name of the scammer, because we cannot confirm the person is who they claim to be. When reached by phone Tuesday night, the man, whose number is posted on the Craigslist ad, said the Covington home is still available for rent.WLWT asked the man whose number is posted on the Craigslist ad if he is also renting out a home in Florence. The man said he is renting out the Covington home and the Florence home. WLWT has confirmed neither property are his to rent. When WLWT Investigative Reporter Jatara McGee started asking the man about the $1,700 Williams sent him, he denied it at first and then hung up. Police recommend a few tips for avoiding similar scams: do not use prepaid gift cards for payment. Do not use websites like Craigslist that anyone can post to for housing. Utilize reputable websites. Google also has a feature that can help. Right click an image, for example, an image of a home on a listing, and select the option to search the image with Google lens. The feature will run a search to see if the photo is listed on other websites. If you notice another website has a different landlord or seller listed, that is a red flag.
Angel Williams has been looking for housing for months. The end of her lease was quickly approaching, and she said she wants to move closer to her job in Florence to cut down on the money she is spending on gas.
Now she is out of more than $1,500 and has no home to show for it after she was scammed.
Covington police are now investigating.
A few days ago, Williams thought her dream home was within reach. She took her three kids to see the home, after she toured it on her own.
"I'm about to get this dream home that I always wanted for me and my kids," she said. "We prayed over it and everything. Me and my mom prayed over it and it was just like this is just meant to be. This is a new beginning for me."
"Walk in your walk-in closet. Feel like a queen," one of Williams children said during the tour.
Williams said the children fell in love. The family took several videos inside what they believed was going to be their new home.
"Everything seemed legit," Williams said. "I get there, they give me the lock code number, I get the key, I go in."
She had been communicating via text, email and phone calls with the man posing as the landlord. Twice, she said he gave her an access code to go inside the home. She said the codes were different each time.
Williams found the man's contact information through a listing for the four-bedroom Covington home on Craigslist.
She asked the man if he accepted Section 8 vouchers, which is housing assistance from the federal government. The man said he did. He also sent her a renter's application and year-long lease agreement. She signed both.
"He was like, 'I want you to get to know me a little bit better before you get the property, get to know the property a little bit better.' And I'm like, 'OK' and I'm doing that. And it's just like everything just seemed legit. I get the application. It has the equal opportunity property on there and everything," she said.
The man told Williams he was a truck driver, processes payments on the road and only accepts a specific kind of prepaid gift card as payment.
Williams purchased $1,700 worth of gift cards Monday and sent photos of them, along with the receipt. The money was supposed to cover $1,300 for a security deposit and $400 for first month's rent.
"An hour goes by and I'm like alright I'm waiting for the keys. Texted him, texted him, called him, couldn't get through," she said. "When it got about 5 o'clock and he didn't text me back or call me back about the keys, I knew something was wrong. I felt it in my stomach."
Williams had no receipt, no keys and no home. The person she had been contacting went silent.
"I tried not to cry in front of my daughter but I'm like 'daughter, I feel like we got scammed. I feel like this man just took all of our money,'" she said. "Please Lord, this is not true. This man didn't just take everything from me. So I tried calling again and he didn't answer."
According to the Kenton County property valuation administrator, the home is owned by AH4R Properties Two LLC. American Homes 4 Rent is legitimately renting the home for $1,950 dollars a month. WLWT reached out to the company alerting them of the scam and asking who has access to the property. The company has not yet responded.
Tuesday evening there was a fraud alert sticker on the door of the home.
WLWT is not reporting the name of the scammer, because we cannot confirm the person is who they claim to be.
When reached by phone Tuesday night, the man, whose number is posted on the Craigslist ad, said the Covington home is still available for rent.
WLWT asked the man whose number is posted on the Craigslist ad if he is also renting out a home in Florence. The man said he is renting out the Covington home and the Florence home. WLWT has confirmed neither property are his to rent.
When WLWT Investigative Reporter Jatara McGee started asking the man about the $1,700 Williams sent him, he denied it at first and then hung up.
Police recommend a few tips for avoiding similar scams: do not use prepaid gift cards for payment. Do not use websites like Craigslist that anyone can post to for housing. Utilize reputable websites.
Google also has a feature that can help. Right click an image, for example, an image of a home on a listing, and select the option to search the image with Google lens. The feature will run a search to see if the photo is listed on other websites. If you notice another website has a different landlord or seller listed, that is a red flag.
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