BROOKLYN – The NYPD is looking for a scam artist who posed as a broker and stole security deposits from apartment seekers in Brooklyn. The unidentified man has struck Bedford-Stuyvesant and Bushwick eight times since January.
According to the NYPD, the man is breaking into apartments undergoing renovations; he then puts out online advertisements for open houses, has renters sign fake leases and runs off with the first month’s rent.
The victims discovered the scam while trying to move in.
The prepetrator is described as a 5-foot-6 black man in his mid-30s, weighing 150 pounds and wearing a light gray Yankee cap.
Police released a sketch the same day the Brooklyn district attorney announced they charged 18 people in connection to various real estate scams.
Follow Emily Anne Epstein on Twitter at @EmilyatMetro.
