Two people scammed out of deposit for apartment rental

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Two people have each been scammed out of $550, after they put what they thought was a deposit on a city apartment that is not available.

On Saturday around 10:20 a.m., Bowling Green police met a Cygnet woman at an apartment building in the 200 block of South College Drive.

The woman said that she found the apartment online through SQ Seaway Assets LLC, Toledo, and that she was going to sublease it for her son.

She said she used a credit card to pay the $550 deposit and has been communicating with the leaser, “James,” by phone and had viewed his social media page.

The woman said she made the payment on Nov. 30. She was supposed to meet James at the apartment that morning but he did not come.

She said she looked up the leasing office in Toledo and called them and they had no idea who she was or what she was talking about. She said she then looked for James’ Facebook page and it was gone.

Police checked the leasing office phone number she had been in contact, and reported it was a Waynesfield, Ohio, location.

A Malinta man reported a similar fraud to BG police on Saturday.

He said he had filled out a lease application for the same apartment on South College Drive from a Facebook ad. On Dec. 1, he paid a deposit of $550 to Seaway Assets LLC. He had been texting with a Mike Adams and with the alleged resident and was instructed that he could pick the keys up that day.

When he tried to contact the resident Saturday, the phone number was no longer in service nor was the number for Adams.

Due to the two reports, dispatch contacted the property manager, who said that the apartment is currently being renovated and not ready for tenants yet.

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