Posted on 08/08/2014 4:14:44 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A San Francisco man is accused of stealing a “For Sale” sign outside a Hercules house and then attempting to rent the place to at least four potential tenants, authorities said Wednesday.
Gino Eckstein, 21, was booked into Contra Costa County jail on suspicion of residential burglary, possession of stolen property, renting property under false pretenses and identity theft, according to Hercules police.
Officers first learned of the purported scam when one of the potential tenants filed a report Tuesday. She told officers she had responded to an online Craigslist ad for a house on the 1900 block of Pheasant Drive.
On Monday, she met a man at the house — Eckstein, according to police. He told her his name was Eric and that he was managing the investment property for his father.
He showed the woman the house, and she expressed interest in renting it. Police said Eckstein gave her a credit application and asked for a $1,500 deposit in cash or a cashier’s check.
She agreed, and told him she would give him the deposit on a later date.
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.sfgate.com ...
as they should well know in the bay area:
“property is theft !”
Well, as scams go its quite creative.
Never heard of this one before.
APf
I had a relative who had something similar on his rental property.
Good work on the part of the supposed renter and the police thinking fast and stopping the culprit on a traffic violation.
How did the perp gain access to the house?
I don’t want to meet the man who can steal a sign from Hercules’ house.
Funny. If he had just moved in himself, the law would protect him!
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