Police: Man posed as realtor, scammed people out of deposits on rental homes
According to police, Christian Anderson was relisting rental properties on social media claiming he was the realtor and collecting money.
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Police say a man has been arrested for scamming several people out of thousands of dollars they believed were deposits on rental homes in Mastic and Mastic Beach.
According to police, Christian Anderson, a non-licensed realtor, using the alias Benjamin Conyers, and located rental properties online. He then relisted them on a social media website claiming he was the realtor, from January to March of this year.
Police say Anderson then arranged meetings with victims in bank parking lots in Shirley and Center Moriches and gave victims fraudulent residential agreements and keys in exchange for cash deposits.
Upon arrival at the rental property, the victims found their key did not work or occupants were already in the home.
Upon receiving the money from the victims, Anderson then blocked or deleted his social media account and stopped communicating with victims.
Following an investigation, Anderson was identified, located, and arrested at his home.
Anderson, 24, of Shirley, was charged with grand larceny and scheme to defraud.
Detectives are asking anyone who believes they might have been scammed to contact the Seventh Squad detectives at 631-852-8752.
