RENT FRAUD VICTIM LEFT ‘SO BROKEN AND MAD AND ANGRY’
It’s move-in season in the Greater Boston area — and that means it’s scamming season. Paromita Poddar learned that the hard way when she paid a $1,500 deposit for an apartment in Watertown that turned out to be someone else’s home. Poddar, who recently moved to the Boston area from New Jersey for work, described her ordeal to Alexi Cohan of the Boston Herald:
“I was in a rush, I wanted to get something as soon as possible. A girl ... messaged me on Facebook Messenger saying she had a room and if I’m interested I should contact her agent . ... She sent me interior pictures of the room, we talked about the rent, utilities and other roommates. She sounded genuine so I reached out to (the agent) and asked him to send me the address and the paperwork. He sent me the rental application, which I signed and sent back. I was in New Jersey, so up until then I did not see the apartment physically.
Because I had not seen the apartment, I called him on Monday and asked to see the apartment. He mentioned the landlord had to attend jury duty, so he wouldn’t be able to show me the apartment that day. Also the lease agreement had been picked up by an exchange student and that if I delayed any further he would give it to somebody else.” That’s when Poddar signed the lease agreement and wired $1,500 to the supposed realtor to cover first month’s rent and a security deposit.
“Now comes Tuesday and the entire day the agent ignored my calls. I was so frustrated I went to the address, which was mentioned in the lease. I go, and there was no apartment there. It was someone’s house. I was 100 percent sure my money was gone and I had been scammed. Immediately I went to the police and filed a complaint. I filed a complaint on the FBI site, IRS site and another federal government site for scam and fraudulent activity.
In my mind it didn’t click for once that this was fraud, that this is a scam. I was so frustrated, I was so broken and mad and angry.”
Poddar, who works in technology, later tracked the IP address of the realtor and realized she had sent the money to Nigeria. Because she had wired the money from her job in Malden, she filed a complaint with the Malden police, who told the Herald they investigated the crime but could do nothing. Poddar also filed complaints with Facebook and with her bank.
“It’s a good chunk of money. I’m getting married next year, so for me every penny is very important. I’m very scared now because the scammers have my personal information. The scammers target people like me. If you’re looking for a place, take as much time as you can, don’t rush. People need to be aware because I really don’t want someone going through the same thing that I did.”