Description

There was an ad on Nextdoor about a house for rent in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, address 299 Maynard South Drive. I was contacted by a person named Kelvin and David Wong, who claimed to be the owner of the property. He was able to provide the code to the lock box and had all the information about the house. I was able to gain entrance to tour the house with him on the phone. After that, he stated I need to fill out an application and pay $150 application fee. I sent the payment through Chime. An hour later, he called back saying my application was approved that I would need to secure the property because I was going to move in on December 1st, so I sent $1300 for the security deposit to secure the property. As the conversation continued, and I asked him when I would be able to receive the keys, he stated that the locksmith would meet me at the property on Saturday, November 29th, at 1 pm. Red flag, why will the locksmith meet me when you have the code to remove the lock box? So Wednesday, the 26th, I went online to find out that the property is owned by Invitation Home, a real estate company, so I proceeded to explain the situation, and a complaint was made because they had no idea who this person was. They also gave me information to file a complaint with the government and the Winston-Salem Police Department.