A Fort Lauderdale neighborhood looks like picture-perfect just steps from the beach and rental homes for well-heeled visitors, but there is a scam.
"She said we are here to pick up the key," Steve Chase said, a homeowner along Atlantic Blvd., said about a renter.
Chase said a woman came to his house and said that she was there to rent the house. He responded by saying it was not for rent.
Many people have knocked at Chase's door in hopes of renting a vacation home, but it is a fraud, and not only his home is being affected.
"That neighbor has been hit five times in regards to this scam," Chase said.
Chase is working with the police and the FBI, and he has become a bit of detective himself.
He and the homeowners are not out the money but the victim renters are.
One of the victims transferred money from her bank in Suriname to a location in San Bernadino, Calif. She booked the rental on a real estate rental website.
But none of the home exteriors are showcased on the website.
"No homes, no actual shots of the house on the outside, the only hook is oceanfront steps from the beach and beach front property, but no pictures," Chase said.
And in this neighborhood, legal renting of vacation homes is actually very common.
