Berwyn woman unwittingly rents apartment out on Vrbo to scammer who dupes apartment seekers
BERWYN, Ill. (CBS) -- A woman in Berwyn rented out her unit on a popular vacation rental app – not realizing it would be used by someone else to scam families out of thousands of dollars.
The woman, Dominika Opaczynska, spoke out Friday to warn others – so they don't become the scammer's next target.
As CBS 2's Marybel González reported, the scammer allegedly pulled off his scheme simply by posting it online. You've likely come across a post similar to the one he made – apartments for rent with photos attached.
But it turned out this one was not legitimate.
"The fact that this happened in my home makes me feel completely terrible," Opaczynska said.
When Opaczynska put a unit of her Berwyn building up for reservation on the vacation rental site Vrbo, she was hoping it would help her make some extra cash.
She never thought it would be used as part of a scam.
"Nobody wants this to happen to them," Opaczynska said.
It all started back on Sept. 3, when someone calling themselves "Angel" booked a two-night reservation on the app. Nothing was out of the norm.
But then, Opaczynska found this out: "I guess he was luring people into the apartment and pretending that he was going to rent it out for them for $1,200."
The day Angel checked out, two families came knocking on Opaczynska's door, asking for the money they thought they had given Angel for a deposit on what they thought would be their future home.
"And I was like, 'Angel checked out this morning,' and he's like, 'What are you talking about? He lives here. He rented me the apartment.' He pointed at my apartment," Opaczynska said. "And I was like: 'No, this is an Airbnb and a Vrbo rental. That's not the case. This is my building. I'm not renting it to anybody."
Startled and confused, Opaczynska went back to check her front door cameras – and that was when it hit her. During the two nights "Angel" was staying at her unit, she said he showed her unit to families and told them: "All brand-new appliances, the couches, the beds – anything that's here, that they could have."
But how did he do it? Opaczynska said the victims told her they saw Angel's listing on a Facebook page for apartment rentals.
"So I showed him my listing and everything, and he said, 'Yeah, those are the exact pictures he was using to send to us through Facebook Messenger,'" Opaczynska said.
When they went back to look at the listings, they were all gone. Angel's account was deleted on Facebook, and also on Vrbo.
"There's no trace of him," Opaczynska said.
Opaczynska was paid for her listing on the rental app, but she said two families were scammed out of $2,200 by Angel.
"Not only did they lose their money – they lost their hopes of you know, having a good experience living somewhere where they actually really wanted to live – and they thought they were going to create memories and have a happy life here," Opaczynska said.
Opaczynska now wants to warn others from falling victim to the same.
"Don't, you know, pay anything until you get the keys. Don't pay anything until you get a lease," she said. "Watch out for those red flags, because it's scary out there."
CBS 2's González did speak with one of the victims. She said she was heartbroken, out $1,000 – their entire savings.
We did reach out to the Berwyn Police Department and are waiting to hear back. Vrbo told us they are looking into the case.