A woman believes she was almost scammed after posting a room to rent at her residence on Craigslist.
In the first video in a 10-plus part saga, TikToker Lupita (@lala.lupita) says she had been trying to rent a room in her house for three months with no luck. So, she turned to Craigslist to try and score a roommate. In less than 24 hours, she says a woman messaged her about the listing. She allegedly told Lupita that she was moving to the area from Alaska.
A series of red flags
Lupita texts back and forth with the woman, who explains that her father will pay her moving expenses and deposit—including a towing company that will transport her car from Alaska. Lupita asks the woman if she can video call or talk on the phone to verify her identity, but the woman tells Lupita that she is deaf.
The TikToker says she then asked for a selfie and a photo of her ID, which she received. However, when clicking on the photos’ information, she noticed they were screenshots—the first red flag of many.
The woman tells Lupita that her dad will mail her the deposit and asks for a favor: To send $700 to the towing company that will bring her car.
@lala.lupita ♬ original sound – Lupita
Lupita says she asked why the woman couldn’t pay the towing company herself, to which she explained that she “wanted the car to arrive before she did.”
“OK, that’s kind of weird. But let’s go with it.” Lupita remarks. “Am I getting scammed?”
Shortly after, Lupita says she received a check in the mail. She says she deposited it to her bank account, much to the dismay of viewers.
One commenter urged, “Omg, don’t deposit it! Call your bank and tell them what happened!”
“You get the check to clear, take the money out a week later, the check bounces after u give her the money, then ur stuck with an overdrawn account, and they have the money,” another says, explaining the potential scam.
Lupita investigates
Lupita posted several follow-up videos, one of which explains that she searched the woman’s number on Snapchat and discovered an account that appeared to be run by a man. This discovery prompted her to call her bank and ask them to reverse the check and flag it as fraud.
@lala.lupita #greenscreen ♬ original sound – Lupita
“I’m going to text the person and tell them that the check didn’t go through, so I wish them the best of luck,” Lupita says.
However, the alleged scammer didn’t take too well to Lupita’s backing out of their original deal. She posted a screenshot of a text exchange between the two. In it, the “woman” insists that the check went through and asks Lupita to send $300 to the trucking company for the “inconvenience.” Upon blocking the number, Lupita says she received a text from the woman from a new number.
In another update on July 17, Lupita says the original check cleared despite her bank’s statement that they would reverse it. However, she reassured anxious viewers that she would wait two to three weeks to make sure the money didn’t disappear from her account, per their suggestions.
But the scammer isn’t letting up. Lupita says she received yet another check in the mail. “The scammer isn’t leaving me alone,” she laments in a final update.
Viewers give advice
In the comments section, viewers give Lupita suggestions on how to ensure her account is secure after the scam attempt, some criticizing her for not being more skeptical of her prospective roommate from the jump.
“Don’t open anymore envelopes, just return to sender. Call your local PD and see if they want the checks you have,” one says.
“Watch it. Sometimes, after you deposit the check. They can request a copy, and then the copy may have all your account information on it,” another warns.
“Close your account and open a new one!! Better safe than sorry,” a third adds.
Luckily, Lupita’s search for a roommate ended up being successful, as she shared that she met a real person who toured her place and signed a lease shortly after her close call.
The Daily Dot reached out to Lupita via TikTok comment for further comment.
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