Orange County woman allegedly stole over $200,000 through rental scams 2023.9.28……【Police】【U.S.】Today, Irvine Police Economic Crimes Investigators arrested Surong Li, 29, of Irvine, for grand theft, possession of a fake identification, and theft by false pretense.
➤【美国】南加州橙县一名华裔女子因涉嫌透过房屋租赁诈骗盗窃超过20万元而遭警方逮捕。
《KTLA 5》报导，尔湾市警局指出，嫌疑人被确认是来自尔湾市的29岁女子李淑荣（音译，Surong Li）。
当局称，李告诉受害者，她是一名物业经理，协助与客户签订房屋租赁协议。
但在一些情况下，她所代表的出租房产实为欺诈或并不提供租赁。
而在其他案件中，李则向受害者收取租金费用，但却从未将钱转给业主。
警方表示，透过上述手法，李成功盗窃超过20万元。她最终因多项罪名被捕，其中包含窃盗、持有假身份证件和冒充窃盗等。
调查人员研判可能还有其他受害者尚未挺身而出，因此，当局公布嫌疑人的照片以供公众识别。
另外，当局提供有关免受租赁诈骗提示：聘找信誉良好的房地产经纪人或经纪人；随时要求参观物业；要求直接与业主面谈。
需要注意的一些可疑事项则包括：迫于压力立即租赁；被要求以现金支付；不涉及信用检查；要求房主或物业经理以外的个人付款。

irvinepolice
2023.9.28

Today, Irvine Police Economic Crimes Investigators arrested Surong Li, 29, of Irvine, for grand theft, possession of a fake identification, and theft by false pretense.

Li represented herself as a property manager and facilitated home lease agreements with victims. In some cases, the rental properties were fake; in other cases, she never transferred the victim’s money to the property owner. Investigators believe the loss to victims is over $200,000. We are sharing this information to raise awareness of this type of scam and to ask other victims of Li to contact svoigt@cityofirvine.org.

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Orange County woman allegedly stole over $200,000 through rental scams
KTLA5 Posted: Sep 27, 2023 / 09:01 PM PDT

An Orange County woman was arrested for allegedly stealing over $200,000 through home rental scams.

The suspect was identified as Surong Li, 29, from Irvine, according to the Irvine Police Department.

Authorities said Li told victims she was a property manager and facilitated home lease agreements with clients.

In some instances, the rental properties she was representing were fraudulent or not actually available.

In other cases, Li collected funds from her victims for a lease, but never transferred the money to the property owners.

By using these methods, Li managed to steal over $200,000, police said. Li was arrested on multiple charges including grand theft, possession of a fake identification, and theft by false pretense.

Investigators believe there may be additional victims of Li who have yet to come forward. They’ve released photos of the suspect for public identification.

Authorities provided these tips on ways to protect yourself from a rental scam:

Use a reputable real estate agent or broker
– Always request a tour of the property
– Ask to speak to the property owner directly

Some suspicious things to be aware of include:
– Being pressured to lease right away
– Being asked to pay in cash
– When there is no credit check involved
– Requests to send payments to individuals other than the homeowner or property manager

The case remains under investigation. Anyone with information or who may be a victim is asked to call Irvine police at 949-724-7011 or email svoigt@cityofirvine.org.