A man is facing numerous fraud charges in connection to a scheme in which prosecutors say he advertised his Boston room for rent on Facebook marketplace and collected deposits from potential tenants but then never allowed them to move in and refused to return their money.
Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced Sunday that 23-year-old Bruno Vieira Ferreira, of Dorchester, was released on personal recognizance after he was arraigned in West Roxbury last month on a charge of larceny over $1,200 by false pretense. He's set to return to court April 19 in that case, and also faces numerous additional charges including larceny, larceny by false pretense, forgery and uttering a false check in Dorchester and Central Boston Municipal Court.
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Prosecutors say over the course of a few weeks in January and February, Ferreira collected deposits from at least six potential tenants responding to a listing on Facebook Marketplace for a room for rent at 9 Taft Street in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood. The payments, which ranged from $450 to $1,800, were made in cash or through Zelle. Ferreira allegedly collected $10,350 from potential tenants.
When the would-be renters inquired about their scheduled move-in dates, Ferreira allegedly gave various excuses why they couldn’t move in, including saying that existing tenants hadn’t moved out yet, or that family members of his had died and he couldn’t move out.
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Ferreira allegedly refused to refund any payments.
“This was a brazen, ongoing scam using a social media marketplace and digital or cash payments that was all too easy to fall for, and numerous victims did," District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement. "Consumers need to be hyper-vigilant when it comes to property rentals of any kind because scammers are very good at using sites like Facebook Marketplace to advertise seemingly legitimate housing situations, all with the goal of fleecing trusting respondents."
According to the district attorney's office, Boston police responded to 9 Taft Street around 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 5 for a call about landlord-tenant dispute, and spoke to two men who said they had signed and paid a $3,600 lease agreement for the apartment there.
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The men told police a resident there told them he lived in the apartment for which they signed a lease, and that no space was available. The resident said numerous other people had come to the home claiming to have paid deposits for the same apartment.
The resident told police that he believed that one of his roommates, later identified as Ferreira, had been advertising the room and scamming respondents.
Two days later, on Feb. 7, police were called to the same address for a similar dispute. A man told officers that he had paid $1,350 to Ferreira for a room with a Feb. 1 move-in date. The man told officers that Ferreira would not let him move in.
While officers were talking with that victim, a different building resident came up to police and told them that he was aware of Ferreira’s scheme.
When detectives went into the house, they found a sign in the lobby that said: “Hello, if you are looking for a Bruno or have had money taken by him, we have no information either. There are multiple police reports on this case, and an eviction notice has been sent.”
Detectives obtained a warrant for Ferreiro’s arrest, and investigators learned he had moved into a new apartment on Exeter Street in Boston. On Feb. 28, the Boston Police Fugitive Unit arrested Ferreira in that apartment.
District Attorney Hayden says financial exploitation and abuse are on the rise, which is why he recently launched the Suffolk County Fraud Fighters, a multi-agency effort to help residents, particularly older adults, recognize common scams and signs of financial fraud.
