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Frustrated and concerned, the tenant tried to verify the agent’s authenticity further. Using the contact number provided by the initial agent, they found a different, legitimate contact in the CA registry. When they called this verified number, a different agent answered, revealing that the initial caller had been impersonating a legitimate agent.
The original scammer had pretended to be a reputable agent to lure victims into paying deposits, only to disappear when it was time for the actual viewing.