MIAMI (WSVN) — A bride-to-be falls victim to a party scam.
Monique Harrell is getting married in September and came down from New Jersey to celebrate her bachelorette party with her friends. Instead of cheering and laughing, her trip has become a time of tears and heartbreak.
Harrell’s friend Denise planned the party and came across a vacation website filled with photos of an extravagant Miami home. She also wired $3400 to the supposed owner to cover a deposit.
“I had been in contact with like over 20 owners,” Denise said. “This was the house that we decided on, it was a dream house. This was going to be our celebrity style home for the weekend.”
When the group arrived at the house on North Venetian Causeway, the doors were locked and there was no one in sight. The contact numbers for the house were disconnected.
“It’s heartbreaking, it’s not right,” Harrell said.
Property records show the house belongs to Tevya Finger, but when Finger’s named in searched using Google, a statement appears which reads: “My name is being used to advertise various rentals in an effort to scam good people out of their hard earned money.”
Finger said there has been seven to 10 instances just like this one. “All she had to do was search on the internet, my name, the person she was supposedly dealing with,” Finger said. “And she would’ve seen the first site that pops up. its my name and it says do not rent the house. theres scams associated with the name.”
Finger has filed numerous police reports and claims he is a victim himself.
The party will search for a place to stay and have decided to stay in South Florida for the remainder of the weekend.
(Copyright 2013 by Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)