Milwaukee rental scam, woman facing eviction poses as landlord
Police say a woman was renting out a house she did not own
Rents are at an all-time high in Milwaukee. This is leaving families in a desperate search for somewhere to live. Now police say one woman took advantage of that desperation by renting out a house she did not own.
MILWAUKEE - Rents are at an all-time high in Milwaukee, leaving many families in a desperate search for somewhere to live. Now police say one woman took advantage of that desperation by renting out a house she did not own.
Rental scam with a twist
What they're saying:
According to the Federal Trade Commission, fake rental listings have cost American consumers more than $65 million since 2020. But this one was especially convincing because the person behind the post didn't just have pictures of the house. She had the key.
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Victims told police a woman posed as a Milwaukee landlord named Tasha Jones. Only, that's not her real name, and she does not own the house. But Cierra Winters believed she did.
In March, Winters was looking for a three-bedroom home for her family. Then came a message about a house near 69th and Capitol with more space, a yard, and a garage.
"Saying, ‘Hurray you have been chosen,’" Winters said. "I really thought it was like a prayer being answered."
The man on the listing called himself Quincy Jones. He sent his wife, "Tasha," to show her the house.
"It was nice. It was everything that we were looking for compared to what we were moving up out of," Winters said.
But when Winters brought a money order, "Tasha" balked.
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"I should’ve knew right then and there something was off. Because she didn’t want the money order. She was like, ‘I said cash,’" Winters said.
Winters paid anyway, eventually forking over more than $2,000 for rent and deposit. On move-in day, a woman named "Monica," whom Tasha called her "assistant," dropped off a key with no grooves in it.
"We stuck the key in. The key did not work," Winters said.
Winters and her boyfriend eventually found a side door unlocked and discovered a working key inside. For a few hours, they believed the house was theirs.
Yasmin Hameed accused of renting out home she did not own near 69th and Capitol
"I FaceTimed my sisters, my mom, my son, you know, showing off the house and stuff," Winters said.
Winters left to work a 12-hour shift as a CNA, but when she came back, the reality set in.
"They had changed the locks," Winters said.
She found her dream home was a house of lies, and she was not alone.
More victims come forward
Big picture view:
Another mother got the same message from the same man about the same house, who sent the same woman.
"Then I got a ding for this home here," Jataun Morgan said. "She stated there was a couple already inside viewing the home, just give them a few minutes."
Morgan knew she had competition, so she came armed with $2,800 in money orders, which was enough for first and last month's rent. The next day, Quincy Jones texted to say they do not accept money orders.
"That put my antennas up," Morgan said.
A man named Jeffrey Ford cashed those money orders anyway. When Morgan came to get her money back, she said a man in Tasha's car pulled out a gun. Both Morgan and Winters went to police and then took their stories public on Milwaukee’s Black Talk Radio station, 101.7 The Truth.
Yasmin Hameed accused of renting out home she did not own near 69th and Capitol
"We’ve got a scam going on! A rental scam!" announced radio host Tory Lowe.
"Y’all are gonna pay for what y’all are out here doing to families," Winters said on the program.
Soon after that appearance, a third victim came forward. Then a fourth.
"My inbox is booming. So many people been contacting me," Morgan said.
In all, victims collectively reported at least $7,750 in losses.
Victims crack their own case
Dig deeper:
But as the days turned into weeks, police made no arrests.
"I feel like our situation is not being taken seriously," Winters said.
Instead of waiting, they tried to crack the case on their own.
"Digging and digging and digging now, 'cause now I got my thinking cap on," Morgan said.
"I waited for the mail to come. And I looked in the mailbox and got a name," Winters said.
That led them to an online arrest photo.
"And I was like, this is her. This is who scammed me out of my money!" Winters said.
Identity revealed
What we know:
Police now say "Tasha Jones" is really 29-year-old Yasmin Hameed.
"The same lady who shown me the house twice. The lady who I gave my money to," Morgan said.
Hameed was already out on bond for an armed robbery at The Pfister Hotel last year. Prosecutors say she lured a man from the bar to his hotel room where Dominique McCullum robbed and pistol-whipped him, leaving him with 17 stitches. She is also charged with attempting to cash more than $20,000 in fraudulent checks.
Winters now realizes she handed over sensitive information to an accused con artist.
Yasmin Halimah Hameed
"I had sent our social security cards. IDs. Check stubs," Winters said.
But that's not all. Just days before the house was listed for rent, court records show Hameed received a notice of eviction for the same address – 3906 N. 69th Street – from the property's real owner – VB One.
Polcyn: "This whole time she’s presenting herself as the property manager."
Morgan: "Yes. As the owner’s wife."
Hameed was being kicked out of the very house she claimed to own because she was more than $3,000 behind on rent.
Polcyn: "So, she’s not a landlord."
Morgan: "No, she’s actually the tenant."
Trusted website
Why you should care:
Victims say that's what made the scheme so convincing. Hameed did not just have pictures of the property. She lived there.
"I don’t understand how you can just go on there and create a profile and upload pictures and claim to be the owner of this home without giving any type of valid verification," Winters said.
Winters thought she was using a website she should trust.
"We didn’t find y’all on Craigslist, we found y’all on Zillow!" Winters said.
Yasmin Hameed accused of renting out home she did not own near 69th and Capitol
She used Zillow's single application to apply for multiple properties. The response from Quincy Jones also came through Zillow, marked "identity verified."
FOX6 found Hameed living in another apartment in northwest Milwaukee, but she did not stick around to answer questions.
Hameed: "Don't do this while my kid right there."
Polcyn: "How did you list this on Zillow if you don’t own it?"
Zillow did not respond to FOX6 either.
Mom defrauding moms?
What they're saying:
Just hours after FOX6 News tried to talk to Hameed, prosecutors charged her with nine new counts of theft by fraud, forgery, and bail jumping. FOX6 caught up with her at the courthouse on Thursday, July 16, before her first appearance on the new charges.
Hameed: "You're still following me?" (as she walked off the elevator)
Polcyn: "You’re a mom. Don’t you feel bad for taking advantage of other moms?"
Hameed: "I don’t know what you’re talking about."
Polcyn: "You don’t?"
Hameed: "No. I wish I did, but I don’t."
For the victims, the impact of the scam goes deep.
"As a mother, I feel like I failed my children," Morgan said. "I failed my children to have my kids out here on the streets. I failed my children."
"I didn’t know that looking for a home or trying to find a new home for me and my family was going to put us out here and leave us homeless like this, without no resources," Winters said. "It's, it's... it's hard."
Hameed hires ACLU President
What's next:
It is still not clear who Quincy Jones is, or if there ever was one. But for Hameed's part in the scheme, deputies took her into custody on Thursday. A court commissioner set her bail at $15,000 cash. She is now represented by attorney William Sulton, president of the ACLU of Wisconsin. Hameed is due back in court July 24 for a bail hearing in the armed robbery case.
If you see an apartment you are interested in renting, experts say make sure the owner matches the listing. You can search the address on My Milwaukee Home, the city’s online property database.
Portions of this article were formatted using A.I. FOX6’s Bryan Polcyn and an editor reviewed it for accuracy and tone prior to publishing.