00:00subscribe to our channel unfold hidden stories and press the bell icon to get the notification
00:06of our latest videos this happened last year in early spring i was 22 living in a rental house
00:12just outside of madison wisconsin i just finished college and was getting ready to move back to green
00:18bay to start a new job i needed to get rid of most of my furniture so i put up a moving sale
00:23ad on craig's list with a few photos and said people could come by over the weekend i got a
00:28few replies and then one that stood out the message was from someone named mark he said he had a small
00:34moving company and had seen my ad while looking for items for a friend he offered to help me pack
00:39and load everything i didn't sell said he wouldn't charge me anything just wanted to help and maybe
00:45pick up a few things i didn't need he also mentioned that he and his crew had helped several people in
00:50the area even dropped a few names that sounded familiar i was hesitant and figured if he turned
00:55out to be weird i just wouldn't let him in so i told him i'd be moving the following sunday and
01:01he said that worked for him on sunday morning he showed up right on time it was him and another guy
01:06both in their 30s wearing branded polo shirts they got to work quickly helping me carry boxes out and
01:13wrapping up the heavier furniture mark chatted with me in a casual way asking what town i was moving to
01:19and if my new place had better rent i didn't think much of it at the time i was stressed about the move
01:24and just happy someone was helping when they were loading the last few things mark asked if i was
01:29planning to install any security at the new place he said some renters forget about that and end up
01:35with break-ins he also asked if i had a home alarm at the house i was leaving i laughed a little and
01:41said no not really the neighborhood had always felt safe he nodded and said it was good i was moving out
01:46completely a half-empty house can attract trouble at the time it sounded like something someone in the
01:52moving business might say the move went smoothly mark and his helper finished everything in under
01:58two hours and before leaving mark handed me a folded up list of tips for unpacking quickly and told me to
02:05reach out if i ever needed help moving again i drove up to green bay later that afternoon and started
02:11settling into my new apartment the next few days were uneventful i was unpacking starting orientation at
02:17work and just trying to adjust then on wednesday i got a phone call from my old landlord he said the
02:24back door of the house had been forced open a neighbor had seen it early in the morning and
02:28called him most of what i'd left behind was gone including a few things i hadn't sold during the
02:34moving sale a window in the back bedroom had also been broken like someone had tried to get in that
02:40way first i felt cold when he told me at first i thought maybe it was just some random theft
02:46the house had been empty and maybe someone saw it as an easy target but the more i thought about it
02:51the stranger it felt the break-in happened just two days after i moved out whoever did it seemed to
02:57know exactly when the house would be empty they hadn't just broken in to vandalize they took only what
03:02was easy to carry and possibly sell that night i started replaying the conversation i'd had with mark
03:09him asking about alarms if the house would be completely empty what town i was moving to at the
03:14time those questions had slipped past me but now they stood out i searched my craigslist inbox and
03:20reread his messages and tried to look up the number he'd used to text me it came up blank i reported
03:26everything to the police the next day i gave them mark's phone number the email address from craigslist
03:32and even the messages we'd exchanged they took the report but told me it would be hard to track him
03:38i asked if they had seen anything like this before and the officer said yes sometimes people pose as
03:44movers to get information then come back later when they know the house will be empty he said these kinds
03:50of cases rarely lead to arrests unless someone catches them in the act the landlord had already
03:55replaced the locks and cleaned up the mess but i still felt sick about it i started going through
04:00posts online to see if anything similar had happened to others and found two different threads on a local
04:06forum where people described nearly the same situation i realized then that mark probably
04:11wasn't his real name and i had most likely been targeted nothing super valuable was taken but it
04:17wasn't about the stuff since then i never post where i live and if i have to sell something i meet in
04:23public i also tell my friends to be careful especially if someone seems too helpful this happened when i
04:29was 20 years old at the time i had just moved into a small one-bedroom apartment on the second floor of a
04:35nice building the building wasn't very big maybe four or five apartments total and it was owned by a
04:41family who lived on the ground floor i didn't know the owners personally but i'd see them sometimes in
04:46the hallway or outside most of the people living there were friendly but they didn't speak english or
04:52french very well so we never really talked beyond a quick smile or nod now the walls were thin so i
04:58could sometimes hear muffled voices or footsteps then one afternoon a friend was visiting me when
05:04someone rang the doorbell downstairs the walls in the building were very thin so i could hear that
05:09the person was ringing every apartment's bell one by one that usually happens when someone is trying
05:15to sell something i normally don't open the door in those situations so i walked to the living room
05:21and looked out the window there was an old rusty gray van parked in front of our building my friend
05:26and i didn't think much of it and just went back to the kitchen to keep talking a few minutes
05:31later the person rang the bell again this time we decided to go downstairs and see what they wanted
05:37i opened the door and saw a man who looked like he was in his 50s he was wearing dirty sweatpants
05:43and a t-shirt with stains on it i asked him if he needed anything he said he was there to pick up some
05:48furniture and told me that a woman had messaged him and asked him to come at 6 pm to get it i found that
05:54weird because i knew all my neighbors and none of them had mentioned selling anything i told him that the
05:59people living next to me were not home and i didn't think they would have set something like that up
06:04the man seemed a bit nervous and said he would wait outside until someone came back my friend and
06:09i went back upstairs to my apartment feeling confused and a bit uneasy we talked about how weird the whole
06:15thing was but tried not to overthink it the man reminded me of someone who had drunk too much coffee
06:22he couldn't stay still and seemed full of nervous energy about an hour later i went back to the living
06:27room and looked outside he was still there sitting in his van which was parked in my neighbor's spot
06:33that's when i started to feel really creeped out i told my friend that if he was still there after
06:38another hour i would call the police then just a few minutes later my phone rang it was a call from
06:44a number i didn't know i answered the call and to my surprise it was the voice of the same man who
06:50was still sitting outside in the van i felt weird because i was sure i had never given him my number
06:55and i had definitely never spoken to him on the phone before he calmly said he was here to pick
07:00up a washing machine and dryer and that a woman had told him to come at 6 p.m he said he had been
07:06waiting for over an hour and was getting impatient i was confused and a little shocked so i told him
07:12i'm the same guy you spoke to at the door earlier i live alone there's no woman here and i have no idea
07:18who you've been talking to you've definitely got the wrong person i didn't like that he somehow got my
07:23number and now he was trying to act like i had spoken to him before at this point i started to
07:29slowly understand what had happened since i was moving back to my mom's place i needed to get rid
07:34of most of the things in my apartment except for some kitchen items and what i had in my bedroom
07:40i was trying to sell my small washing machine and dryer when i posted the ad online i had written my
07:45full address thinking the website would only show the general area not the exact location but now i
07:52realized that the full address was probably visible the strange part was that this man was still
07:57insisting that he had talked to a woman and had made plans to pick up the machines at a set time
08:02i told him that yes i was selling some things but i had no idea where his story was coming from
08:08then he started to get upset he raised his voice and said that he had called this number earlier and a
08:13woman had answered that's when i finally understood i hadn't recorded a personal voicemail message yet
08:19so my phone was using the default voicemail greeting from the phone company he must have
08:24heard that and thought he had spoken to a real person it was meant to be friendly but it often
08:28caused confusion despite this message the man never left a voicemail there was no information
08:34about picking up any items no mention of a time and no request to be called back there was no record
08:40of any communication from him beyond that missed call i tried to explain that what he had heard
08:45was simply a pre-recorded voicemail a generic message used by the phone company when no personal
08:51greeting is set it was not a real conversation the voice could not answer make plans or confirm
08:57any meetings yet for some reason the man believed he had spoken to someone and arranged to pick up time
09:03even though there was no actual exchange of information the situation made very little sense
09:08he became angry and started ringing the doorbell over and over again
09:13he shouted that i was selling the machines and that he had come to buy them he said he had already
09:18waited in the parking lot for an hour and demanded that i open the door and let him in to take them
09:23i told him that someone else had already agreed to buy the machines and that showing up at a stranger's
09:28home without warning was not okay after that i ended the call he stayed outside for some time
09:34and kept pressing the doorbell again and again but i didn't answer i was standing near the phone
09:39ready to call the police if he didn't leave soon after a few more minutes he finally gave
09:44up and drove away then i went back to the website where i had posted my ad and carefully checked
09:49everything i realized that i had made a big mistake by writing my full address so i removed it from the
09:55listing and from my account settings since that day i've been very careful when sharing personal
10:01information online i always make sure that no one can find my exact location unless i trust them
10:07completely i learned that even a small detail like a full address in an ad can bring someone
10:12right to your door without warning this happened in early 2023 i was 19 at the time living in a shared
10:19apartment in portland i had moved there the year before for school but also to start building a
10:24portfolio as a part-time model i wasn't signed to any agency but i'd done a few paid shoots through
10:30craigslist and instagram nothing huge but it gave me a few hundred dollars each time and some of the
10:37photographers were actually really professional and that's how i found the post a guy had listed
10:42an ad on craigslist looking for models to help expand his portfolio the post looked normal it
10:48included a sample of his work which showed professional lighting and poses plus a few
10:53outdoor shots with different models he said he was building a client base and offered four hundred
10:58dollars for a two-hour shoot it didn't feel shady at the time and honestly the pay caught my attention
11:04i emailed him and he replied within an hour and was polite said his name was gavin and he preferred
11:10working with new models he gave me a address for the studio and it was near the industrial area i showed
11:17the email to my roommate and even sent her the address before heading out just in case i dressed
11:22casual with a plain top and jeans and packed a few changes of clothes in my tote bag when i got there
11:28the building did didn't look like a studio it was a warehouse so i checked the address again inside it
11:35smelled dusty and old like it hadn't been aired out in a long time there were a few large lights set up
11:40like photography lights and a big white backdrop hung from the far wall then i heard someone walking
11:46toward me he greeted me said his name was gavin and asked if i was lena i nodded he didn't try to shake
11:52hands or make small talk just told me to come over so we could start he pointed at the backdrop and said
11:58he wanted to try a few standing poses to test the lighting i placed my bag near the wall where i could
12:04see it he positioned a light and started giving directions but he didn't adjust anything on the
12:09camera between shots which i found odd he just kept snapping without even checking the screen
12:15about 30 minutes in i reach for my phone to check the time he immediately said phones off during
12:21the session please i said i just wanted to make sure i hadn't missed any messages he just stared at me
12:27then walked to the other side of the room to adjust a light that didn't need fixing while his back was
12:32turned i opened my phone and looked up one of the images he had emailed me earlier i used google's
12:38reverse image search the photo was from a wedding photographer's site based in arizona the model wasn't
12:44his and the location in the background wasn't even local i kept my phone in my hand after that
12:50and told him i needed to leave i didn't explain too much just told him something urgent had come
12:55up he looked annoyed then asked you're leaving already i said yes i was feeling unwell and would
13:01contact him later if i could continue another time i stayed firm held my phone where he could see it
13:07and said my roommate was waiting for me outside i hadn't actually texted her yet but i made it sound
13:12like someone was nearby after a long pause he stepped aside i left and didn't look back until i reached
13:18the street there were a few cars passing and i finally felt like i could breathe again i walked
13:24to a nearby cafe and sat down to gather myself then i searched again for the photos he had sent
13:30most of them were from websites of photographers in different states none of them connected to him
13:35i wrote everything down while it was still fresh and posted a warning in a local forum where new models
13:41often share their experiences i didn't name him directly but i described the setup in detail
13:47a few days later the post started getting replies one person said they had almost gone to the same
13:52place but changed their mind another said the photos in his ad looked familiar and sent a link to the
13:58original photographer eventually someone said they had passed the details to the right people
14:04i don't know what happened after that i didn't hear anything officially but the ad disappeared and i
14:09never saw his name again looking back i'm just glad i trusted my instincts before things went further
14:15this happened two years ago i was 31 living with my husband and our two kids in a nice neighborhood
14:21just outside sacramento we had recently put our house up for sale the kids were still young six and
14:27four so we were looking for a bigger place closer to my husband's job it was a stressful time with
14:33showing scheduled almost every week and keeping the house clean with toddlers wasn't easy then one
14:39saturday morning a guy knocked on the door around 9 30 a.m i wasn't expecting anyone so i opened the
14:45door just a bit a man in his mid-30s stood there he asked if the house was still available for rent
14:52i told him it wasn't for rent it was for sale he paused checked his paper again and said he found
14:58the listing on craigslist for 1 200 a month and had even exchanged messages with someone about putting
15:04down a deposit i thought he had the wrong address but when he showed me the photos i froze i told him
15:11politely that someone was probably playing a prank on him and that i had no idea who had posted it he
15:16looked disappointed but nodded and left i called our realtor right after to let her know what had
15:21happened she confirmed that nothing had been listed for rent and advised me to stay alert in case it
15:27happened again i didn't think too much about it until the next person showed up by the middle of that
15:32week three more people had come by one couple rang the doorbell around 8 p.m while we were putting
15:38the kids to bed another came by during the day while i was alone and one just sat in their car
15:43outside for nearly 20 minutes before driving off every single time it was the same thing they had
15:49seen our house listed for rent on craigslist it was like someone had taken everything straight from
15:54the real estate listing and repackaged it as a rental one guy told me he had already sent in a 600
16:01deposit by zell to a man claiming to be the owner he'd driven three hours thinking he was going to
16:06sign a lease he looked completely lost when i told him the truth i gave him the number to the local
16:12police and told him to file a report he just stood in my driveway for a while before finally leaving
16:18some people were bold enough to call the realtor's number on the for sale sign out front asking when they
16:23could move in or how to get the keys our realtor was overwhelmed and told us this wasn't the first time
16:29she'd seen it happen especially with homes that looked ready to move into we filed a police report
16:35the next morning the officer took down all the details and collected the printed messages we had
16:41he said this kind of thing had been happening more often lately people copying house listings and
16:46pretending to rent them out then he said they'd look into it and let us know if anything came up
16:51we printed two large signs and taped them to the front and back doors this home is for sale
16:56it is not for rent any rental listing is false we added our realtor's name and number so anyone
17:03could double check even with that posted people still came one couple told us they had already
17:08sent one thousand dollars to someone who claimed to be the owner they gave us a copy of the email
17:13chain not long after that we got a call someone had been found one of the email addresses used
17:19matched others in similar cases and the police were able to trace where it had been accessed it led
17:25them to a public library a few cities away security cameras showed a man logging in during the same
17:31time the emails were sent he had been seen before in other reports and they were finally able to
17:36identify him when they arrested him at a nearby motel they found a laptop full of copied listings and
17:42printed materials with addresses including ours and things quieted down after that
Comments