Rental Scammer Busted in Benton City

Rental scamming is a real thing and a man in Benton City was recently busted for scamming people out of their cash.

According to the Benton County Sheriff's Department, this is how they caught the scammer.

Deputies took several calls today and in the past week, regarding an attempt to get folks to send money to a location for renting properties in the Benton City area. The male was identified as Rock Johnson, AKA "Elvis Taiwo Jinadu" and was contacted via his email address by our office to cease. Later, the victims found the properties were actually owned by others and lost their money.

Our office would like to remind everyone to never send money to someone calling, provide personal information and to use every means before getting involved where cash is exchanged.

Contact our office (509) 735-6555 or our non-emergency dispatch at (509) 628-0333. BCSO #20-04142. Be Safe!

The biggest takeover is to protect yourself and not pay cash and have a paper trail. Rentals are hard to come by but don't fall into the trap of paying cash to a scammer and losing it.