MACOMB TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Several families were hoping to move into a beautiful Macomb County home, but one mother feared it was too good to be true.

So, she started digging and found a big problem.

"We loved the house it was beautiful. we signed a lease, we gave a deposit, everything was good, but the next day I just didn't trust it," said Candace Peterson.  

Peterson knows you must be careful when you rent a home advertised online- so she did some double-checking.

"I started looking him up on Facebook. I did a background check on him," she said.  

Her perseverance helped lead to an arrest warrant for 31-year-old Jeffrey al-Bathy. The Macomb County Sheriff's Department says he scammed at least four families out of $1,500 to $2,000. They say he showed a home to several people and signed fake lease agreements. 

He's facing four counts of false pretenses and using a computer in the commission of a crime. 

So, how did Candace get the sheriff's department on his trail? 

She explained what she did, "I created a fake email and responded to him. and- he responded back saying the house was still for rent... When he said that he wanted the $1,500, me and my husband went to the house and demanded our money back - he was shaking like a little girl."

 Once the Peterson's got their money back- they called the sheriff's department and posted their own warning on Craigslist. That brought other victims forward, fueling the investigation. 

Candace says she was this wasn't just about money.

"I took my daughters to the house. They loved the house. We were going to call it home, and when you take that from my kids, that's not cool," she said.  

Candace says she didn't see any warning signs that things were off, but followed her gut.

The Better Business Bureau gave us these tips when looking to rent online. 

How to avoid being victimized:

Only deal with landlords or renters who are local.

Be suspicious if you're asked to only use a wire transfer service.

Beware of e-mail correspondence from the "landlord" that's written in poor or broken English.

Research the average rental rates in that area and be suspicious if the rate is significantly lower.

Don't give out personal information, like social security, bank account, or credit card numbers.

Look at the picture of the rental, does it fit with the geographic area (type of building and landscaping)

Does the picture of the rental match what you are able to see on the street view map. 

Does the house picture or address show up in any other online advertising and does the rental terms match the other advertisements?

Double check the County records to make sure the landlord is also the owner of the house.

Is the landlord a minister, missionary or doctor?  Scammers want to look as trustworthy as possible. 

Here are some email red flags for consideration:

There are commonalities with all rental scam emails. Below are some tips when dissecting a rental scam email.

Does the email start out with Sir / Madam?

Are there misspellings in the email?

Are there character mistakes in the email? i.e. Hello, my name is Susie.

Is there excessive capitalization?

Does the email reference God, UK, Cashier's Check, Doctor, Nigeria, Reverend, etc.

Is the email from a free email provider. i.e. Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail.

Does the email refer to another person or agent?     

Does the email reference wanting to move in site unseen?