Police say Ortiz posed as a property manager, accessed a vacant residence, and had victims complete a rental agreement and pay a $1,300 deposit. The victims moved in and found out that Ortiz did not have legal right to the property.
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The 23ABC Facebook page flooded with comments, including one from Nicole Ortiz, which said "wow really!!!".
A few hours later, another comment stated that these reports about Ortiz were false. A screenshot was posted as a reply to this message identifying Ortiz as the person who scammed her in a separate incident.
Another screenshot was posted shortly after of a post on Ortiz's Facebook page saying that her identity was stolen and someone was using her name in the scam. The post also says that Ortiz will be working with a detective to get the issue resolved.
Nicole Ortiz also called 23ABC Thursday evening. saying that she had seen the article online and that her Facebook account had been hacked recently. She said that she needed to call the Bakersfield Police Department right away and said she would call back.
She did not provide 23ABC with a number to reach her and has not called back or returned Facebook messages.
Je Carrillo of the California Bureau of Real Estate provided tips on how to avoid these types of potential scams.
"We really stress that when the public is dealing with any person or company, that they contact the bureau to verify their licensing status," said Carrillo.
"We have a little acronym that is STOP, which is Stop, Think, Observe and then Proceed."
