MIAMI -- A South Florida teacher lost a $3,000 cash deposit he put down on a rental property when it turns out the supposed owner was a con artist.

The alleged scammer said his name was Luis Torres, and he told renters he owned a home in the 5000 block of Southwest 163rd Court.

The alleged victim, who asked not to be identified, said he saw an ad on Craigslist.com advertising a home with four bedrooms, three bathrooms and a three-car garage for $1,500 per month. The man said he met Torres at the house twice.

"He showed me the house. He had a key. He knew the floor plans of the house, everything about the house. It was convincing," the alleged victim said.

He said Torres had a copy of a warranty deed to the house, but it turned out it was fake, Local 10's Jeff Weinsier reported.

"It showed that his name was on the deed. He was the owner, he claimed. He was into investments, and he just purchased this house as a foreclosure," the alleged victim said.

Neighbors, who also did not want to be identified, told Local 10 News that they recognized pictures of the man who told the alleged victim his name was Torres. They said the man identified himself as the owner of the house and told them he owned two others in the neighborhood, but never gave them his name.

Neighbors said three different couples have fallen victim and have shown up with moving trucks, only to find out that they had been conned.

The alleged victim who spoke with Local 10 handed over $3,000 and was given a receipt.

"I realized something was wrong when a couple of days after I left the deposit, I called and he wouldn't pick up," the alleged victim said. "I called again, and he wouldn’t pick up."

Eventually, the phone was disconnected.

Miami-Dade police recently arrested Gino Chavez and charged him with grand theft and organized fraud for allegedly pulling off a similar scam. He, too, presented victims with a fake warranty deed, police said.

"In this case, he's admitted to using Photoshop to doctor the warranty deed, which represents him as the owner of the house," said Detective Darell Rodriguez of the Miami-Dade Police Department.

Before you hand over hard-earned cash for a rental home, stop by your county property appraiser's office to make sure the documents presented to you are real.

"It will take me a while to recover from this. I don't want anyone else to go through something like this. It's very, very devastating," the alleged victim said.

If you have any information that can lead police to the con artist, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS (8477).