A Ceres man was arrested by Turlock Police on allegations that he scammed individuals out of thousands of dollars through fraudulent rental listings.

Miguel Perez, aka Victor Quiroz, 37, of Ceres was arrested Wednesday, Sept. 22 and booked into Stanislaus County Jail on two felony charges of theft by false pretenses, along with five additional outstanding warrants.

Perez was using Facebook Marketplace to carry out the scam, according to the police department. Investigators suspect there are more victims who haven’t yet come forward.

In June, the Turlock Police Department took two reports with similar circumstances involving Spanish speaking victims who found rental properties on Facebook Marketplace and then lost approximately $2,000 each due to fraud. 

The victims met with the listed contact person, later identified as Perez, gave him cash deposits and first month’s rent, and then were unable to locate or contact Perez to gain access to the listed properties that they thought they were going to move into.

Turlock Police Detective Frank Navarro was assigned to the case and discovered that Perez is also the suspect for additional similar fraud cases in San Joaquin and Monterey counties.

Detectives located and arrested Perez in the 2600 block of Roeding Road in Ceres.

“Detectives suspect that Perez might be responsible for additional unreported fraud crimes,” said Turlock Police spokesperson Deandra Wiley. “Perez frequented Stanislaus County, San Joaquin County and Solano County and might have additional victims in these areas.” 

Anyone with any information or any additional victims is encouraged to contact Turlock Police Detective Frank Navarro at 664-7319.