MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Nineteen people in a WhatsApp group chat shared clues about the man they ― and police ― said was a serial apartment rental scammer in South Florida and elsewhere.
All of them said they were victims of a man they knew as “Josh Herrera.” And they’re grateful he was arrested.
Authorities said “Josh Herrera” was the alias of Joshua Jeshurun Harrison, 37, of Miami. Local 10 News first reported on the case on Thursday.
A group member, who asked to be identified only by her first name of Amanda, told Local 10 News that she fell victim to Harrison when she and her kids were packed and needing an apartment.
She said she made a post on Facebook Marketplace and Harrison, presenting himself as a charming real estate agent, answered.
But authorities said he wasn’t a broker at all. They said he pretended to have access to multiple properties and then took prospective renters’ deposits.
“He was trying to make it seem like he owned these houses, and then he always switched up his story,” a victim said in a voice recording in the group chat. “That’s how we knew (there were) like red flags toward the end, because then he was like, ‘No, I don’t own them.’”
Authorities said Harrison had helpers, including Jose Adolfo Lopez, 29, of Chicago, who was arrested by South Miami police along with Harrison on Wednesday.
Amanda said the experience “drained” her.
“I got depressed. I lost weight, I lost hair,” Amanda said. “I almost ended up in the street.”
“I called him crying, screaming, begging to return the money so I could rent something else legally,” she said of Harrison.
Amanda was one of the victims who Zoomed into Miami-Dade bond court over the weekend, begging the judge to deny Harrison bond. She did give him bond, but set it at $1.25 million.
“He hurt dozens of people and I believe if he’s released, he will run or keep scamming others,” one of them said.
Members of the “We Found Josh” shared their own research and discoveries of other people who they think Harrison may be working with.
“I found out in my research that he’s been in LA, Georgia, Tampa, Orlando and Miami,” Amanda said. “So far, this investigation is not over. This is just the beginning and I’m excited for it. We want justice.”
If Harrison posts the hefty bond total, he’ll have to be on house arrest and will be barred from using the means he’s alleged to have found his victims: the Internet.
