Mother and Son Con Team Arrested For Craigslist Scam

A mother and son who allegedly conned would-be renters out of thousands of dollars by were arrested Thursday, police said.

Acting on a tip, Medford Police went to the Greyhound Bus terminal at South Station Thursday morning, where they arrested Nicholas Matthews, 21 and his mother, Dorothy Ingemi, according to a press release from police Lt. Paul Covino. Each is charged with three counts of felony level larceny.

Ingemi and Matthews advertised a basement level apartment they were renting on Fountain Street on Craigslist, then posed as landlords and showed it to prospective tenants, according to police reports.

Four separate complaints were filed with the Medford police department by people who, after responding to an ad on Craigslist, thought they had made an agreement to rent the apartment at 25 Fountain St., police said.

The victims agreed to pay deposits of varying amounts, ranging from $600 to $1300, police said. In at least one case, the victim was given a key to the apartment. In all, the suspects are believed to have taken at least $3,850, police Lt. Paul Covino previously said.

In one case, the victim was confronted by the real homeowner while moving things into the apartment in early January, and another brought a moving truck full of furniture there, police said. Warrants for the mother and son were issued in early January.

The homeowner told police he was befriended by Ingemi and her son, and he allowed them to stay there because they were homeless. They moved out at the end of December.

Ingemi told the homeowner she and her son planned to leave the state and head for New Orleans, Covino said in a previous statement.

Along with the three counts of larceny, Matthews is also charged with outstanding warrants of distributing a class B drug and two counts of receiving a stolen motor vehicle.

Matthews and Ingemi were greeted at South Station by Detectives Paul Mackowski and William Haftner, Covino said.