San Francisco model scammed by fake NYC landlord

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — A San Francisco model moved to New York City this August to pursue his modeling and fashion career dreams.

Miguel Marchese paid more than $6,000 to a man who claimed to be subletting an apartment in Manhattan’s Hells Kitchen neighborhood. Marchese said he “moved with two suitcases, a lot of ambition and aspirations.”

“I stumbled across a post … of a really good apartment. A really good deal in Hells Kitchen. I didn’t think it was going to be true. I’m not someone who gets scammed,” Marchese said in an Instagram video.

The model said he toured the two-bedroom apartment in-person and met the landlord, named Nick. Two days later, Nick contacted to model, said he was picked above several other people who toured, and sent him a lease to sign through Docusign.

“I look at the lease and everything seems legit,” Marchese said.

Nicholas “Nick” Fuelling, however, was a fake landlord and a scammer, KRON4 sister station PIX11 reported, citing New York officials.

Marchese said he was required to pay a security deposit of $3,200, and another $3,200 to cover first month’s rent, through CashApp.

Marchese said he felt lucky until he started looking for roommates to move in on September 1. “A sweet girl reached out to me. She was telling me that this was her apartment. She signed the lease, she toured the place, paid the security deposit, we figured all this out. I discovered that we had just been scammed,” he said.

Marchese said he also found a third would-be renter who was also scammed with the same apartment. When the model went to the apartment to talk to Nick, he was not there. Marchese reported the scam to police.

Fuelling, 43, is now wanted by the New York City Police Department, PIX11 reported. Police said Fuelling was posing as a landlord when he showed hopeful renters the apartment at 334 West 47th St.

New York City Councilman Erik Bottcher told PIX11, “People just have to be really, really vigilant when subletting an apartment. The problem here is he was a master of deception.”

The renters saw the apartment advertised on Facebook Marketplace, officials said. “There’s been an outpouring of people who know who this person is, so I’m hopeful he will be apprehended soon,” Bottcher told PIX11.

There have been no arrests and the investigation is ongoing.

Marchese said he doesn’t know if he will ever get his money back. He is currently staying with a friend in NYC while he attempts to recover financially.

“What makes this even worse is that this wasn’t just some random mistake. It was a calculated scam. This has left me with nothing — financially and emotionally drained — but not without fight. I want to rebuild, get back on my feet, and continue working toward the life I came here to create,” Marchese wrote.

A verified GoFundMe page has been created to help Marchese rebuild his savings and afford a home.

The model wrote on Instagram, “Trials and tribulations have molded me into a resilient, witty, and tenacious individual. Throughout my life, I’ve always faced adversity.”

Anyone with information about Fuelling‘s whereabouts is asked to contact NYPD Det. Yousef Demes at 212-767-8415.