SAN FRANCISCO—A 24-year-old San Francisco aspiring fashion model, Miguel Marchese, was scammed out of thousands of dollars by a 43-year-old fake New York City landlord, Nicholas ‘Nick’ Fuelling, when he moved to New York City.
On or before Tuesday, August 12, 2025, Marchese saw a fraudulent Facebook Marketplace post, advertising a two-bedroom apartment that was subletting in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen at 334 West 47th Street. On Tuesday, August 12, 2025, he signed a lease through DocuSign, and he paid a security deposit of $3,200 and another $3,200 to cover the first month’s rent through CashApp.
Marchese became wise to the scam when he was seeking out roommates. When one potential roommate said this apartment was already hers, she showed him the lease, and she already have put in the security deposit. They both reported it to New York City authorities.
Fuelling is wanted on charges of grand larceny, false listing, deceptive behavior by showing the same apartment to different prospective tenants. New York Police Department is on a manhunt for him after he scammed almost a dozen people, putting up a wanted poster for his capture in late August 2025. Apparently, Fuelling has disappeared, and New York Police Department has continued the manhunt.
If you have any information on Fuelling’s whereabouts, please contact New York Police Department through these lines:
– Detective Yousef Demes: (212) 767-8415
– Detective Borough Manhattan South: (212) 477-7447
– Crime Stoppers Hotline: 1-800-577-TIPS (8477)
Now Marchese is penniless and sleeping on the floor of a friend’s place. Marchese has a GoFundMe page set up to rebuild his life after the fake landlord scammed his money.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-miguel-rebuild-after-nyc-scam
