Elderly Woman Reports Rental Fraud in Tulum After Losing 1,500 Pesos

Tulum, Quintana Roo — An elderly woman has reported being defrauded of 1,500 pesos after attempting to secure affordable rental housing through someone claiming to be a municipal employee.

The woman, who is over 70 years old and survives on a senior citizen pension, said she was seeking cheaper accommodation than her current 2,500-peso monthly rent. She made contact with a man who identified himself as Roberto Gutiérrez or Gutiérrez Pech, who offered to help her reserve a rental unit.

According to her account, the man requested a 1,500-peso deposit as an advance payment to secure the property. After transferring the money, she lost contact with him.

“I sent him a message because he stopped calling me, and then he replied very early in the morning. I have the messages recorded, but then the number disappeared and conversations were deleted,” she said.

The phone number she used for communication vanished from her messaging app, and the bank account number where she made the deposit was also deleted, raising suspicions of fraud.

The woman visited Tulum’s municipal offices to try to locate the person who had given her the information. She asked about a supposed employee named Roberto Gutiérrez and another person called “Lupita” who allegedly worked in the cashier or customer service area.

However, staff at various municipal windows told her no employee by that name existed. At the information desk, she was told there was no one named Lupita working there.

Later, at another window, a worker identified as Lupita told her there were several people with that name in the department but said she didn’t know anyone called Roberto Gutiérrez.

The situation has created confusion for the victim, who fears someone may have used municipal employee names to commit fraud. She expressed concern about making the report public without knowing the real identity of the alleged perpetrator.

“I want people to be careful. They took 1,500 pesos from me, but imagine if I had given more money,” she said.

The woman said she wants the case investigated to prevent others, especially senior citizens, from falling victim to similar situations. She also called for greater clarity about the identity of people offering procedures or assistance related to housing support within public offices.

No formal complaint has been filed with authorities yet, but the case has raised concerns about the possible misuse of public servant names or official facilities to commit alleged fraud against citizens.