These three men pretended to own apartments and took thousands in deposits from unsuspecting renters, police said. View Full Caption NYPD

EAST ELMHURST — Police are looking for three men who they say posted about bogus apartments on Facebook that were already rented and then took thousands in deposits from unsuspecting victims.

The suspects lied about owning the homes that they met would-be renters in front of, giving keys to them in exchange for rental deposits — with the victims later discovering the apartments had already been rented, police said.

The scheme goes back to at least April 1, when one suspect met with a 40-year-old woman in front of 77-01 31 Ave. in East Elmhurst and took $1,400 for a deposit, according to the NYPD.

Later that month, on April 21, another suspect met with a 25-year-old woman in front of 41-62 70th St. and took a $1,800 deposit for a supposed apartment inside, police said.

Two days later, another suspect met with a would-be renter in front of 94-22 Jackson Mill Road and took a $1,800 deposit.

On June 6, one of the suspects met with another victim in front of 137-58 Northern Blvd. and took a $1,500 deposit, police said.

If you have information about this incident, please call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).