A 32-year-old Westminster man was charged Friday, July 7, with eight counts of felony grand theft for allegedly running a Craigslist scam in which he promised to rent a room to several different people but then made off with their deposit money, authorities said.

Phong Gia Nguyen advertised a room for rent on Craigslist and then collected a total of more than $15,000 in security deposits and pre-paid rent from eight unsuspecting victims, the Huntington Beach Police Department said in a statement on its Facebook page.

Police said Nguyen did not own the rental space and had unauthorized access to the property. He showed each victim the room and then collected a cash deposit, police said.

But when the victims showed up with their belongings for “move-in day,” they discovered that the room was not available, police said.

Huntington Beach detectives arrested Nguyen after several days of surveillance, police said, adding that he had more than $3,000 in cash in his possession.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Huntington Beach Police Detective Lopez at 714-536-5992.