Loudoun County woman charged in rental scam, accused of locking renters out

A Loudoun County woman is facing dozens of charges for allegedly running a rental scam, police said, including allegedly locking renters out of their homes. Kimberly Vu, 45, has been charged with 24 counts of obtaining money by false pretenses, abducting a minor and assault and battery. Police say Vu operated a rental fraud scheme, posing as a real estate agent, offering homes, town homes and rooms for rent online. Then, Vu would collect rent and security deposits, before failing to provide the promised housing, police said. Prathyusha Aavula is one of Vu's alleged victims, and said she was renting a room Vu's home two years ago, after replying to a listing on Facebook Marketplace. Then, one day after she left, Aavula said Vu locked her out of the house, taking all her possessions, including her passport, clothing and jewelry. "I just went out of the house, and she locked the house," Aavula said. "She changed the key and she said, ‘I don’t know you.'" Aavula went on to call Vu "the biggest scammer at a very root level." Vu's child abduction and assault and battery charges stem from another incident, where Vu allegedly locked a minor out of a house that their family had rented. FOX 5 knocked on Vu's door Thursday, and no one answered. The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office believes there are more victims and asked anyone with information to contact them.