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MILFORD -- While local police investigate a real estate scam that nearly cost a West Haven man more than $3,000, federal officials say the Milford case represents a new twist on an old flimflam.

"We've seen this for a number of years, where someone will claim to represent an apartment or house for rent and tries to get a deposit wired to them,'' said Amy Hebert, a spokeswoman for the Federal Trade Commission. "But we haven't seen it where someone local offers to meet the prospective renter at the property.''

That's what Joseph Tomasso said made the attempted con last week seem so legit. "I was going to go down and meet him when I got the strange email and people began warning me off,'' the former EMT said. Tomasso, who is awaiting a liver transplant, was nearly scammed out of $3,300 on Tuesday when he attempted to rent a Walnut Beach house through an ad on Craigslist.

The ad included interior photos and a list of amenities that turned out to be cribbed from a legitimate listing by Ditchkus Realty agent Cathy Vincelette. The "owner'' claimed to be on a mission trip in Africa but was going to arrange for someone to meet Tomasso. If the meeting happened, officials said, Tomasso would have been pressured to wire money in exchange for the keys, officials said.

"That's why this almost worked,'' the West Haven man said. "It all sounds legit. If you call to check you find out that the house is for rent. And the guy says, `You've seen pictures of the inside. You know what it looks like. But a lot of people are interested.'''

The email, purportedly from "Amy Matthews'' in West Africa, did not sound as if it was written by someone whose first language is English. The Milford house is not owned by an Amy Matthews, according to city land records.

Officer Jeff Nielsen said that Milford police are familiar with the scam, but that until this week it hadn't happened here. Tomasso and Vincelette filed a complaint, and police are investigating.

Hebert said her department investigates Internet scams and assists local police, who have the primary enforcement responsibility. "We maintain a database of incidents from all over the country that they can tap into, and we do a lot of public education. We have a consumer alert about hijacked real estate listings and how people can protect themselves.''

Vincelette and Tomasso are working together to find his family a house near the beach where he can recuperate from the transplant surgery scheduled for later this year. "In a way there's a silver lining in this,'' Tomasso said. "I'm on a fixed income due to illness, and if I lost that money it would have really devastated us. But a lot of people have heard about this now and are helping us.''

fjuliano@ctpost.com; 203-520-6986; http://twitter.com/FrankJuliano

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Milford real estate scam had a twist