iPhoney con man rips off struggling mother and daughter

Nikki Baldwin and her mother Peggy were kicked by a con man while they were down.

The 22 year-old daughter quit her job to take care of her mother, who has been diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer.

Money was tight.

In a desperate move to make some fast cash to pay their rent, Nikki went on the buy, sell and trade app she had used before called "5 Miles."

She wanted to sell her hoverboard for a couple hundred dollars.

A man on the app saw her post and convinced Nikki to trade her hoverboard for two brand new 6-plus iPhones instead. He convinced her that by selling the phones she could make even more cash than what she was originally asking.

"He just persuaded me to trade with him," the younger Baldwin says. "When I got the boxes of phones they were factory sealed, totally legit. I looked at the serial number online and it said 'ready to be activated.'"

She listed the phones for sale.

A buyer came calling, and she encouraged that person to open and inspect the boxes. 

So the boxes were opened.

And the only thing inside was colorful clay.

Nikki filed a report with Riverview Police and gave them a description of the man. He goes by the name Brandon Walshman.

Investigators told Nikki she isn't the first person to be duped like this. Police are now working to track him down.