Renters beware
Posted Mar 16, 2012 1:12 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Would be renters are being warned of an online scam looking to bilk people out of money.
What the scammer does is post a bogus add for a place to rent on sites like Kijiji. the information on that add has been stolen from legitimate listings from actual realtors and that scammer then impersonates the realtor.
He or she then informs the customer they can not meet up face to face but please send the money anyway to rent the property.
The scam may be resurfacing because of the shrinking rental market.
“The risk for citizens falling victim to this type of scam becomes greater in markets where there are fewer rental vacancies, such as what we are starting to see in some regions in Alberta. When demand is high and vacancies low, consumers may take greater risks to secure a rental situation, risks that they wouldn’t necessarily otherwise take,” said Madeline Sarafinchan, President of the Alberta Real Estate Association.
