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Locals get wise to online rental scam

Phony landlord asked for cash deposits and personal information
rental scam
This home on 109 Ave. was used in a fraudulent online rental advertisement earlier this month. While the home is for sale, a couple local residents who looked into it further were tipped off to the rental scam, after a suspicious reply from the “landlord.”

Renters are the target of the latest scam to hit Westlock.

It’s not a new scam, by any stretch, as different forms have been common in large urban centres for years, but to now see it in smaller centres means potential renters need to be vigilant when they think they’ve found that perfect rental property.

Jan Rode was searching the typical online sites at the beginning of February, looking for a place to rent and came across an advertisement for a lovely home on 109 Ave. in Westlock.

“It looked nice and was pet friendly, so I read the ad and it seemed perfect — three bedrooms, pet friendly, big back yard and fairly cheap, which should have sent off warning bells there. So I sent them a message,” she said.

The message she got back from “the landlord” was a long, convoluted story of why they suddenly left Westlock for the United States and why they were trying to rent the place out. It also included a questionnaire and rental application that asked not only for personal information, but for a picture as well.

“As soon as I got the e-mail back I was pretty sure it was a scam. Home owners don’t ask for a photo of you and the deposit they asked for was half the rent and only an $85 deposit for pets. Pet fees are monthly or larger at $250-$500,” said Rode.

Ashley Murdoch also sent the scammers a message indicating she was interested in the rental and received the same reply and application package. Her tip-off was how the e-mail was worded, she said.

“Not to mention that they lived in the States due to a health reason. The e-mail said they might move back so they weren’t going to sell. The house has a for sale sign in the front yard. That’s not reassuring.”

Murdoch didn’t respond back, but Rode replied that she would like to set up a viewing before giving away any personal information. She never heard back.

Both had actually seen a similar scam before.

Rode visited a realtor to confirm her suspicions at that time and sure enough the supposed homeowner’s name was not the same as the scammer she had been in touch with.

“The one a few years ago was a bit more convincing, but something wasn’t sitting right with me … The name I had was not the home owner and they did not have it posted for rent,” she said.

“If it sounds too good to be true it probably is and always ask to meet the home owner and view the property.”

Murdoch has a similar warning: “Potential renters need to be diligent in doing their research. It’s extremely easy for people to take advantage of others over the Internet.”

Westlock RCMP haven’t received any official complaints about the scam as of yet, said Staff Sgt. Al Baird, but it’s something the Edmonton Police Service deals with on a routine basis.

Detective Linda Herczeg is with the EPS economic crimes section.

“It’s very prevalent, and it happens all of the time,” she said.

“We’ve had people who have had six or seven people come to their door … where they’ve all paid thousands of dollars … They show up in a moving van to move in and the guy goes ‘You know what, you and the six other guys before you have been totally scooped.’”

This after e-transferring a damage deposit and the first month’s rent.

Herczeg said she has also seen the same technique applied to ski trips to resorts and other vacation opportunities where people put down their money, only to later realize they’ve been cheated.

One couple she’s aware of, put down a $27,000 payment to stay at a luxury condo in Maui, and when they arrived, they found the property didn’t even exist.

Sometimes it’s a local job, but other times the scammers are located outside of Canada’s borders, the detective said, and are connected to a larger network running other scams as well.

“A lot of times, you’ll have one scam feeding off of another scam. For example, you could have the online job scam, which is facilitating the rental property scam,” said Herczeg, adding that money could then go towards a romance scam, for instance, and the money made there could be exchanged for Bitcoin.

“It’s like a spider web, it’s not always from A to B and that’s why sometimes it’s hard to find it.”

It’s not always just about the money either, although it can be quite lucrative for a scammer. Sometimes it’s about the personal information you’re willing to give them as well.

In some cases, the rental home could be nothing more than a means to an end, said Herczeg. There is a fair amount of social manipulation that guides these scams.

“Ultimately, if they can get any type of information, they may have been using the house as a rouse to get the personal information to do the identity theft or fraud to open up bank accounts, or to get utilities in their name, or anything like that.”

Herczeg reiterates that potential renters, and Internet shoppers in general, need to be diligent in their research before putting any money down.

“It’s interesting how trusting people can be when they haven’t been exposed and they don’t have the working knowledge … especially in small towns where their tends to be a more trusting value.”

Chris Zwick, TownandCountryToday.com

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