Better Business Bureau would like to warn post-secondary students about rental scams while looking for a place to live before school starts.
The scam typically involves online classifieds like Craigslist and Kijiji where numerous listings show fully furnished condos, and apartments in prime central locations with incredible prices.
After sending an email to express interest in the rental, consumers receive a strange reply that says the landlord is in Africa doing missionary work but the prospective renters could courier the keys if sent a security deposit.
"At this time of the year, students are all busy trying to secure affordable housing and this scarcity carves out an opportunity for scammers," says Lynda Pasacreta, BBB President and CEO. “These online ads will often even have bogus pictures of the suite, which make it look legitimate. However, if a landlord says to wire or courier money offshore then the alarm bells should be going off.”
BBB would like to offer the following advice to would-be renters:
Meet the person and visit the property first. Do not send money to a person you have never met to reserve a place you have never seen. Go to the rental suite and visit it in-person.
Use websites that provide real landlord contact information. There are websites like viewit.ca or gottarent.com that record a landlord's address and bank information. This can provide more assurances than using Craiglist and Kijiji whose listings are not vetted prior to posting.
If it is a scam, report it. Flag the posting as scam with the website’s administrator and contact police or Phonebusters.com (RCMP phone line) so they can keep track of cases.