Image Credit: Shutterstock
January 16, 2017 - 3:58 PM
OKANAGAN – A recent string of rental property scams have prompted a warning from the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board.
“There have been at least four recent instances where someone has scraped photos and information from other sites and used this information to post bogus property rentals on advertising sites like Kijiji or Craigslist,” Paul Cowhig with the real estate board says in a media release.
According to the release, the victim calls about the rental and the scammer sends a tenancy agreement with a request for a deposit.
The scammer instructs the victim to pick up the keys from the previous renter on a certain date. There is no rental property, so the victim loses the deposit and what they thought would be their new home, Cowhig says.
Local realtors have been warned about the scam and will be checking online rental advertising sites to look for any of their own listings.
Cowhig says in order to avoid falling for a such rental scams, do not forward funds to anyone without verifying the rental in-person, with the landlord.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Kim Anderson or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
News from © iNFOnews, 2017