B.C. woman cautions against online scammers amid search for rental housing

A woman from Prince George, B.C., is ringing the alarm about online scammers, after receiving what she described as several fraudulent messages while she and her husband were looking for a home to rent in Kamloops. 

On Oct. 5, Rita Wiebe and her husband, Bill, posted on the classified ad site Kijiji, stating they were looking for a two-bedroom home to rent starting Dec. 1. Wiebe said she included her phone number in the ad.

To her surprise, she said, she was immediately inundated with messages through the platform, as well as calls and text messages directly to her number, from people saying they have a place she could rent.

"I come from an area where I just believe in trusting people and you know Prince George and Kamloops are very similar," Wiebe told host Shelley Joyce on CBC's Daybreak Kamloops.

Speaking to the people reaching out to her, Wiebe said she quickly realized many of them were trying to scam her.

"I spent so much time on a wild goose chase," she said, adding most of the calls came from numbers with U.S. area codes.

Rental scams ranked seventh on a list of the riskiest scams in Canada in Better Business Bureau's 2022 Scam Tracker Risk Report, costing people a median amount of $1,600.

The 2022 list also marks the first time rental scams made the top 10 ranking, according to the bureau.

'I don't have anybody to show the place'

Wiebe said one person asked her to send some money to fill out an application.

Another person sent a photo of his passport, including personal information and what he described as a property title.

The man included photos of the home's interior and an application form.

In email correspondence between Wiebe and the man, shared with CBC News, the man mentioned he had just relocated to Florida for a new job.

Wiebe asked if she could talk to someone in person to visit the property.

"I don't have anybody to show the place at all, the new job I got here came as an emergency so I had to take the keys and all documents along with me," the man replied over email.

Wiebe said she eventually discovered the home had been listed for sale by a Kamloops-based real estate agent.

'In most cases, fraudsters say they are out of the country'

According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC), fraudsters often create classified ads for property rentals in highly sought-out locations.

"In most cases, fraudsters say they are out of the country. As a result they are looking to rent the property quickly and to a good person," said spokesperson Jeff Horncastle.

The fraudsters then say they are unable to show the home in person, Horncastle said. 

Wiebe said she has become more assertive about asking for local phone numbers and people she could meet to show her the homes in person — but when she does, people would stop replying. 

On its website, Kijiji asks users to report a sender's email address and any related information to their customer service team if they receive a seemingly suspicious or fraudulent message through the platform. 

Wiebe said she has not reported those user accounts after they stopped responding. She and her husband are still looking for a place to rent in Kamloops.

CBC News has reached out to Kijiji for this story.

To avoid getting scammed, the CAFC recommends renters to:

• Be wary of lower-than-average rental prices in an area.
• See a place in person before renting it out.
• Be alert for financial and personal information being requested prior to viewing a home.
• Request and thoroughly review a lease agreement from a landlord.

The CAFC also recommends reporting potential scams to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (1-888-495-8501), the RCMP or your local police.