Internet scam costs B.C. woman $5,000

A young B.C. woman says she lost $5,000 in a fraudulent deal brokered on Craigslist, a popularwebsite of free classified advertisements.

Audrey Sobhani, a 23-year-old nursing student from Port Coquitlam, was conned out of the money after recently posting an ad to rent her apartment in Abbotsford.

She began corresponding with an interested renter, who sent her a certified cheque.The cheque she received was for more money than she was owed.

Under the agreement the two parties reached, all she had to do was deposit the cheque,then wire back the extra cash, amounting to $5,000.

The certified cheque she deposited, however,was counterfeit. Sobhani only found out afterwiringthe cash.

Louis Robertsonof the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre said Sobhani shouldn't expect to recover her loss.

"The chances of the victim there picking up her money is almost nil."

Sobhani said she has heard stories about internet scams, but it never hit home until now.

"I just feel, like, pretty crushed, just crushed that someone can do this to someone else."

She said she's telling her story in the hopes that no one else falls victim to a similar scam.