It has become a fairly well-known scam, but it continues to catch trusting people
The original scam, still operating in many places around the world, relies on internet advertising and people seeking apartments or houses for rent..
The RCMP Financial Crime Unit, and London Ontario Police announced today they have arrested five people after a 15 month investigation involving a similar type of fraud which has cost victims some $53.900 and apparently involved dozens of people from across Canada.
This scam was a slightly different twist on the apartment scam. In this case it involved cottage rentals.
Police say this scam involved posting advertisements for cottage rentals in popular vacation areas via online classified websites.
As in all such scams, whether apartments or cottage rentals, the prices seem very good and the victims are eager and encouraged not to miss the opportunity. The scam also invariably indicates the owner is unavailable for a face-to-face meeting and so information is exchanged via text and email. The victim is encouraged to send monies by email or wire transfers.
In this case, as in other similar cases when the vacationers showed up at the cottage they had apparently rented, they found it either didn’t exist, or was in fact occupied by the true owners. This leads to great confusion, embarrassment, inconvenience, and substantial additional costs.
The five men arrested by London police on December 10, 2015 range in age from 21 to 26 and are charged with:
- Fraud over $5,000;
- Laundering the Proceeds of Crime;
- and Possession of the Proceeds of Crime
Speaking to CBC news in 2013, Daniel Williams of the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre says that only one to five percent of frauds are reported and it means that the fraud schemes are actually in the millions of dollars. International crime syndicates have become involved as there is substantial amounts of easy money to be made and it is often very difficult to track them down, especially if they are in another country. Fortunately that was not the situation in this case and police were able to nab the fraudsters.
Police say to never send money through wire or email services, and never give out financial information.
As is in fact not always possible to meet with the owner, another tip is to check with the local municipal office or realtor to verify that the property does in fact exist and the name of the property owner is the same as the person you’re dealing with.
CBC News report 2013
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