The OPP wants you to be aware of scams if you’re looking to rent a house.
OPP Constable Suzanne Runciman says people have been scammed when finding listings social media. They’ll see a price for a rental lower than what they would normally pay, but the property might not exist at all or is a real property and someone has taken the picture(s) off of a MLS site.
Constable Runciman explains in the Grenville County area this scam happened where a house did exist. The pictures were taken off a MLS site and listed to rent. She says numerous people came to the address and were walking around the property and that’s when OPP found out about the fraud.
Constable Runciman says other red flags would include if someone only wants to communicate by email, they may want money upfront through what they would call a down payment or first and last month’s rent and if the landlord lives far away like across the country or in a completely different country altogether. She says there has been an increase of these scams because rent has become higher and less affordable for people.
