After photos for a home she had for rent were used in a fraudulent ad, a Winnipeg landlord wants to warn people about an online rental scam.
Dianne Wright said someone lifted photos that she posted on Kijiji of her rental house on McMillan Avenue in Crescentwood and used them to create the fake ad.
The fraudulent posting was on Craigslist and advertised the same house but at a discounted rate.
Wright's legitimate ad lists the house for rent at a rate of $1750 per month.
An online scammer used the same photos Wright posted to create an ad listing her house for rent at $950 per month.
“It’s buyer beware, it’s also landlord beware,” said Wright. “If it looks too good to be true or sounds good to be true it probably is.”
When Winnipeg resident Joanne Jaeger was looking for a rental home something didn’t seem right about the Crescentwood listing for a house for $950 per month.
When Jaeger responded to the ad, she got an email from someone named 'Daniel' asking her to wire a $400 damage deposit online to get the keys to the place.
Jaeger knew it was a scam and didn’t send the cash, but instead she contacted Wright and posted a warning to other potential renters on Craigslist.
Wright said people interested in the $950 ad showed up to the property and phoned her because her number was listed on a rental sign in the yard.
That’s when she realized what was happening.
“You got people looking for a really good deal and you have people who are going to prey on them," she said.
Wright said she’s not aware of anyone who actually fell victim to the scam.
She reported the bogus ad to RCMP and the Winnipeg Police Service but was told because no one who was actually defrauded has been identified there was nothing officers could do.
Wright has tried to get Craiglist to remove the fraudulent ad but as of Tuesday afternoon it was still posted.
