Fake rental listing in Vancouver highlights threat of scam
Renters in Vancouver are being warned about a scam involving AirBnb listings being advertised as available to rent on a longer-term basis.
Photos posted to a local Reddit page on Wednesday morning shows a text message exchange between two strangers. One is a woman who says she went to view a rental listing, realized something was wrong and contacted a person she believed lived there.
“I found an ad on Craiglist for your loft $2,300 per month,” the woman writes in a text message, explaining she decided to contact the other person after going to the viewing and seeing their phone number on a building sign. “I left, went to my car, found your place on Airbnb and called non emergency police line.”
The text-message exchange that resulted suggests two women are putting on the viewings, and asking people for a cash deposit to secure the place for Dec. 1. One Reddit user commented that they nearly fell for the scam the night prior, but pushed to speak with the owners and see paperwork.
With rising costs, low vacancy rates, and high demands for both short and long-term rentals across British Columbia, the Better Business Bureau says rental scams account for just over three per cent of all scams reported in B.C.
“We suspect the actual number to be much higher, as the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre estimates that only five per cent of fraud cases end up being reported,” BBB president Simone Lis wrote in an email to CTV News.
She calls Vancouver’s current market “the perfect storm for scammers looking to deceive any potential tenant who’s simply trying to secure a space for themselves in this ever-growing city.”
Data from the national bureau shows the average amount of money Canadians lost in these scams is $1,230—a near 51-per-cent increase from 2021.
The scam typically consists of people listing someone else’s property that they gained access to through a short-term rental.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Serial sexual offender linked to unsolved 1970s homicides of four Calgary girls, women
An investigation into unsolved historical homicides from the 1970s has linked the deaths of two girls and two young women in and around Calgary to a now-deceased serial offender.
Woman with liver failure rejected for a transplant after medical review highlights alcohol use
For nearly three months, Amanda Huska has been in an Ontario hospital, part of it on life support, because of severe liver failure. Her history of alcohol use is getting in the way of her only potential treatment: a liver transplant.
A look back on Alberta's record-breaking wildfire season: Preparing for potential challenges in 2024
By the end of the 2023 wildfire season in Alberta, 1,088 wildfires had burned more than 2.2 million hectares of land, and this year, the wildfire season is already in full swing.
BREAKING Craig Berube named as next head coach of Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs have named Craig Berube as their new head coach.
Video appears to show Sean 'Diddy' Combs beating singer Cassie in hotel hallway in 2016
Security video aired by CNN appears to show Sean 'Diddy' Combs physically assaulting singer Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016.
B.C. man 'attacked suddenly' by adult grizzly near Alberta border: RCMP
A B.C. man is recovering from multiple injuries after he was "attacked suddenly" by an adult grizzly bear near Elkford Thursday afternoon.
Australia's richest woman seeks removal of her portrait from exhibition
Art is subjective. And while many artists long to share their work with the world, there's no guarantee that the audience will understand it, or even like it.
Anglers reel in 3.5-metre-long tiger shark off coast of Florida: 'She found my bait'
A group of fishers said it took roughly 20 minutes to reel in this 3.5-metre-long tiger shark off the coast of Florida.
Scottie Scheffler isn't the first pro golfer to be arrested during a tournament
Scottie Scheffler's arrest hours before his second-round tee time at the PGA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky, will go down as one of the most shocking in professional golf history. It certainly wasn't the first, though.