Their house for rent on the Internet without their knowledge

Unscrupulous fraudsters are taking advantage of the housing crisis to trick tenants and landlords by creating fake rental house advertisements on the Internet.

“Seeing the ad, I thought to myself what? But it’s impossible, my condo is for sale, not for rent,” says Audrey Mireault, still in shock at having seen photos of her home.

M^me Mireault is indeed the owner of a condo in the Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough, in Montreal. His 3 1⁄2 is for sale on the official website of a real estate broker.

The problem is that thugs took the opportunity to steal the photos of his accommodation and the information that came with it in a jiffy. They then fabricated and posted a fake ad on the Marketplace platform, displaying the condo for rent.

Bad surprise

Among the six victims of fraudsters with whom the Newspaper spoke, the modus operandi is still the same. The criminals require a cash deposit from the tenants to carry out a visit to the dwelling. Once this amount has been collected, the fraudsters disappear.

“It was my friend who informed me that my condo was for rent for $1,300 in the classified ads. Otherwise, I never would have known. I find that really absurd. I wrote to my broker and he had never seen that”, denounces M^me Mirault.

His case is not unique. The newspaper found dozens of messages on social networks where Internet users claim to be victims of these scams.

Deposits… internationally

Kalek Brunet, a tenant in Chambly, knows something about it. Owner of a dog, he says he is unable to find a new decent apartment in the suburbs of Greater Montreal because of the housing crisis.

“I almost got screwed. Within a week, three people tried to defraud me. Ads for beautiful apartments that accept big Huskies like mine are rare,” laments Mr. Brunet, 32 years old.

Catherine Pépin and her friend came close to getting caught by sending an $800 deposit to reserve an idyllic apartment in Saint-Thérèse.

“We had to send the amount with the Ria company, which transfers the money abroad. When we arrived at the counter with the name of the landlord, the employee told us that it was a fraud and that we were the third to pass today for the same apartment, ”says Ms.^me Pepin, amazed at the scam.

Take advantage of distress

Véronique Laflamme, spokesperson for the Popular Action Front in Urban Redevelopment (FRAPRU), says these scams show how desperate tenants are.

“The housing crisis is worse than ever everywhere in Quebec. There, we see that people take advantage of human distress. Knowing how difficult it is to find accommodation, some take advantage of this to defraud. It’s done on the backs of really badly taken tenants, ”laments M^me The flame.

The latter is also concerned about the fact that this type of scam is likely to multiply in the coming weeks with the period of renewals or not of residential leases during the month of March.

False advertisements published everywhere in Quebec, according to the police

Fraudsters who publish false ads for rental accommodation are in the crosshairs of the police in all major cities in Quebec, learned the Newspaper.

Police forces in Greater Montreal, Gatineau, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and even Quebec City confirm that residents on their territory have been defrauded by giving money to fake landlords on the Internet.

“Yes, it’s a known scheme with more events since 2020,” confirms François Boucher, spokesperson for the Longueuil agglomeration police department (SPAL).

In 2020, the police force recorded 41 events related to real estate fraud. In 2021, that number jumped to 73.

Even in the suburbs

This scam happened for the first time this year in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.

“This is the first time in 20 years that I have seen this fraud strategy with us. […] We had a few cases at the end of January and the beginning of February, not counting those who did not officially complain. We had to post a message on Facebook to warn people,” said Sergeant Jérémie Levesque, of the Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu police department.

In Gatineau, the police also confirm that they are witnessing an upsurge in a fraud scheme related to online housing rentals.

“The current pandemic context may lead some people to agree to rent accommodation without even having visited it. This context also leads people to prefer online or email exchanges rather than in person in order to limit contact. Fraudsters are obviously trying to take advantage of this situation.

Targeted brokers

Three Quebec real estate brokers also admitted to Newspaper been targeted by these criminals in recent weeks. Recently, Sylvie Jutras, real estate broker at Proprio Direct, received an unexpected call from the Sûreté du Québec (SQ).

“Imagine that a lady sent a check for $1,200 to strangers to rent a condo in McMasterville that I was putting up for sale. It was a fake ad. She hasn’t even visited it and the condo isn’t for rent either,” says Ms.^me Jutras, urging people looking for accommodation to be careful.

Like other brokers, she says she has never heard of this fraud before.

How to avoid falling into the trap?

• Do not give a deposit without having met the owner or visited the accommodation;
• Check the existence of the address of the accommodation for rent on Google Map;
• Be suspicious if the owner says he is overseas
• Be on your guard if the owner asks for additional fees for all sorts of pretexts;
• Question the rental if the landlord keeps postponing the appointment;

Source: Longueuil Agglomeration Police Department