Rental housing scam warning issued by RCMP

RCMP are telling Prince Edward Islanders to take extra care in their dealings with potential new landlords after receiving a complaint on the weekend.

In this case someone madecopies of legitimate ads and posted them on a website using their own contact information. Potential renters were asked to transfer money in order to secure the rental of a property.

"We decided to get on it early and send out a warning to the public," said RCMP Sgt. Leanne Butler.

"There are always scams and people are trying to change the scams all the time. As people find one avenue to try to scam money then they come up with another. We became aware of this and decided to share it with the public so they could be cautious of this kind of scam also."

Housing markets are tight on P.E.I., and Butler said it appears the scammer is trying to take advantage of that.

Whenever making a money transfer, she said, people need to be careful to ensure the money is going to who they think it is.

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