Rental scams: Sudbury police educating people about fraudsters

Morning North4:43Rental scams in Sudbury

Imagine paying the deposit for an apartment, only to realize that it was never for rent on your moving day. Sudbury Police have a backlog of calls about apartment scams. The CBC's Olivia Stefanovich spoke about it with Constable Chantal St. Martin.

Greater Sudbury Police say they're trying to do more to stop fraud.

Police are currently dealing with a backlog of calls about online scams, especially those dealing with rental units.

Constable Chantal St. Martin said the work is challenging because fraudsters often use fake or stolen identities.

More help is needed to investigate these cases, so the service is putting more resources towards fraud prevention, she said.

We're trying to educate the public and prevent further victims of these fraud scams, which will in turn reduce the number of calls received by police.

St. Martin said newcomers to Greater Sudbury are the most vulnerable to apartment scams.

Her advice is to stay away from ads that look too good to be true.

If the apartment is in a great location, it's got great pictures, it's offered at a very reasonable price, [and] the pictures look very good, you need to make sure that this apartment actually does exist, she said.

Do a visit, and meet the person who is renting the apartment.

She noted the majority of people who run scams in Sudbury operate out of town, in places like Quebec.