Essex County OPP are warning the public of a scam preying on a house hunter on Kijiji.ca.
It stems from an incident earlier this month, when a citizen in Leamington placed an ad on the website looking for a house rental.
She received a response saying from a man saying he had a residence for rent in Leamington but that he was out of town at the time. The responder said that he would hold the residence for her but needed proof that she had the deposit and first month’s rent, according to police.
He told her to send a Western Union transfer to someone that she trusted, like a family member, and send the responder a copy of the receipt as proof. She followed the instructions and two days later, the responder said he needed further proof. She complied and again and sent him the receipt.
Two days later, she noticed that money was missing from her account. The responder had attended a Western Union in Mississauga with fake identification and posed as her family member, and cashed the two amounts totalling $4,000.
For more information regarding this and other active scams, visit www.competitionbureau.gc.ca.
