Members of the Saskatoon Police Service Economic Crime Section are warning the public of a common rental scam recently reoccurring in our city.

Complainants reported that they had made inquiries about a rental property that turned out to be illegitimate. In most cases, the victim reaches out to the renter who asks for a prompt deposit. After the money has been sent, communication between the renter and victims ends, leaving the victim scammed out of money with no rental property obtained.

If you are looking to rent property, beware of deals that are notably below market value. Do not send money as a deposit until you verify the property is legitimately for rent. Fraudsters will request money urgently, and often have victims send them smaller, multiple transfers. In these types of scams, fraudsters are often operating outside of Canada and use spoofed emails and phone numbers to communicate with their victims to appear local and legitimate.

If you have become a victim of fraud, please file a Police report online at https://saskatoonpolice.ca/onlinereporting/. If you are aware of a scam but have not been defrauded, please report the scam to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre: https://antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/index-eng.htm.