A rental platform in Vancouver says the number of suspicious listings almost tripled between 2021 and 2022
When Paul McNamara’s friend looked on Rentals.ca for a home to rent in New Westminster, B.C., he was surprised to see McNamara’s house, which he had been to before.
When McNamara’s friend called to ask why, both of them were shocked.
The listing had 30 photos of the former Vancouver Police Department officer’s two-story, three-bedroom, 4,000-square-foot heritage home just 25 kilometers east of Vancouver, including photos of his teenage daughter’s bedroom.
McNamara, who used to be a detective with the VPD’s financial crimes unit, said, “It really feels like someone broke into your house.”
“Short of a break-in, it’s not a good feeling to see your private space advertised without your permission and to know that it’s being used in a scam.”
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre says that the number of reports of merchandise scams, which involve fake online ads like apartment rentals, nearly doubled between 2019 and 2020. In 2022, the Vancouver-based rental website liv.rent said that the number of suspicious listings had nearly tripled from the year before.
One cybersecurity expert says that renters should do their research, such as by walking through the property they want to rent.
“These kinds of scams are on the rise, and more and more people are coming forward to say they have been taken advantage of,” said cyber security expert Ritish Kotak.
McNamara says he wants to help people avoid getting scammed because authorities don’t do much or anything to stop it.
‘Don’t call your bank
When McNamara found out about the ad on March 11, she told the New Westminster Police Department (NWPD) and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre about it. He also told Rentals.ca to get rid of the listing.
The police called him back the next day, but they told him they couldn’t do much and told him to call the rentals site.
The next day, when McNamara didn’t hear from Rentals.ca, he began to look into it.
McNamara sent an email to the person trying to rent out his house under the name Seamus Brogan, which was a fake name.
“The email was from a Rev. Benjamin William and had a long story about why he couldn’t show me the house: he was in California and a relative was sick with COVID,” McNamara said of the response, calling it a sign of a scam.
McNamara said he was interested in the property, and they started to text. The alleged con man said he needed $1,500 in advance through an e-transfer.
McNamara says he emailed a fake Interac transfer confirmation instead, which showed that the money had been e-transferred, because wire and email transfers are hard to stop and almost impossible to track.
The supposed con artist then asked for a wire transfer and told McNamara, “Don’t call your bank.” This was another sign that something was wrong.
McNamara asked for their full name and bank account information, or he asked for $200 to be sent so he could look at their bank information. The person who replied used the name George Aghogho, the email address [email protected], and a Toronto Dominion bank account in Montreal, which the CBC looked at.
The email address was contacted by CBC News. Someone with the email address [email protected] replied, “I’m not in the state to be interviewed, but you can drive by the house.”
Authorities were “way behind the curve”
The NWPD was contacted by CBC News to find out what is being done to protect people from scams.
In an email, Media Relations Officer Sgt. Andrew Leaver said that the department “encourages people who know about a scam to report the details to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
“New Westminster Police Department officers will start an investigation if someone has lost money or been extorted through a scam,” he said.
When asked specific questions about McNamara’s case, the NWPD did not answer.
McNamara stopped texting with the fraudster after five days.
“After being told about the problem by the police, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre “Neither TD nor anyone else got back to me with ways to investigate. It’s clear they are way behind the times,” he said.
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre was called by the CBC. And the Toronto Dominion bank, but neither one answered.
‘Do your homework
By Monday, McNamara’s house was no longer listed on Rentals.ca.
“When he put my house up for rent over the weekend, there could have been anywhere from five to ten victims interested in the same property,” McNamara said.
In an email to CBC, Rentals.ca’s content director Paul Danison said, “We have a full-time fraud analyst and use A.I. to find scams on Rentals.ca.
“So, most of the time, we find scam listings and quickly get rid of them or take them down.”
Danison also said in a phone interview that he is looking into how this particular listing got through the system. He couldn’t say more about how potential landlords are checked out because that information could be used in new scams.
Kotak says that checking out possible landlords isn’t “rocket science” and could be done over a video call.
He also said that companies should check to see who owns a property.
Kotak also told people who rent to “do your homework.
“Make sure you go to the property and do a walk-through. Never send money via e-transfer. Be wary of people who try to sell you something hard. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”