Trail police are again warning the public about the reality of rental fraud in the city.
This latest case involves the website www.prop2go.com. This is the same site the Trail Times reported on earlier this year after a fraudulent rental listing was posted for an East Trail home.
Police received the heads up about another sham posting earlier this week, although this one involved a house in Tadanac.
“On Sept. 23, the Trail and Greater District RCMP received a report about a rental fraud regarding a residence on Kootenay Avenue, in Trail, from a local realtor,” said Sgt. Mike Wicentowich.
The realtor noted that the residence was listed ‘For Rent’ on www.prop2go.com, when the property is actually for sale.
“These types of rental frauds are common where the fraudster attempts to have the victim send him/her a deposit of untraceable electronic funds to ‘secure the rental,’” Wicentowich explained.
As per the RCMP Anti-Fraud Centre, the sergeant reminds the public to never send funds to strangers and, “Go with your gut. If it seems fishy, it probably is.”
The anti-fraud unit also advises renters to go to the address in question, and schedule a showing to confirm its availability.
As well, request a lease or contract and review it thoroughly.
Open source searches on rental addresses should be completed to ensure it’s not a duplicate post. For those who provided sensitive information on applications, police recommend they contact Equifax and Transunion.