Have you been doing more business online or via phone or text message because you are trying to physically distance due to COVID-19?
Jeremy has been and it finally bit him for hundreds of dollars after he got suckered by scammer in his own condo building.
Jeremy lives in a Burnaby building that has very little street parking and so he was excited when he saw a notice in the apartment building’s lobby offering a parking space for $75.
“The price was pretty steep, but I had to walk a long way from where parking spots were on the street and my car had been broken into so I figured it was worth the price,” Jeremy said. “I texted the person and we set up a payment system where I could send the cash electronically. We never met but at the time, that was fine with me because COVID cases were really bad.”
Jeremy parked in the spot for six months until one day he went to his vehicle and it wasn’t there. After some checking, he discovered that it hadn’t been stolen but had been towed away at the request of the owner of the parking space.
“The person who I was handing over my money to didn’t have permission to rent it out,” Jeremy said. “There are a bunch of spots that sit empty and this person had been scamming several people in our building, hoping the real owners wouldn’t notice. I wasn’t the only idiot.”
If you don’t live in a condo or apartment building that has underground parking, I’ll fill you in on a little side hustle for people who own units but don’t own a vehicle.
When you buy into a building, you are assigned a parking spot (or two) that comes with the purchase. Many people who don’t use those spots then rent them out to people who rent in the building or other owners who perhaps have a second vehicle.
This is fine if the person is actually really allowed to rent out the spot. I did some extra due diligence and got proof that the person who rents to me was the actual owner of the spot.
Jeremy isn't the first person to fall for this. I've been contacted by several people in the past two years who have fallen for this scam.
Police have discussed such scams in the past that prey on renters, including a landlord answering the renter’s response to the ad and telling the renter he/she lives overseas. The landlord often reassures the renter by providing copies of their passport and/or driver’s license (which are most often believed to be fraudulent). Once the renter has transferred money by internet e-transfer, money order/wire, Bitcoin and other means, the landlord will stop contact.
To better protect yourself from these types of scam:
- Use a reputable renting website or go to the property management office itself;
- Conduct an internet search on the address, see if anything suspicious is found;
- If the rental price is too good to be true – it’s likely a fraud;
- Don’t make a deposit in cash, cash is not traceable;
- Don’t wire money, wire transfers are extremely hard to cancel and trace;
- Don’t give out personal information like your S.I.N number, bank account or credit card;
- Make sure you are speaking with the landowner or property manager;
- Ask the surrounding neighbours about the landowner and property history (neighbours should be able to tell you who lives next door and if they are the owner or not)
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
