COVID-19 has led to an increase in certain scams that rely on a person’s fear of getting sick to trick them into doing deals over the phone or online.
This one hits close to home because it could have easily been me.
I rent a parking spot in my building and have never actually met the person who is renting it to me. We did the whole thing by phone and text message.
Gwen did the same thing – only this time it stung her.
Gwen lives in a Burnaby condo building that has terrible street parking and so she went looking for a building resident who doesn’t use their spot. She saw a notice in the lobby saying there was a space for rent for $60 a month.
“They just wanted to do it via text and I certainly didn’t want to meet anyone in person with COVID raging,” said Gwen. “I was just happy to finally be able to park in the secured underground parking garage.”
Except that one day she went to her vehicle and discovered that it was gone.
“I thought it had been stolen,” she said. “I finally tracked down the building manager and they said it been towed because I wasn’t authorized to park there. I told them that I had permission, but then I was put in touch with the owner and they said they hadn’t rented it out. It turns out I was paying money to a scammer who didn’t have permission to rent out the parking spot. It was really humiliating. I was also told that a few other renters in the building had fallen for the same scam from someone using a burner phone.”
Yikes.
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.
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.
