Shanda Kydd and Shaun Schlechter thought they found the perfect home for their family on Craigslist. The landlord lived out of town, but seemed legitimate.
“He was answering all our questions like an actual renter, like he was the actual guy living in the home,” Shanda Kydd said. “He lives in Dallas, Texas. He needed us to live in his home for two to three years.”
They wondered if the offer was too good to be true, so they drove by the house, much to the surprise of the real homeowners.
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“They said, oh, we’re looking to rent this house on Craigslist. Your home is for rent for $800 a month, and I said no,” Carole Raymond, owner of the house in question, said.
Raymond is trying to sell her home. A scammer had taken photos posted to a realty website, and reposted them to Craiglist as an ad for a rental house.
“It was pure luck, what are the chances we would have been home. I’m wondering how many other people have driven by our home to view it and then sent this person money,” Raymond said. “I think he picked a house that would have been enticing to a young couple. It’s got a spray park in the back for kids and a sandbox.”
Schlecher said the discovery was disappointing.
“But I mean, relieving in the end, because now I know we didn’t get taken for the $1,400 for the deposit,” he said.
Police say it should be a red flag if the owner of the property can’t show it in person.
“The listing price or the sale price, if it’s very, very low, that could be a warning sign. The idea that someone might ask you transfer the money through a wire service, that also could be a bit of a warning sign because they’re difficult to trace,” Elizabeth Popowich, a Regina Police Service spokeswoman, said.
Both families are speaking out in the hope that they can stop others from falling victim to fraud.
“I’m concerned that we’re going to have two or three other couples, coming to our home in a moving van on the 15th or the 30th of the month,” Raymond said.
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