Kamloops university warns students of fake rental scams after 2 close calls
International students at particular risk, university says
A university in Kamloops, B.C., is warning international students to take extra care when looking for housing after two of its students were nearly defrauded.
Craig Engleson, manager for international housing at Thompson Rivers University (TRU), said two of its international students almost fell victim to fake rental scams in the last week while searching for housing online.
Engleson said a student from Norway was asked to put a deposit on a potential place in Kamloops. The student was about to transfer money for the deposit but noticed that the bank account was Spanish.
"That's when some alarm bells went off," Engleson said.
"When the student pulled out, the person here said, I'm going to send my lawyers after you, the moment you land I'm going to come get you — so there was a little bit of a threatening tone to it as well."
Engleson said TRU typically only gets about one complaint like this a year. He said the problem may be exacerbated by a tight rental market.
"My guess is that this person could sense that and was able to try and capitalize on it," Engleson said.
An annual problem
The B.C. Better Business Bureau (BBB) says scams targeting university students are especially common as the start of the fall semester approaches, when many students are still scrambling to find housing.
The BBB warns students looking for accommodations online to be suspicious of any ads requesting rent or a deposit up front, especially via wire transfer or other online methods. A common tactic, the BBB says, is for the ad's poster to claim to be "out of town."
Engleson said international students are particularly at risk for fake housing scams.
"What they saw online was just a cheap place to stay that was close to TRU, so it was a perfect situation for them," he said.
"They don't really know any of the laws and customs that they're dealing with, and when somebody threatens a lawyer at you, that becomes very stressful."
Engleson encourages any student looking for housing to contact their university if any aspect of the transaction feels "off."
With files from Josh Pagé