'It was gone': Saskatoon woman out $1,450 in rental scam

Jade Fillion is out more than $1,400, the victim of a rental scam in Saskatoon.

“It was just terrible,” the 23-year-old said. “What do you even do in like a situation that? Nobody teaches you, “What do you do when you get scammed?”

Fillion was trying to rent a basement suite she found on rentals.ca in November, and reached out to the person who said their name was Alex Taller.

“Everything looked, sounded okay to me, but they weren't going to be in the city to show the place off,” she said.

“I decided I'm just going to drive by the place and if everything matches up from the outside or from the pictures that I saw on the ad, then everything should be fine.”

Fillion agreed to e-transfer three separate payments to cover the first month’s rent and damage deposit, totalling $1,450.

“The day I messaged her, her email disappeared and it was gone,” she said.

“I started panicking because I mean, someone has your $1,450 and you're not sure what you're going to do.”

The Saskatoon Police Service says cases of fraud committed on the internet can be difficult to investigate.

“Often times, the fraudsters themselves are located in different jurisdictions of the country, or even outside of the country, making them difficult to track and investigate,” said police spokesperson Brad Jennings.

“We recommend that in cases like this, the victim not only reports to the Saskatoon Police, but also the website involved and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.”

Fillion says she contacted rentals.ca, but was told the terms and conditions listed on the website absolve any responsibility towards fraudulent ads.

In an email, Rentals.ca content director Paul Danison says the website employs a full-time fraud analyst who reviews listings before they are published, uses artificial intelligence to detect scams, and has a report listing feature on every listing in case a rental scam slips through the cracks.

“We do our best to educate people on the best tips to avoid rental scams,” said Danison.

“Best practice is to never send funds over to anyone before meeting them and seeing the rental home in person.”

Saskatoon police says the first line of defence is to be skeptical of any approach that you did not initiate, and when making purchases over the phone or internet to take time to verify the source of the communication through a third party.

“If the seller insists on going through a different process (such a wire transfer), then there is a good chance that individual is attempting to defraud you,” said Jennings.

Fillion says she scrambled to find other accommodation, but is doubtful she’ll ever see that deposit again.

“I'd like my money back, but I really don't think that's going to, like, I don't think that's going to happen,” she said.