Former Vancouver detective warns against rental scams after home listed online without his knowledge
CBC
When Paul McNamara's friend was looking for a New Westminster, B.C., home to rent on Rentals.ca, the friend was surprised to see a house he had visited before — McNamara's.
The friend called to ask why, but McNamara was equally shocked.
The listing featured 30 photos of the former Vancouver Police Department officer's two-level, three-bedroom, 4,000-square-foot heritage home, 25 kilometres east of Vancouver — including photos of his teenage daughter's bedroom.
"It really feels like you've had an intruder in your house," said McNamara, also a former detective with the VPD's financial crimes unit.
"Short of a break-and-enter ... when you see your personal space advertised without your permission and knowing it's being used in a scam, it is not a comfortable feeling."
Reports of merchandise scams, which involve fake online ads including apartment rentals, nearly doubled between 2019 and 2020 according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. In 2022, the Vancouver-based rental platform liv.rent reported that suspicious listings have nearly tripled from the previous year.
According to one cybersecurity expert, it's important for renters to do their homework, including doing a walk-through of a property they intend to rent.
"These types of scams are on the rise, with more and more people coming forward saying they have been victimized," said cybersecurity strategist Ritesh Kotak.
McNamara says he wants to help people against getting scammed since, he says, there's little to no accountability from authorities.
On March 11, after being alerted to the ad, McNamara reported the listing to the New Westminster Police Department (NWPD) and Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. He also asked Rentals.ca to take the listing down.
The police called him back that day but said there was not much they could do, and advised McNamara to call the rentals site.
When McNamara didn't hear from Rentals.ca the next day, he started to investigate.
Using a fake email with the pseudonym Seamus Brogan, McNamara emailed the person trying to rent out his home.
"The email was from a Rev. Benjamin William, with some long explanation as to why he can't show me the house, he's in California, some relative was sick with COVID," McNamara said of the response, describing it as a tell-tale sign of a fraud.
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