Woman who lost $1,000, leaving her short for her bills, among rental scam victims in Kenora, Ont.

A woman from Wauzhushk Onigum Nation is warning people in northwestern Ontario to be wary of rental scams after her daughter lost $1,000, leaving her short for next month's bills.

Ruth Skead said her daughter jumped at what appeared to be a perfect property: a two-bedroom home on Cambrian Drive in Kenora for $1,000 a month, all utilities included.

Her daughter transferred money for the first month's rent to a person claiming to be the landlord. Skead had offered to help with the last month's rent, but quickly saw red flags in the arrangement.

The purported landlord said they were based in Kenora but had a New York phone number. They said they were out of town and had to mail the house keys from Vancouver, but before doing that, needed the first and last months' rents paid and a lease signed.

After Skead refused to send last month's rent, the purported landlord kept pushing.

"I told them, 'You're not going to get [any] money until I see those keys and until somebody opens that door,'" Skead said. 

"Almost right into midnight, sometimes, they'd be calling."

Skead's daughter has reported the incident to police but is left $1,000 short for her current rental, which Skead said is a rundown house without consistent access to heat and electricity. Her daughter pays more than $1,400 a month to live there with her two teenage children — rent that's harder to afford on Ontario Works.

Rental scams have become more common in the region over the past few years, said Susan Lemay, a sales representative with Century 21 Northern Choice Realty Ltd. based in Kenora.

Skead's daughter wasn't the only victim to the Cambrian Drive rental listing; Lemay knows of another person who lost a $2,000 deposit for the same house.

The property was familiar to Lemay because it was recently sold, which is why when Skead called her about it to ask her advice, she knew something was off.

"The landlord, or the potential landlord, was a totally different name from what the actual registered owner of the house was, so we definitely knew that it was a scam at that point," Lemay said.

Const. Phil Mays of Kenora Ontario Provincial Police told CBC News in an email that while he wasn't familiar with the Cambrian Drive situation, similar scams have been reported in the Kenora area.

"We advise people to ensure they complete their due diligence and either reach out to someone in the area where you look to rent, so they can physically visit the site," Mays said.