A LaSalle woman in search of a rental home for her elderly mother was nearly duped by someone who responded to her online posting.
LaSalle police say she placed an ad on Kijiji and a few days later received an email from someone claiming to be Sam Smith with the email address "lovelyfamilyhome929@gmail.com."
In the email Sam says she has a home in Essex for rent and also attached some photos and an address. Police say Sam made up a "cockamamie" story about his wife being in a serious accident, therefore leaving the house empty while he stayed in hospital with her.
Police say Sam emailed the telephone number 289-769-2237 and the two communicated over the phone.
Sam tells the LaSalle woman he would need a deposit and would prefer an e-transfer. Once that's complete he would send the keys to her address, police say.
After several calls and emails pressuring the woman to send money, police say the woman became suspicious. Those suspicions became even stronger when the suspected scammer offered to lower the deposit and insisted the money be sent right away.
Instead of sending the money, the woman and her husband drove out to the address in Essex and quickly discovered that "house" was in fact an apartment building. After some door-knocking, they learned this "Sam Smith" didn't own the building, which looked nothing like the photos provided.
The woman called Sam and said she was onto the scam, hung up and phoned police.
When LaSalle police tried calling the mysterious Sam, they didn't answer.
"With cottage and cabin rental season upon us, we urge everyone to be extra diligent about who you deal with. If the deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is a scam," LaSalle police warn.
"The crooks have learned to spoof local numbers, so don't be misled by believing that it is a local person who is posting a property for rent. Do not wire transfer money unless you know the person at the other end and/or have dealt with them in the past."
