Police warning of rental scams in Waterloo Region
Posted Aug 7, 2025 03:35:17 PM.
Last Updated Aug 8, 2025 10:45:46 AM.
With the school year approaching, police are looking to bring awareness to the rise in rental scams in Waterloo Region.
A rental scam is a posting made online advertising a place to live, but the poster doesn’t own the property, or does not even exist at all.
AI can sometimes be used to create images of an apartment or home, or the images could be stolen from a separate listing.
Scammers will often advertise a lower rental price, as well as create a sense of urgency around the listing to try and entice victims to send them money for a deposit or first and last month’s rent.
Once the money is sent, scammers will cut contact and disappear, leaving the victim with no place to live and very little chance to get their money back.
SGT. Jason Van Kalsbeek with Waterloo Regional Police spoke with 570 NewsRadio, and stressed the difficulty of recovering the lost money.
“A lot of these frauds are perpetrated from outside the country and any place with internet service, a person can manufacture advertisements anywhere in the world. ” Kalsbeek said. “So it’s very difficult to recover funds once you send the money to the fraudster.”
Waterloo region saw ten rental scams reported in July, and there’s a worry that the number could rise as we approach September.
Police are reminding people people to be aware of rental scams and have a list of tips to prevent becoming a victim of a rental scam.
- Use trusted rental platforms.
- Avoid verbal or text only agreements. Ensure everything is documented and you also have a copy.
- Be aware of landlords who refuse to meet in person.
- Do not provide payment before signing a rental agreement.
- When signing the lease agreement, do not provide confidential information, such as a Social Insurance Number and bank information, to avoid identity theft.
- Be suspicious if there appears to be urgency or pressure to get the deal done quickly.
