Scam making the rounds at U of Waterloo
Earlier this week the Waterloo Regional Police issued a warning to students who are trying to sublet or rent off-campus housing, according to an article in The Record, after the fraud branch received reports of a scam that could rob students of hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
The fraud branch in Waterloo warns that the scam involved targeting students who posted rooms for rent on the University of Waterloo off-campus housing website, but the scam is apparently a common one, and police caution students to be suspicious of advanced payments in the form of a cheque which are larger than the agreed upon amount as it’s part of the scam. The cheques are fake, which means you will also lose any cash you’ve advanced them, thinking you’re ‘repaying’ them the difference.
“The bad guys come up with cheques that have some legitimate account numbers on it, though they’re not their numbers,” said Staff Sgt. Dale Roe of the Waterloo Regional Police fraud branch in The Record article. “That just takes more time for it to be caught in the banking system.”
The fraud branch in Waterloo can be reached at: 519-653-7700, ext. 8380.