KELOWNA, British Columbia – Canadian ski resort Big White posted a rental scam warning to staff members searching for housing near the resort. The warning, posted to the Official Big White Group on Facebook, details a group that allegedly has a history of creating fake rental listings with hostile intent.
“SCAM ALERT: Estate Direct Hub (previously known as Estate Direct Solutions) is once again targeting our community with fraudulent rental schemes. This company has a history of scamming staff, dating back at least three years.” – Big White
Several police reports were apparently made during the 2022/23 in relation to several staff members losing a significant amount of money to these scams. Recently, fake rental listings in the area have been on the rise on social media and the rest of the internet. Fake landlords offer great deals on housing, asking for upfront payments, deposits, or personal information, before dissapearing.
“As a community, we must stay vigilant and support each other. Please share this information with your friends, family, and colleagues to help protect them from falling victim to these scams.“
Big White Ski Resort offers multiple portals and pages to find housing for staff on their website, in addition to tips on confirming the validity of rental listings. They offer six essential tips to protecting oneself from rental scams, including verifying the source, avoiding upfront payments, meeting the landlord or agent in person, using secure payment methods, reporting suspicious listings, and checking for known existing scams (known scams in Canada can be found here).
