KATIE O’CONNOR
NEWS REPORTER

Humber students should be aware of overpayment scams when renting or subletting their home this summer, said police.

Corporal Louis Robertson of the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre said the scam occurs when a student wants to rent out or sublet their home and they advertise on the Internet, through places like Craigslist or Kijiji.

“Let’s say you advertise an apartment for $1,000 a month. Someone wants to rent your apartment and sends you a cheque for $4,000 instead of $1,000,” said Robertson.

“They say it was a mistake and ask you to keep the rent money and send the rest back.”

Robertson said that by the time the bank realizes the first cheque was fraudulent the scammer is usually gone with your money.

According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, almost $13 million was stolen from Canadians in 2010 with 46 per cent of the scams occurring through the Internet.

Robertson said they see the scam peak around April, May and June, when students are renting out their apartments for the summer.

“If you are dealing with someone living in the United Kingdom or Africa, and the cheque has an address in the United States on it, that’s a big, big red flag,” said Robertson. “Be aware if they ask you to send funds by Western Union or Moneygram.”

Candace Wiese, 19, and Madisson Miller, 19, both second-year kinesiology students, are subletting their apartment for the summer.

“When we rent our place out to someone we definitely want to meet with them first,” said Wiese.

Det. Robert Lusty of the Peel police major fraud unit said students should be careful and take steps to protect themselves.

“In normal circumstances, if you are going to rent someone’s apartment wouldn’t you want to meet with them?” said Lusty.

“If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.”