Online Classifieds - Take their claims with more than a pinch of salt!
Criminals are now lurking in unexpected places. That’s what 20-year old Canadian criminal law student Chelsea MacNeil, found out to her despair. She fell for the claims made by a smooth operator in an online classified advertisement. The fraudster posed as a house-owner and had posted a classified ad online in the popular website kijiji.com. In the ad, he claimed to own a flat in Edmonton which he wanted to rent out.
He was an old-hand - the fact that he was dealing with a legally-knowledgeable person at no time gave him any sweat. He did everything he could to appear credible:
. the advertisement was believable enough for Chelsea to select it over hundreds of others.
. he made it a point to be freely available for Chelsea to communicate.
. he conveyed lots of personal details to gain her trust.
. he was working out to a carefully laid-out plan; he had answers ready for all of her queries.
Poor Chelsea only realized she was being duped when it was all over. Reporting to the local police did not help either. They could only console her saying that he was a repeat offender and that Chelsea was one amongst his many victims.
This just shows that you have to be terribly cautious at each step while being involved in transactions online. Scammers do not discriminate – they will try and con anyone they can!
Credit is due to Chelsea, though, for opening up to allow others to be benefitted from her experience. Read more of her story here…
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