Woman accused of scamming property renter arrested

(CNS): A 42-year-old woman from West Bay was arrested at the weekend on suspicion of obtaining property by deception in connection with an alleged rental scam. The police said they had received a report about an ad placed on a local website about a residential property for rent in the Prospect area of George Town. The complainant said they contacted the seller and made payments to secure the property. Since then, however, they have not been able to contact the seller and found that the property had been relisted for rent on the same website, which led them to believe that they had been scammed.

RCIPS officers investigating this matter believe there may be others who have fallen victim to this alleged rental scam and are encouraging them to report the matter to the police.

The police are warning people looking for places to rent not to exchange any money without first verifying the legitimacy of the advertisement by viewing the unit, meeting the owner or agent and verifying their identity or through other traceable means.

Anyone with information regarding this or other financial scams is encouraged to call the George Town Police Station at 949-4222. Anonymous tips can be provided to the RCIPS Confidential Tip Line at 949-7777 or the website. Tips can also be submitted anonymously to caymancrimestoppers.com.