Victoria police are in search of extra potential victims after they are saying they busted two rental fraudsters who bilked a minimum of 10 victims out of 1000’s of {dollars}.

Police say they have been just lately alerted to a sequence of “refined” frauds, with victims reporting similarities within the suspects’ descriptions and strategies.

Investigators say the suspects posted on-line advertisements, then communicated with victims by electronic mail and textual content over a interval of weeks to month — after which they “overtly” met with victims, known as their references and handed over pretend key fobs.

The victims, believing they have been coming into legitimate tenancy agreements, transferred their first month’s hire and harm deposit earlier than realizing that they had been defrauded.

Police acquired a break within the case in early September, when one of many suspects met with a sufferer to point out them a collection in a constructing he claimed to be renting out.

The sufferer transferred cash to the suspect, however turned suspicious and contacted the constructing supervisor who informed him the unit wasn’t really for hire.

The property supervisor then discovered the bogus rental itemizing and contacted the fraudster claiming to be a renter who needed to see the unit.

Once they met to view the unit, he confronted the suspect and recorded the encounter. He additionally put the suspect on speakerphone with the sufferer, the place the suspect promised to return the cash he’d taken — however police say he by no means adopted by.

4:18Ask an Skilled: On-line rental scams

On Sept. 2, police searched a unit within the constructing and arrested one in all two suspects within the case. Investigators say in addition they discovered proof of one other fraud in progress in the identical constructing, which they disrupted.

Simply over two weeks later, a sufferer of one of many earlier frauds noticed the person who had allegedly defrauded him in downtown Victoria and known as police who attended and arrested him.

Police subsequently found he was already dealing with 36 unrelated and excellent fraud-related costs, and was needed on a warrant for violating associated circumstances.

Each suspects have since been launched pending future courtroom dates.

“Given the person’s in depth historical past of fraud costs and convictions, and the variety of victims within the present sequence of frauds that officers are investigating, investigators are involved that there could also be extra victims,” police mentioned in a media launch.

Investigators have launched a photograph of the suspect, who they are saying is a suspect in a minimum of 9 frauds, and are asking anybody who misplaced cash to him to contact Victoria police at 250-995-7654.