What to know
- Toronto renters are facing increasingly sophisticated scams, with fraudsters often copying legitimate listings and pretending to be landlords or real estate agents.
- Fake deposits are one of the most common rental scams, with scammers often disappearing after receiving first and last month’s rent.
- Renters should be cautious about sharing sensitive personal information, including banking details or Social Insurance Numbers, with unverified contacts.
- Experts recommend visiting a property in person and verifying that a landlord or realtor is legitimate before signing a lease or sending money.
- Ontario renters can check whether a real estate professional is registered through the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO).
- Hiring a licensed realtor can add an extra layer of protection, as agents can help verify listings and negotiate rental agreements.
Imagine finding your dream unit online, getting your rental application approved, and sending in your deposit just to learn the listing was fraudulent?
When looking for a new home, renters might face all kinds of risks and pressure, and with fraud becoming more common and sophisticated in the city, scams have become one more thing tenants need to watch out for.
According to Toronto Police, in 2025, reported scam losses came close to $50 million, an increase from $35 million reported in 2024. Meanwhile, scammers have also been taking advantage of new tools, with police also warning AI-enabled scams have become more common over the past year.
To help renters avoid trouble, Now Toronto spoke with Toronto-based realtor Will Doyle about the most common scams and how to avoid them.
Fake deposits
In his experience as a realtor, Doyle said some of the most common rental scams involve fake deposits.
This might occur when a renter finds a listing online and gets quickly approved, just to send in a required deposit and get ghosted by the landlord.
“A past client of mine went through the whole process… found a place on Facebook, and then after she lost a deposit, she filed a police report, and the police weren’t able to find the person. They couldn’t recover the funds,” he told Now Toronto.
“I had to work with them to find the place as soon as possible because they didn’t have a place to stay. They were basically staying in an Airbnb, paying a daily rate, plus they were out all the deposit money.”
An anti-fraud campaign video by TPS warns renters against this very same kind of scam, saying scammers often copy information and photos from a real, legitimate listing available online and repost it on a different website for a cheaper rent.
According to police, these scammers might often refuse in-person home visits, and quickly approve the application without a viewing. Once they receive a safety deposit and first month’s rent, they often disappear, leaving the renter short of the money and a place to stay.
These kinds of scams can be extremely hard to spot, as the information in the listing is often stolen from a legitimate one, and scammers might even use a fake name or pretend to be the property owner or real-estate agent.
As explained by Doyle, these scams often target renters who are in vulnerable situations or who might be struggling to find a home, from newcomers to those with lower credit scores.
“They’re either new to the country, they don’t have a lot of time to find and vet a place, or they’re on a short deadline where they need to be out of their current place and they’re struggling to find somewhere else,” he said.
“If they have someone who is saying a quick ‘yes,’ it feels like [they] are getting lucky, but it [might be] that [they] are getting scammed.”
Although fake deposits are a common scam, collecting money is not the only objective scammers might have. They might also be going after personal information.
When applying for a new rental home, tenants might be asked to submit a series of personal information to confirm identity and income, from ID scans to tax fillings to credit scores. While that’s often a requirement, those asking for information might not always have the best intentions.
“A lot of the time, but when people are looking, asking for your social insurance number or banking information, and things that aren’t common, it can be used as a form of identity theft. So there are cases where you should be cautious about sharing more than what’s standard,” Doyle said.
Identity theft is when scammers collect personal information to use it for their advantage, such as using your credit ratings, according to TPS. Often, victims are left to deal with the financial, legal, and psychological consequences of having their identity illegally used.
Renters should visit the property in person
Although rental scams can be hard to spot, there are some strategies tenants can use to avoid falling victim to fraud.
Firstly, both Doyle and TPS recommend renters visit the property in person before closing any deals, signing any contracts, or sending a deposit. This can help them make sure that the property exists and that the agent has access to it.
However, Doyle warns that this step might not always be enough to avoid a scam.
“Just because the person is showing you into the property, they have access, [it] doesn’t always mean that they’re the owner of the property and they actually have the right to lease you the property,” he said.
Verify realtors, landlords
According to the realtor, there are other tools renters can use to ensure the realtor or landlord is legitimate.
In Ontario, salespersons, brokers and brokerages must be registered in the Real Estate Council of
Ontario (RECO) to trade real estate in the province. The RECO website allows anyone to research these professionals by name and make sure they are registered.
Those dealing with landlords directly can also make sure they are the legitimate owner of the property by requesting a report from the Ontario Land Registry Portal. According to Doyle, the report costs about $30, but might help add an additional layer of protection against scams.
“Spending $30 to save thousands of dollars can be a good investment,” he said.
Hire a real estate agent
Another step that might make the home searching process both safer and easier for the renter is hiring a real-estate agent.
These agents will represent you as a tenant, looking for properties, booking viewings, and negotiating lease terms. These agents often only rely on properties listed on MLS, which are verified through a real-estate board.
In Ontario, hiring a realtor comes at a free cost for the renter, as they are usually paid through a commission of the first month of rent.
“Especially if you’re not physically in the place where the property is, and you’re not able to see it in person, then I definitely wouldn’t want to risk renting a property sight unseen and with no help from a realtor either,” he added.
Avoid disclosing certain personal information
It might be tricky to keep information private during a rental process, as several documents are required when renting. However, Doyle says renters should be careful if they are being asked to submit information beyond what is standard, including banking information or social insurance numbers.
The realtor recommends renters use third-party services, such as Single Key, which are used for verification of credit and employment.
“This costs a little bit of money too, but it creates a link that they can share with landlords. That Single Key verifies as a third party, so it can be a safer way, also in terms of providing information,” Doyle said.
In general, the realtor recommends renters stay vigilant of anything that seems “too good to be true.” If the price is too cheap or the application process is too simple, that might be a sign something isn’t right.
“A good rule of thumb is: if it seems too good to be true, it probably is,” he said. “It’s tough with tenants sometimes if they don’t have experience with renting a property. They’re in cases where they don’t know what they don’t know.”
More information on how to avoid or report fraud can be found on the TPS website.
