“Tenancy Scams Targeting International Students are more common than most people realize. I learned that the hard way.”
I Lost $2,400 to a Fake Toronto Apartment Before I Ever Landed in Canada
A first-hand account of getting scammed on Kijiji and exactly how to avoid the same mistake when renting from abroad.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- My Story: The Apartment That Never Existed
- Why International Students Are Easy Targets
- The Red Flags I Wish I’d Known
- How to Verify a Listing From Abroad
- Platform-by-Platform Breakdown: Kijiji, SpareRoom, Craigslist
- Safer Alternatives for Booking Housing Remotely
- What to Do If You’ve Already Been Scammed
- Frequently Asked Questions
Introduction
If you’re an international student trying to lock down housing before you’ve even landed in the country, you already know the panic: visa deadlines, flight dates, a program start that won’t wait, and a rental market you can’t see with your own eyes. Scammers know it too. They build entire fake listings around that exact panic.
I learned this the expensive way. Below is what happened to me, what I missed, and the verification steps I now use every time plus where I’d actually recommend booking from instead of rolling the dice on Kijiji, Craigslist, or SpareRoom.
My Story: The Apartment That Never Existed
Three weeks before I flew from Lagos to Toronto for my master’s program, I found it. A bright, one-bedroom basement apartment near campus, $950 a month, utilities included, available immediately. The Kijiji listing had six photos exposed brick, a little reading nook, even a half-eaten bowl of fruit on the counter that made it look lived-in and real.
The “landlord,” a woman who said her name was Diane, was warm and patient with my dozens of questions. She explained she was relocating to Vancouver for work and just wanted “good tenants, not drama.” Because I couldn’t view the place in person, she suggested a video call instead except the call kept “failing,” and eventually she just sent more photos and a scanned lease agreement with her ID blurred out “for privacy.”
I wired her first and last month’s rent through Western Union, like she asked, because she said building management required a deposit before she could “release the keys to my agent.” I remember sitting in an internet café, hands shaking slightly with excitement, hitting send on $2,400.
The keys never came. Diane stopped responding two days later. When I finally arrived in Toronto and gave the address to a cab driver, it turned out to be a dry-cleaning business. There was no basement unit. There never had been.
I tell this story not because it’s unique, but because it’s almost a template. Ask any international student Facebook group and you’ll find five versions of “Diane” different names, same script.
Why International Students Are Easy Targets
Scammers aren’t randomly unlucky with who they target. International students are specifically attractive victims for a few cold, practical reasons.
You’re booking from thousands of miles away, so you can’t drive by and knock on the door. You’re on a deadline visa paperwork, flight dates, program start dates and urgency is exactly what scammers exploit. You’re unfamiliar with local norms, so you don’t know that “send the deposit before you’ve seen the place” is a giant warning sign in Canadian, UK, or US rental culture. And you’re often desperate, because landlords frequently won’t even consider you without a local guarantor, credit history, or proof of income so when someone says “no credit check needed, I trust you,” it feels like relief instead of a trap.
The Red Flags I Wish I’d Known
Looking back, there were signals I ignored because I wanted the apartment to be real.
The price was slightly below market not wildly cheap, just enough to feel like a great deal rather than an obvious scam. The landlord always had a reason they couldn’t show me the apartment in person or on a live video call. Every excuse sounded plausible individually: traveling for work, a family emergency, “my agent has the keys.” Communication happened only through email or WhatsApp, never a phone call where I could hear genuine hesitation or background noise.
They asked for money before I’d signed anything legally binding, and specifically requested payment methods that are hard to trace or reverse wire transfers, gift cards, or e-transfers to someone whose name didn’t match the property owner. And the listing photos, when I finally reverse-searched them afterward, showed up on three other listings in three other cities, under three different “landlords.”
How to Verify a Listing From Abroad
You can do almost everything I should have done, even without setting foot in the country yet.
Reverse image search every photo using Google Images or TinEye. If the same kitchen shows up in listings in Calgary, Montreal, and Toronto under different names, you’ve found your answer.
Insist on a live video call where the “landlord” walks through the apartment in real time, opens the mailbox to show the unit number, and shows ID matching the lease. Scammers almost always refuse this or stall indefinitely.
Search the address itself on Google Maps and city property records. Many municipalities let you look up who actually owns a property. Ask for the building’s name and call the management office directly independent of any number the “landlord” gave you.
Never send money before signing a lease and never pay through untraceable methods. A legitimate landlord in Canada, the UK, or the US will almost always accept a cheque, a verified e-transfer, or payment through a property management portal not a wire transfer to a stranger’s personal account.
Platform-by-Platform Breakdown: Kijiji, SpareRoom, Craigslist
Kijiji is the one that got me, and it’s particularly risky because identity verification is weak. Anyone can post a listing with a free email address. Stick to accounts with “verified” badges where available and be suspicious of brand-new accounts posting multiple listings.
SpareRoom, used heavily in the UK, has a paid verification system for landlords and a built-in messaging system. Use that messaging system instead of moving to WhatsApp or personal email right away scammers push you off-platform specifically to dodge SpareRoom’s fraud monitoring.
Craigslist has essentially no verification at all, which is exactly why “too good to be true” listings cluster there. Treat any Craigslist apartment listing aimed at students as guilty until proven innocent and never wire money to anyone you found there.
Safer Alternatives for Booking Housing Remotely
After my own disaster, here’s what actually worked the second time around, and what I now recommend to every incoming student who messages me.
University housing boards first. Most universities have an off-campus housing portal where landlords are at least loosely vetted, and your international student office often keeps a list of past students’ trusted landlords.
Student-specific booking platforms. Sites like Student.com, Uniplaces, and HousingAnywhere exist specifically to solve this trust problem, letting you book and pay through escrow instead of wiring money directly to a stranger. These charge a service fee, but for a first-time remote booking, that fee buys real verification.
Short-term verified housing for your landing window. Booking a vetted short-term stay through a service like Blueground or Airbnb for your first two to four weeks lets you arrive, view real apartments in person, and sign a proper lease without ever wiring money internationally.
A local agent or relocation service. In competitive markets like Toronto, London, or Sydney, paying an agent to physically tour units on your behalf costs money but removes the entire risk.
What to Do If You’ve Already Been Scammed
If you’ve already sent money, move fast.
Contact your bank or wire service immediately because recovery odds shrink by the hour. Report it to the platform; Kijiji, SpareRoom, and Craigslist all have fraud reporting tools, and reporting helps get the listing taken down before it catches someone else. File a police report where the property is located, even remotely it’s often required for any later fraud claim or insurance reimbursement. Report it to Canada’s Anti-Fraud Centre, the UK’s Action Fraud, or the FTC in the US, depending on where the scam targeted you. And tell your university’s international student office many have emergency housing funds or partnerships with local landlords precisely because this happens so often.
I never recovered my $2,400. But I did, eventually, find a real apartment through my university’s housing office, with a landlord who answered her phone on the first ring and didn’t mind me video-calling at odd hours to see the place properly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it ever okay to pay a deposit before seeing an apartment in person?
Only after a live video walkthrough and a signed lease, paid through a traceable, reversible method never a wire transfer or gift card to an individual.
How can I tell if a Kijiji or Craigslist account is fake?
Check how long the account has existed and whether it has multiple active listings in different cities. New accounts with several “deals” posted at once are a major warning sign.
What payment methods are safest for an international deposit?
Bank-to-bank transfers within a regulated system, escrow payments through a verified platform, or a cheque mailed to a verified address. Avoid Western Union, MoneyGram, gift cards, and cryptocurrency entirely.
Should I trust a “landlord” who refuses video calls but sends lots of photos?
No. Refusing a live video walkthrough, especially combined with urgency to pay quickly, is one of the clearest scam indicators.
Are university housing boards actually safer?
Generally, yes! landlords listed there often have an ongoing relationship with the university and reputational risk if they scam students.
What’s the single biggest mistake students make?
Paying before signing anything legally binding, simply because the deadline (flight, visa, program start) feels more urgent than the financial risk.
Disclosure: Some links above are affiliate links. If you book through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend platforms I’d genuinely trust with my own deposit.
