The man pretended to be the owner of the house he rented and took out a loan secured by this property

Police say a 42-year-old man posed as the owner of a house he rented in Toronto, Canada, in order to obtain bail money on the house and then steal it. Writes about it Insider.

Photo: IStock

Jay Allen McDougall was arrested on May 25 on five counts of fraud of more than $5000 and money laundering, the Toronto Police Department said in a statement.

Police said McDougall began renting the house in May 2021 using an online rental application.

According to police, while renting the property, he somehow obtained information about the identity of the landlord.

Then the swindler pretended to be the owner when applying for a pledge of property and pocketed the money received.

On the subject: A fraudster with the help of AI defrauded a man of $ 600 in 000 minutes

The Toronto Police Service said that the total amount of fraud is more than $2 million, some of the money has since been returned.

Investigators believe that McDougall may have committed other similar crimes, so they are asking the public for more information.

The Police Department's Financial Crime Unit has advised Toronto homeowners to lock their filing cabinets and keep confidential records in a safe place.

The division advised homeowners not to leave mail in rental properties, lest they become victims of a similar crime.

McDougall is due to appear in court on June 6, 2023.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York

Real estate fraud can take several forms, from lying about income to misrepresenting the source of the down payment and misrepresenting identity.

According to a February 2023 survey conducted by BNN Bloomberg and RATESDOTCA of 1521 adults, almost half of Canadians (47%) believe mortgage fraud is common in their country.

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