You found a one-bedroom in Plateau-Mont-Royal for $1,400 a month, utilities included, available immediately. The photos are beautiful. The landlord is abroad but very responsive by email. They just need a deposit to hold the apartment until they're back. Sound familiar? If it does — stop. That's one of the most common rental scams running in Montreal right now, and it has cost thousands of people real money.
Apartment scams in Canada aren't rare incidents. According to a 2024 CBC News report citing the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, 508 victims reported rental fraud in 2023 alone, resulting in over $820,000 in losses — and those are only the cases that were actually reported. The CAFC estimates that just 5 to 10% of fraud victims come forward. The real number is almost certainly much higher.
Montreal is a particularly active market for this kind of fraud. The city has a large and constantly refreshing tenant pool — students, newcomers, people relocating for work, visitors from abroad — and scammers know exactly who they're targeting. This article explains how these apartment rental scams work, what the red flags look like, and exactly what you can do to protect yourself.
How Apartment Scams Actually Work
Most rental scams follow one of a handful of reliable scripts. Understanding them is the first real protection.
The phantom landlord. A scammer copies a real rental listing — legitimate photos, the actual address, accurate description — and reposts it on a listing site or Facebook Marketplace with a lower price and their own contact information. When you reach out, they explain they're out of the country, traveling for work, or dealing with a family emergency. They can't show the apartment in person. They need a security deposit or first month's rent sent by e-transfer or wire transfer to hold the unit. Once you send it, they vanish. The fraudulent listing disappears. The real landlord has no idea any of it happened.
The fake sublet. Someone posing as a current tenant offers to sublet their apartment while they're away. They show you photos — often of the real unit — and may even show you a lease to establish credibility. You pay a deposit. The "tenant" disappears, and when you try to move in, the actual property manager or owner has no idea who you are and no sublet arrangement exists.
The in-person scam. This one is more sophisticated and was documented in St-Henri by CBC News: a woman posed as the owner of a building by email, then posed as the current tenant when potential renters visited in person. A second woman played the role of the landlord's wife during lease signing. Multiple people paid first month's rent in cash before discovering the apartment had never been theirs to rent. At least seven victims lost up to $950 each in this case alone.
The too-good-to-be-true listing. A scam apartment listing priced well below other similar places in the same neighbourhood, featuring high-quality photos that look borrowed from a real estate website. Sometimes these apartments don't exist at all. Sometimes they're based on a real address but the scammer has no connection to the property. The bait is the price. The hook is urgency — act now before someone else takes it.
What all of these have in common: they ask you to send money before you've verified anything, and they create pressure to move fast.
The Red Flags to Watch For
These warning signs show up consistently across rental fraud cases. If you recognize more than one in the same listing, treat it as a serious red flag.
The landlord is always unavailable in person. Abroad, traveling, dealing with a crisis — scammers have many reasons why they can't show you the apartment directly. A real landlord can either show the unit or arrange for someone credible to do it. If there's no path to an in-person visit, walk away.
Payment is requested before any visit. This is the most consistent feature of an apartment scam. Whether it's framed as a "holding deposit," an application fee, a security deposit, or first month's rent — any request for money before you've physically been inside the unit and confirmed the identity of the owner is a red flag. Note: under Quebec's Régie du logement rules, a landlord cannot legally request a deposit before signing a lease. Any such request from someone claiming to be a Quebec landlord is not only a scam signal — it may also be illegal.
The price is significantly below market. Check what similar units in the same neighbourhood actually cost. If a well-furnished one-bedroom in downtown Montreal or NDG is listed for $300–$500 less than other similar places in the area, that price isn't a deal — it's bait.
Payment via wire transfer, Western Union, or untraceable e-transfer. Legitimate landlords use traceable payment methods. A request to wire money to an account, send via Western Union, or use e-transfer without any formal documentation is a major warning sign. E-transfers in particular can now be deposited automatically without a security question — meaning once the money moves, it's gone.
Generic or evasive email responses. Scammers often operate multiple fake listings simultaneously. Their replies tend to be generic, avoid specific questions about the building, and sometimes contain slight language inconsistencies. If an email exchange feels like you're talking to someone reading from a script, trust that feeling.
Requests for personal information too early. A real landlord may eventually ask for references, proof of income, or a credit check. They should never ask for your social insurance number, banking details, or government ID before you've visited the apartment and begun a legitimate rental application process. Handing over that information to a scammer can lead to identity theft well beyond the immediate financial loss.
How to Verify a Listing Before You Pay Anything
These steps take a few minutes and can save you from a serious loss.
Reverse image search the photos. Right-click any photo in the listing and search it in Google Images. If the same photos appear on another site with a different landlord, different price, or different city — it's a duplicate post from a scammer who stole them. Scammers sometimes use actual images from real estate sites or other rental listings because professional photos make fake ads more convincing.
Enter the address in Google Maps and compare. Check that the building in the photos actually matches the address listed. Look at the windows, balconies, entrance, and architectural details. If the photos show a different building than what's at that address — you've caught the fake.
Check the municipal property roll. Montreal's online property assessment system lets you look up who legally owns any building at a given address. If the name on the roll doesn't match the person contacting you, ask why before proceeding further. The SPVM (Montreal's police service) recommends this check specifically for apartment scam situations.
Verify the landlord's identity. Ask to see photo ID. Ask for a utility bill showing the address. A real owner or authorized property manager has nothing to lose by proving who they are. Someone running a scam has every reason to avoid it.
Talk to current tenants. If you can visit the building, knock on a door or talk to someone in the lobby. Ask if the unit is actually for rent, whether the person you've been dealing with is actually the owner, and who manages the building. Current tenants know more about what's happening in their building than the internet does.
Never pay before you've signed a real lease. A legitimate formal rental agreement in Quebec uses the Tribunal administratif du logement standard lease form. If there's no written lease or the paperwork looks unofficial, don't pay. If everything checks out and you do pay a deposit, do it by cheque or money order — not cash, not wire transfer.
What To Do If You've Already Been Scammed
If you realize you've sent money to a scammer, act immediately.
Contact your bank or financial institution right away. If the transfer is recent, there's a small window to attempt a recall. Don't wait.
File a report with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) at 1-888-495-8501 or antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca. This is important even if your money can't be recovered — your report helps local law enforcement identify patterns and potentially stop the same scammer from taking the next victim.
Report to the Montreal police (SPVM) at spvm.qc.ca. For rental fraud specifically, the SPVM has seen a significant increase in these cases and takes reports seriously.
Report the fraudulent listing to the platform where it appeared — whether that's Facebook Marketplace, Kijiji, Craigslist, or a dedicated rental listing site. Platforms have fraud teams and can take the listing down quickly, which protects others.
If you provided personal documents — copies of your ID, banking information, social security number — take additional steps to protect your credit. Contact Equifax and TransUnion Canada to flag potential identity theft and consider placing a fraud alert on your file.
How To Find a Legitimate Furnished Rental in Montreal
The safest path to a legitimate furnished apartment in Montreal is dealing directly with an established company that owns or manages real properties — not a random individual posting on a listing site with an inbox you can't verify.
For people arriving in Montreal temporarily — new immigrants, professionals on assignment, patients in the city for extended medical care, or anyone between homes — a furnished monthly rental from a verified provider removes the verification problem entirely. You know who you're dealing with, you can visit the apartment before you commit, and there's a real person to call if something goes wrong.
Montreal Aparthotel is one of those providers. They've been operating in Montreal's medium-term furnished rental market for over 10 years, own most of the apartments in their portfolio directly, and meet every guest personally at the apartment — no offshore landlord, no email-only communication, no mysterious key-drop. Every unit is inspected before listing. Their deposits run $300–800 CAD, fully returned if there are no damages, and payment is accepted by credit card, PayPal, Interac, or bank transfer. If you need a furnished apartment in Montreal for one month or longer, montreal-aparthotel.com is a straightforward place to start. +1 438-838-8833 · info@montreal-aparthotel.com
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