State Police investigate rental fraud case in Killington
updated
Wed, Jan 4, 2012 04:21 PM
KILLINGTON - The Vermont State Police took two separate reports
of internet fraud for a rental property in Killington on Dec. 30.
Both victims, Caitlin Malbeouf, age 25, of Boston and Maura
McSharry, age 28, of Duxbury, MA, found a rental property in
Killington on Craigslist.
Malbeouf and McSharry contacted the alleged owners by e-mail and
phone. Malbeouf paid $550 for a rental house on Alpine Drive and
McSharry paid $920, also for a rental house on Alpine Drive. On
December 30, both victim's arrived at the alleged rental location
on Alpine Drive, only to find out that they had both rented the
same location.
It was discovered that this location had been rented to them
fraudulently and the alleged owners were not actually the property
owners.
At this time this case is still under investigation by the Vermont
State Police. This type of fraud has recently increased at tourist
areas in Vermont.
The Vermont State Police recommend the following tips to help
protect yourself from internet fraud:
• Understand as much as possible about how the
transaction, what your obligations are as a buyer, and what the
seller's obligations are before you send money.
• Find out what your options are if a problem
occurs and consider insuring the transaction.
• Learn as much as possible about the seller,
especially if the only information you have is an e-mail
address.
• Examine the feedback on the seller.
• Determine what method of payment the seller is
asking from the buyer and where he/she is asking to send
payment.
• If possible, purchase items online using your
credit card, because you can often dispute the charges if something
goes wrong.
• Be cautious when dealing with sellers outside
the United States. If a problem occurs with the auction
transaction, it could be much more difficult to rectify.
For more information about protecting yourself online, check out
the federal government's website OnGuard OnLine:
http://onguardonline.gov/. If you believe you are the victim of
internet fraud, please contact the Vermont State Police or your
local law enforcement agency.
Tagged:
Rental fraud, killington, Alpine drive rental
