Northern News Service recently carried a worrying story about a scammer pitching a fake apartment rental to unsuspecting local apartment seekers in the town of Yellowknife.

The ad for the apartment attracted a lot of attention, as the property was a newly-remodeled home, including all appliances, furniture and utilities for the unbelievably low price of $400 a month.

Fortunately, one apartment hunter who was intrigued by the ad had enough sense to do a bit of checking before committing.  Following a series of phone calls and emails with police, city hall and the person who ran the ad, it was revealed that the apartment actually belonged to someone else who had no intention of renting it. 

The scammer had asked the interested party to forward him the first month's rent via Western Union, at which point he promised to send the keys.  Hopefully, most people are smart enough to not fall for this.  But the fact that such scams are run at all means that there are people gullible enough to fall for them.