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City police are searching for a woman suspected of abusing prospective tenants by posing as a landlord.
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During October, the woman posted several online classified ads for a vacant apartment in the 300 block of 2 Ave. NE in the Crescent Heights area, police say.
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“Once a victim responded to the online ad, the woman would offer a showing of the apartment, and then agree to rent the apartment to the victim,” police said in a press release.
“The woman would then ask the victim for money in the form of a damage deposit to secure the apartment and then promise a move-in date.”
After the prospective tenant arranged e-transfers of money, the scammer would stop communicating with them.
This cycle was repeated with multiple victims by the suspect, who reportedly once lived in the apartment but was not the owner and had no authority to rent the property, police said.
Police are seeking the public’s help in locating Calgarian Crystal Kathleen Shannon, 33, who faces a charge of fraud under $5,000.
She is described as approximately 5-foot-4 tall and 265 lb., with blond hair and blue eyes.
Anyone with information about this case or Shannon’s whereabouts is asked to call police at 403-266-1234 or contact Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477, on the app at P3 Tips or calgarycrimestoppers.org.