Ripped off by 'evil' rental scam, woman aims to prevent others from falling for it

Shauna Sullivan was looking forward to having a backyard for her two-year-old child to run around. Instead, she's moving back in with her mother after losing her savings to a rental scam.

Sullivan paid $1,500 to a man who said he was a grandfather and a landlord, renting out an apartment in Airport Heights.

When red flags started going up, Sullivan went to visit the house and realized she'd been had.

"We knocked on the door and this lady said she's lived there for years," Sullivan told CBC News."I was the third person that knocked on her door this week that has sent this guy money."

It's evil, is what it is.- Shauna Sullivan

In a text message to a CBCNews reporter, Shawn Saunders denied being the man behind the rental scam. However, Saunders did not deny being the person who accepted the $1,500transfer.

Saunders claimed he only accepted the transfer on behalf of a friend, but Sullivan provided evidence to CBC News thatthe phone number she used to connect withthe supposed landlord was the same as the one CBC Newsused to reachSaunders.

Sullivansaid Saunders told her he worked in Alberta and couldn't show her the house right away, but needed $500 to hold it for her and $1,000 for first month's rent.

It's not just that he took the money, but that his details of the apartment were so elaborate, Sullivan said.

"He told me he had trampolines from his grandkids and little kid bikes and quads in the basement that his grandkids didn't use anymore and that I could have all of them and he had clothes and everything for me," she said.

"He knew full well that I had a two-year-old child, that we were going to be put out on the streets if we didn't have a house. And it's just It's evil, is what it is."

Sullivan turned to the Buyer Beware Newfoundland page on Facebook, which has more than 22,000 members, and posted her story there.

Sullivan said six people contacted her to saythey were about to transfer deposits on the same house.

She admits she was too quick to trust a stranger, and wants to warn others not to be naive.

Sullivan went to the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary on the weekend. There's no word on the status of any investigation.

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