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A renter has been arrested in relation to a mortgage-fraud scam, Toronto police say.
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He impersonated the homeowner, applied for a mortgage, and collected the proceeds, police allege.
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Toronto Police is now urging homeowners to lock away confidential documents.
A 42-year-old man impersonated the owner of the home he was renting in Toronto, Canada, to secure a mortgage on the property and then steal the money, police say.
Jay Allen Macdougall was arrested on May 25 and charged with five counts of fraud over $5,000, as well as laundering proceeds of crime, the Toronto police department said in a news release.
Police said Macdougall began renting the home in May 2021 using an online home rental application.
While renting the property, police say he somehow obtained the identity information of the homeowner.
He then proceeded to impersonate them when applying for a mortgage on the property, and went on to collect the proceeds of the mortgage for himself, police allege.
The amount he obtained has not been publicly disclosed, nor has it been disclosed whether the money has been returned to the homeowner.
The Toronto Police Service did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
Investigators believe that Macdougall may have committed other similar crimes and are appealing to the public to provide more information, the police department said.
The department’s Financial Crimes Unit advised Toronto homeowners in the news release to lock their filing cabinets and safely store confidential records.
The unit also recommended that homeowners should not leave their mail at their rental properties in order to avoid becoming victims of a similar crime.
Macdougall is scheduled to appear in court on June 6, 2023.
Mortgage fraud can take several forms, from lying about one’s income to misrepresenting the source of the down payment, to misrepresenting one’s identity.
According to a February 2023 survey by BNN Bloomberg and RATESDOTCA that included 1,521 adults, nearly half of Canadians (47%) think that mortgage fraud is common in their country.
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