Images from a legitimate listing were taken to create a bogus rental offer. (CBC)Renters in Edmonton are being warned against a scam that purports to offer properties listed with a local realtor for rent at bargain prices.

"I'm more than aware of the situation," said Robert McLeod, the Edmonton realtor.

"This particular individual has created an email account with my name in it, and provided a cellphone number to contact them, saying I've relocated — and I need someone to take care of my property."

Photos from the property's legitimate online ad were transferred to an ad on Craigslist. That's where Kelly Banks found the property.

"A three-bedroom home on the lake, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, just a fantastic house for the bargain price of $1000 a month," said Banks, a CBC employee new to Edmonton and looking for a place to live.

"At that time, I did think it could be in the 'too-good-to-be-true' file, but I was hoping that it wasn't."

Banks emailed the man making the offer, who explained he had been transferred to Britain and wanted to ensure whoever rented his home would take good care of it.

In a subsequent phone call to an exchange in London, England, the man — who identified himself as Robert McLeod — asked her to complete an application and include references. Five minutes later, she was told the house was hers.

"He told me in order to get the keys for the house, all I had to do was go to the Western Union website and transfer him $1,000 as a deposit, and he would have the keys to the home sent to me via Fedex, first thing in the morning."

Banks was too suspicious to take the matter any further, but the CBC has learned she wasn't the only interested renter.

"I started to get calls about two weeks ago," said Robert McLeod, the Edmonton realtor. "[I] went through our listings and realized that someone had taken our MLS listing."

"For the number of calls I've gotten, how many people have actually sent this guy a grand?"

There's little police in Edmonton can do, McLeod said, because complaints have to come from the jurisdiction where the offence originates — in this case, England.