I Was Scammed Out Of My Apartment!!!

Peace Family and Friends,

My name is Chardon Myers and I’m a working musician, educator, praise and worship leader and creative director based in Toronto. I have 2 BAS in Fine Arts (Music) and Education from York University. I wish I was coming to you with much better news but unfortunately, I have been the victim of an apartment scam. As you all know, the housing crisis in Toronto is horrendous and I was aiming at relocating to a new apartment by the 1st of September. To my shock, I was completely dismayed to find out that this person has been scamming others for over a year now.

On July 15th, I started looking for a new apartment to move in for September 1st. My current landlord is taking over the space and I needed a new space to live.

I saw a listing on Facebook Marketplace for a 1 bedroom condo in downtown Toronto. When I messaged the person on Facebook, they told me to send an email to the owner of the property, Alexandra Shannon Manning. I sent the email to her and she responded

After emailing her she said:

“I can rent the apartment for 2 to 48 months and it's available from July 28th. I work for the Royal Canadian Air Force (medical team) and my current location is CFB Cold Lake, AB. Unfortunately, I can't personally show you the condo, however we can complete the rental process safely and easily through Airbnb (I hope you are familiar with the service). This is a 1 bedroom with 1 bathroom apartment. It comes fully furnished, as shown in the pictures.

The Address is: 159 Wellesley St East. The rent is $950 per month and includes all utilities (gas, electricity, water, internet, etc.) and one parking spot. The rent will be paid month by month and the price is for the entire condo, you will not share it with anybody else. The rent will be paid month by month and the price is for the entire condo, you will not share it with anybody else. I require first month and last month rent, so the total to move in is $1900.00.”

I decided to keep looking in the meantime because the location wasn’t ideal for me. After a few weeks, I decided to give it a try because I wasn’t getting any response from any other landlords and time was running out. On Aug 5, 2023 at 8:38 PM I sent an email back to Alexandra saying I am ready to proceed with the financial arrangements. She sent me an airbnb link and invoice which had all of my information and the details she outlined. I was to proceed by sending a bank transfer to an Airbnb representative by the name of Evelyn Clarke. I sent the transfer to Evelyn on Aug 8. 24h later I was to be contacted to see the property. That did not happen.

I was stunned to discover with deeper searching online that many other people had gone through this exact experience with the same individual.

Currently, I’m in the process of waiting for the Police to get back to me with the next steps, but in the interim, I’m in desperate need of finding a new apartment to live in, I have to cover my living expenses for my new place and I’ll also have to cover the costs for my living expenses now, gas, insurance, phone, food and incidentals.

I’m asking for $4000 to help me while I sort out this issue and if any friends have any leads on vacant apartments that are $1200/month and under in and around the Toronto area, it would be of great service to me.

Also, a few friends have messaged me about sending me a donation directly rather than through this service. If you also wish to do so, you can email money transfer me. Please DM me on instagram for my email. Thank you in advance to everyone helping me to get back on my feet.

In kindness & gratitude,

Chardon