Staff members at Big White Ski Resort in Kelowna, British Columbia, have lost thousands of dollars in a scam involving fake rental listings, according to a report from Global News. The story outlines how a common internet scam has bled into some of the documented challenges of seasonal work at ski resorts (and life, in general), where living expenses have been outweighing workers’ wages.
In the case of Big White’s staffers, Michael J. Ballingall, senior vice-president at the resort, told Global News that scammers have been targeting seasonal staff with fake online ads for temporary housing. The ads promote condos and rooms for rent and pressure potential renters into wire deposits to secure accommodations. They say between 12 and 15 employees have been scammed out of as much as $15,000 in the past two weeks alone.
Big White does have on-site housing for its seasonal staff, however, the massive demand in the area outweighs the availability.
“We’ve spent over $25 million building apartments. We now have 676 units for our staff to stay on the mountain,” said Ballingall. “But the mountain’s grown; it’s now well over 1,800 staff members wanting to play and work up at the resort.”
A 2024 report from online rental resource Rently says scams have been spiking in recent years.
“In 2023 alone, the Federal Trade Commission showed more than 10,000 rental scam cases opened, and the Better Business Bureau reported a 45 percent increase in rental scam complaints over the past two years,” reads the report. “Before discovering that they were scammed, 70 percent of victims had already paid their security deposit, 59 percent paid their application fee, and 50 percent had paid their first month’s rent. Sixty-two percent lost more than $500 from the scam, with nearly half (48 percent) losing more than $1,000 and eight percent losing more than $5,000.”
