Niagara Regional Police are investigating a home rental scam that has victimized several people in Welland.

Police said detectives have received four reports of people losing money in a scam involving a home under construction and fraudulently rented out to multiple people through a Kijiji ad.

Const. Phil Gavin said the owners of the property had "no knowledge" of the incidents and that the people responsible are "targeting properties and misrepresenting that they had a connection to the property."

A down payment for first and last month rent was paid to the scammers, said Gavin.

He said in some cases victims were provided access to the properties to see the interior by an "innocent" third-party who was led to believe by the scammer that they were being employed.

Gavin called it "a rental scam and an employment scam."