Nigerian ‘Priest’ tries to rent resident’s house

“A girl I work with was looking for an apartment, so she emailed this gentlemen,” through the contact provided in the advertisement, said Lane. “He emailed her back. He just talked about the house and that he’s a missionary in Africa.”

In the letter Rev. Kelvin King requests $400 as a damage deposit and would like someone to move in right away because he is on a missionary call in Africa. He wants the money transferred through Western Union to Nigeria, Africa. The secret question for the transfer is 'Who do you believe in?' The answer is God. At that point, he promises to send the keys to the apartment.

Lane’s home is actually for sale through Anne Thomson Reality and is listed on the www.mls.ca website, but she did not place advertisement in The Queens County Advance.

The advertisement described the ‘apartment’ as newly remodeled, with two bedrooms, two baths and a kitchen. Washer and dryer are included and it is located in a nice neighbourhood.

The apartment would cost $400 per month plus utilities.

The only contact information available was an email address, kingkelvin56@yahoo.com.

“I find it quite shocking and it’s certainly kind of spooky,” continued Lane. “For a small town things get around pretty fast and how ironic it is a friend of mine was looking for a property.”

Lane hopes no one paid the scammer any money and that he is exposed or caught.

The scam has been reported to the Queens RCMP detachment.

Staff Sgt. Bruno Deveau said out-of-country scams are sent to phonebusters.com. The email address is info@phonebusters.com, and the toll free telephone number is 1-888-495-8501.

Staff Sgt. Deveau said, “This is a warning to everybody these and many others are scams and they can report it to the police. “

In an email conversation with The Queens County Advance editor, Mark Roberts the ‘Priest’ even claimed he served at St. Gregory’s Roman Catholic Church in Liverpool. Father Brian Murphy confirmed he hasn’t served at the church.

With files from Mark Roberts