Bobsleigh

VANCOUVER - RCMP have launched a fraud investigation after a New York couple hoping to see their son go for gold at the Olympics lost $8,000 in a rental scam in Whistler.

RCMP Staff Sgt. Steve LeClair says Ben and Lois Mesler thought they'd rented a home in the resort town after placing a classified ad on Rent2010.net.

But he says the place didn't belong to the supposed homeowner and now the Meslers have nowhere else to stay.

They'd planned to watch their son Steve Mesler compete on the U.S. men's bobsleigh team.

Mark Szekely, who operates the online rental site, says a man calling himself Jason Hartlen responded to the Meslers' ad and collected the money."They had dealings that took place and they unfortunately turned out to be a scam," he said.

"The family's understandably very upset about the situation."

Szekely said renters who place online ads should take extra precautions by using third-party services.

"If you don't have the ability to check out the place with your own eyes I would seriously consider engaging a property management firm to verify the ownership of the property and likely to handle the deposits as well."

He said renters could also use a law firm to hold the money in trust and give it to the homeowner at the end of the rental period.

The man calling himself Jason Hartlen wasn't registered with Szekely's site.

"So my ability to track down Mr. Hartlen is, unfortunately, next to nil."