An alarming new rental scam has surfaced in Bengaluru, raising concerns among individuals searching for rental properties online in the tech hub. An anonymous user recently cautioned potential renters to exercise extreme caution when dealing with online property listings.
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How the scam unfolded?
According to the warning, fraudsters are posing as legitimate property owners and brokers of upscale houses and luring unsuspecting renters with attractive deals. These scammers often demand a token payment upfront to secure the property, only to disappear once the money is transferred. In a social media post, a user wrote, "Hello, I wanted to tell you about a scam which is going on in Bangalore. I was looking for a 2bhk house in Bellandur area. One guy reached out to me and shared a very nice and appealing pic of a 2bhk house."
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{{/usCountry}}The scammer called it a flat in Bellandur's Sobha Jasmine community and asked the person to pay a token amount to block the property. "He claimed that the pic was from Sobha Jasmine and will be available in a few days. I enquired about having a visit but he told me it was possible only after a few days as the tenant is out of town for the NY celebration. As there is huge demand for this house I should pay 5k as a block amount which will be refunded if I don't like the house on visit. As I was not convinced he dropped the blocking amount to 2k. I insisted on meeting personally at Sobha Jasmine to have the discussion. When I reached there the guards told me that Sobha Jasmine has only a 3bhk/4bhk house and this is an ongoing scam and one should always see the house before talking about finances. Luckily I did not pay."
Note - HT.com cannot independently verify this post
Meanwhile, many people shared their similar experiences in the comments sections and said that police must keep an eye out on such scammers. A user wrote, "Similar happened for me as well. The flat which I checked was Adharsh Vihar in JP nagar and the contact I got for making a visit was through Magicbricks. Good that I didn't spend a penny on the security or the guy for making a visit."
A second user wrote, "Similar happened for me as well. The flat which I checked was Adharsh Vihar in JP nagar and the contact I got for making a visit was through Magicbricks. Good that I didn't spend a penny on the security or the guy for making a visit."