Is renting a house in Bhubaneswar challenging? Are fraudulent brokers and troublesome house owners on the rise?
The incidents of fraudulent real estate brokers duping people in Bhubaneswar are on the rise. Cases involving a software engineer from Jharkhand and a young woman have been reported. Victims have reported being misled by fake brokers via platforms like 99Acres and OLX, resulting in the loss of advance payments for rentals.
Arpit Pattnaik
Please be cautious before making payment to any real estate broker when renting a house in Bhubaneswar, as there has been a rise in incidents involving people being deceived by fake brokers.
Just two days after reported on a software engineer from Jharkhand being cheated by a broker, a highly qualified young woman shared her nightmarish experience of being duped by a broker two months ago.
“I was searching for a pet-friendly apartment and came across an advertisement with a verified tick on the 99Acres app. Trusting it because it was app-verified, I contacted the broker using the phone number provided in the advertisement. He spoke to me as if he were the real house owner and even sent me the Google location, videos, and photos of the house. He then insisted that I make a rent agreement before moving in, and I was fully convinced,” she explained.
“Upon expressing my wish to view the house in person, he claimed to be in Nayagarh and asked me to come the next day. Then, he asked for the payment. I complied with his request, but after that, he refused to answer my calls,” she added.
In another case, the software engineer from Jharkhand found a house on OLX in Om Garden, Maitri Vihar. She contacted the provided number, and a person claiming to be the house owner showed her the house and took Rs11000 as an advance payment. The following day, when she arrived with her family and belongings to move in, she discovered that she had been deceived.
No comments were received from the police regarding these incidents.
