Renting house in Bhubaneswar challenging? Fraudulent brokers, house owner menace on rise 

Think twice before making payment to any real estate broker to rent a house of your choice as incidents of gullible people falling prey to fake brokers in Bhubaneswar are on the rise. 

Two days after OTV carried a report on how a software engineer from Jharkhand was cheated by a broker; a highly-qualified young woman on Tuesday opened up the nightmarish experience of how she was duped by a broker two months ago. 

“I was looking for a pet-friendly apartment. When I was going through an app (99Acres), an advertisement had a verified tick. My trust grew since it was app-verified. I contacted him over the phone number given in the advertisement. He spoke to me like a real house owner. He sent me the Google location, videos and photos of the house. Then he said I had to make a rent agreement before taking the house on rent. I was fully convinced,” she narrated.

Also Read: Be aware! Rental house haunting in Bhubaneswar may turn nightmare as 'fake' brokers on prowl 

“When I said I wanted to see the house personally, he said he was away in Nayagarh and asked me to come the next day. Then he said I had to make the payment. I did as I was asked to do. Thereafter he didn’t pick up my call,” she added. 

In the other case, the software engineer from Jharkhand liked a house posted on OLX. It was in Om Garden, Maitri Vihar. She contacted the given number and a person introducing himself as the house owner showed her the house and took Rs 11000 as advance payment. The next day when she turned up with all her family members and belongings to move in she realised that she had been taken for a ride.

No comments were received from the police in this regard.