u/EquivalentRadiant180

I am living in Bangalore, and my rental agreement is ending next month. So, as usual, I started looking for a new apartment closer to my office. During my search, I found an apartment at a very attractive price, and I thought, “Let’s talk to them.”

Through Housing.com, I got the owner’s number. Since Housing.com is a legitimate platform, I trusted the listing. The owner shared apartment pictures with me, and they were the same as the ones posted on the website.

Then he called me and said, “I am the owner, and you need to create a visiting card to visit the apartment.” He explained that it was in a gated society, so I had to pay ₹2000 for the visit. According to him, they would create a visiting card, verify my details, and then their property manager would contact me so I could visit anytime.

At first, it felt fishy, but the way he spoke made him sound genuine. He stayed in touch, replied properly, and behaved professionally, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Honestly, I was already frustrated with house hunting, and this apartment seemed like a good opportunity. So, against my instincts, I paid the ₹2000.

After the payment, he told me that the property manager would call for verification and share the visiting card details. Soon after, I received a call from the so-called property manager. He asked for my details and then suddenly said that my verification could not proceed unless I paid an additional ₹8000 as a “small token amount” that would supposedly go to the Government of Karnataka and be refunded immediately, with only ₹10 deducted.

That’s when things became very suspicious.

I told him, “How can you ask for ₹8000 without even showing me the apartment?” I said I wanted to speak to the owner first. The owner then started behaving strangely and said, “Let me talk to the manager.” After a while, he called me back and pressured me again to pay the amount quickly for the verification process.

At that point, my friend and I confronted him and clearly said we would not pay anything more. The owner then tried to gain our trust by saying, “Believe me, I am here. I will share my Aadhaar card with you, and then you can pay the manager.”

I told him to forget the apartment and simply return our ₹2000 because we were no longer interested. But then he started giving excuses, saying the money was with the property manager, that he was handling many clients, and that we would receive the refund by 4 PM.

After that, they completely stopped answering our calls.

Yes, I know it was my mistake to trust them and pay the amount. But when you are on a call with scammers like these, they know exactly how to manipulate people emotionally and mentally.

I even posted about this on Twitter/X for awareness and tried contacting the person linked to the UPI ID where the payment was made:
UPI ID: 7715084787@digikhata

I called the number connected to that UPI account and even shared screenshots of the Twitter post. The shocking part is that these scammers had absolutely no fear or hesitation.

I genuinely want these people to be caught and put in jail.

I am sharing this story so that others stay aware and do not fall for similar scams while house hunting in Bangalore or anywhere else.

Please never pay “visiting charges,” “verification fees,” or “token amounts” before physically visiting and verifying a property.

I am living in Bangalore, and my rental agreement is ending next month. So, as usual, I started looking for a new apartment closer to my office. During my search, I found an apartment at a very attractive price, and I thought, “Let’s talk to them.”

Through Housing.com, I got the owner’s number. Since Housing.com is a legitimate platform, I trusted the listing. The owner shared apartment pictures with me, and they were the same as the ones posted on the website.

Then he called me and said, “I am the owner, and you need to create a visiting card to visit the apartment.” He explained that it was in a gated society, so I had to pay ₹2000 for the visit. According to him, they would create a visiting card, verify my details, and then their property manager would contact me so I could visit anytime.

At first, it felt fishy, but the way he spoke made him sound genuine. He stayed in touch, replied properly, and behaved professionally, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Honestly, I was already frustrated with house hunting, and this apartment seemed like a good opportunity. So, against my instincts, I paid the ₹2000.

After the payment, he told me that the property manager would call for verification and share the visiting card details. Soon after, I received a call from the so-called property manager. He asked for my details and then suddenly said that my verification could not proceed unless I paid an additional ₹8000 as a “small token amount” that would supposedly go to the Government of Karnataka and be refunded immediately, with only ₹10 deducted.

That’s when things became very suspicious.

I told him, “How can you ask for ₹8000 without even showing me the apartment?” I said I wanted to speak to the owner first. The owner then started behaving strangely and said, “Let me talk to the manager.” After a while, he called me back and pressured me again to pay the amount quickly for the verification process.

At that point, my friend and I confronted him and clearly said we would not pay anything more. The owner then tried to gain our trust by saying, “Believe me, I am here. I will share my Aadhaar card with you, and then you can pay the manager.”

I told him to forget the apartment and simply return our ₹2000 because we were no longer interested. But then he started giving excuses, saying the money was with the property manager, that he was handling many clients, and that we would receive the refund by 4 PM.

After that, they completely stopped answering our calls.

Yes, I know it was my mistake to trust them and pay the amount. But when you are on a call with scammers like these, they know exactly how to manipulate people emotionally and mentally.

I even posted about this on Twitter/X for awareness and tried contacting the person linked to the UPI ID where the payment was made:
UPI ID: 7715084787@digikhata

I called the number connected to that UPI account and even shared screenshots of the Twitter post. The shocking part is that these scammers had absolutely no fear or hesitation.

I genuinely want these people to be caught and put in jail.

I am sharing this story so that others stay aware and do not fall for similar scams while house hunting in Bangalore or anywhere else.

Please never pay “visiting charges,” “verification fees,” or “token amounts” before physically visiting and verifying a property.