The 'Owner Is Abroad' Rental Scam: Red Flags and How to Avoid It

Sun, 28 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0530

This is the rental scam that catches careful people, because every odd thing about it comes wrapped in a perfectly reasonable excuse. The owner is abroad, so of course they cannot show the flat. They are busy, so of course they want to move fast. They will courier the keys, so of course they need the deposit first. Each excuse, on its own, sounds fine. Together, they are a script designed to get you to pay for a flat you will never get.

Rental Scams in India: Types, Red Flags and How to Avoid Them

Sat, 27 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0530

House-hunting puts you in exactly the position scammers want: in a hurry, competing with others, and ready to pay to lock down a place before someone else does. That urgency is the weapon. Almost every rental scam in India works by manufacturing a reason to pay before you have verified anything.

This is a field guide to the scams that are actually doing the rounds, how each one works, the red flag that gives it away, and the official channels to use if you have already lost money. Most of it comes down to one rule, so we will say it first.

Rental Fraud on Mittiyo Blogs

The 'Owner Is Abroad' Rental Scam: Red Flags and How to Avoid It

Rental Scams in India: Types, Red Flags and How to Avoid Them