When Suvekshya Giri left her hometown a few months ago, she was excited about a new job and independent life in Kathmandu. But that excitement didn’t last long. Rather, it quickly turned into frustration, given the ordeals she had to undergo to find a room to rent. Giri was looking for an apartment with a bedroom and a kitchen. She initially got in touch with people she knew in Kathmandu and went door-to-door asking for it. But even after a long and frantic search, she still didn’t find the apartment that suited her needs.
“Finding rooms in Kathmandu is full of hassles—a real headache,” said Giri, a 24-year-old from Pokhara who now works and lives in Kathmandu.
After her door-to-door campaign didn’t yield the desired result, she turned to marketplaces online, to Hamrobazar and Facebook.
However, frauds online duped her, adding to her woes.
“Seeing so many rooms online rekindled my hopes and within a few minutes, I saw a room listing that met my needs,” Giri said. “It was affordable and at the exact location I wanted. I called the number given in the post. They received it on the first ring and asked me to fill up an online form and also said that they would charge Rs500 before providing service. I desperately needed a place to live, so I transferred the amount to their bank account and submitted the form without a second thought.”
What happened thereafter was something Giri had never expected. “Soon after I paid the money and called them, they blocked my…
