The twelve red flags
- Guaranteed, assured or fixed returns, nobody can promise plantation outcomes.
- "Double your money in X years" with no assumptions shown.
- Pressure to pay quickly, before you have seen documents.
- No physical site visit offered, or only a staged showpiece plot.
- Deeds or registration "coming later" after payment.
- No registered sale deed in your name, only a "unit" or allotment letter.
- Survey numbers you can’t verify in official land records.
- Evasive answers on legality and on the SEBI/CIS question for pooled schemes.
- No audited financials, survival reports or venture register available.
- Testimonials and "success stories" that can’t be verified.
- Prices quoted with no source and no date.
- A business that discourages you from taking independent legal or financial advice.
Why these work as a filter
Every flag above is really the same thing: a gap between claims and verifiable proof. Legitimate operators welcome verification because they can withstand it. Scammers rely on urgency, emotion and the promise of certainty to stop you checking.
The one habit that protects you
Demand proof and verify it independently, deeds at the Sub-Registrar, survey numbers in land records, company registration on MCA, GST on the government portal. If any operator resists any of this, stop. Run our Verify Before You Invest checklist on any company, including us.