<prompt> Human: Note: I hope this is the right sub to ask such a question, if not Id be grateful if someone could suggest a better-fitting sub.So my gf and I are looking into buying a house in Germany. As it turns out, the current owner is from France, now living in the UK. She ordered an international agency to handle the whole business of making appointments to visit the property, payment and so on.Today, I received an email stating that one of the next steps would be to deposit 1.7 of the total buying price roughly 10k in one of the agencies accounts as a sign that we are serious about buying. If we decided not to buy later on, wed be reimbursed by the same amount. As a newbie in property aquisition: Is this standard operating procedure or just a more elaborate scam to score 10k from us? How can we make sure that we indeed get our money back?I was sent an ID card scan of the current owner, but that might of course also be a fake - we havent seen anyone in person as of now.  <response>: As it turns out, the current owner is from France, now living in the UK. She ordered an international agency to handle the whole business of making appointments to visit the property, payment and so on.Today, I received an email stating that one of the next steps would be to deposit 1.7 of the total buying price roughly 10k in one of the agencies accounts as a sign that we are serious about buying.This is a very common scam in the US, usually around apartment rentals. Oh, Im out of the country, my associate will deal with you but he has a fee, please send me 500 to show youre serious.I would stay away. 