How do you know if a room/apartment for rent you've found

>>1265435
There is no guarantee, but you could always google the place/renter to see if anything suspicious comes up.

>Owners usually ask you to pay the deposit in advance, before your arrival
to me that means an obvious scam.

>>1265450
I'd add googling the pics to that as well

>>1265435
>let's say, on Craiglist
I think if there was some accountability, they wouldn't be on that specific site, except for longer term rentals, which it'd be fine. Ask if they rent their property elsewhere, airbnb, a local realtor, or somewhere else that has an intermediary, and do the booking through that. If you can pay by a credit card, that you can reverse the charge on, do that.

If you are well able financially to gamble sometimes, then you'll know there are good things you can get when you take risks when you travel, provided you can recover easily from any negative choices you make that don't pan out. If not getting this or your deposit back ruins your vacation, then it's not a risk for you. If you'll shrug, get pissed off, but easily book a hotel or somewhere else last minute, then think about it looking into the mailing address, the owner's web presence,, email or other kind of brick and mortar accountability to prosecute later for mail fraud, if anything. Zillow the property, look at owner records. Talk to someone you know in law, real estate or hit up some forums on the matter.

>>1265521
>>Owners usually ask you to pay the deposit in advance, before your arrival
>to me that means an obvious scam.
Maybe, maybe not.
My renters in a hotspot seasonal condo, prepay the following year the minute they arrive and see their friends are still renting nearby. They pay $15k for 3 months, in cash, a year in advance to secure the unit. They get a lease that they can freely back out of, but lose a portion of the deposit, which would be profit, since any rental I'd do last minute would be easy to obtain.

Someone asking for your deposit is typical of a nicer property where the damages can be so great, or if they incur a pre-cleaning maid visit, or pay someone to deliver a key for them. It can also ensure you are not a fraud too, who can and will pay all of their bill, and have enough money in this world that you might have some class and be fine around their treasured vacation home filled with their nice collection of things.

>>1265435
Use Airbnb or VRBO where the owners have been reviewed by other travelers. If you want to scrape by on craigslist you do so at your own risk.