> Anyhow, the single most significant indicator of all rental scam is that the perpetuator is not going to show you the apartment in person.

Yup; never rent a house long-term without seeing it for yourself and meeting the landlord in person. Never sign anything sight unseen. And don't click on links in email.

Interesting that the scammer asked the author to search on airbnb themselves; that's what I'd do to avoid following a scam link. But if the house is not found, the victim will ASK for a link, increasing the chances they'll click on it by over 9000. And if the victim doesn't trust it, they'll just bail out - like with the poorly written emails, a good way to filter out victims.

They have rental scams here where they will show you the house as well. One is where they pretend to be realtors and get the key from the listing agent.

I usually look up the tax records of the house. They are usually available on the county website and will show the owners name and when the house was last sold.

If you need to conduct a whitewater-level investigation of an airbnb spot it might be a sign the system needs to step up its game.

Not airbnb, long term rentals.