Are there no honest people left?

Having spent ages deciding on my future path in life, I have finally come up with my plan. Part A is to move the hell out of where I'm living now. I know where I want to live, I know how much I can spend on renting a property, so the fun bit should be looking for a new place right?

WRONG. In a very half hearted first attempt I put some details online regarding the type of property etc that I wanted. I got loads of replies within hours. At a first glance most seemed genuine, however after a bit of probing all but one reply proved to be just a scam, where ultimatly they would be expecting me to part with a deposit as a good will gesture then run like f*** with my cash. It's almost kinda fun now cos they don't realize that I am onto them so I'm just kinda going along with the crap they are mailing me. On the other hand though it's kinda sad because this scam obviously works on some folks and very little seems to be done about it!

I just wish folks could be honest!

I think it's the internet, it attracts scammers, the lack of face to face interaction is less likely to arouse guilt I reckon.

Can you go on trusted rental sites for places in the area you are looking at?

You mean like agency websites?. I have visited a few but the fee's are high. I would sooner deal privatly with a landlord, might not have that option though

Maybe there is a service which has a list of trusted landlords.

Good luck - they're hard to find, but there are honest people out there. Thanks for reminding me, I want to go on Craig's List and check the site out!

Be warned. I'm told there are lots of scammers on there too

If you go to your local housing authority they can give you a list of reputable agencies, most councils offer this service and it costs nothing, I hope you get sorted out soon