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So Craigslist is making it hard to post ads for real posters who care about their privacy (Craigslist Wants Your Phone Number) and simultaneously letting very easy-to-spot scam postings totally fill their vacation rental pages!

New York, and London - just look at the vacation rental pages on craigslist. So easy to spot the scams - when you see the same pattern of ad repeated many times, it is a scam. In addition to scams, craigslist is now filled with useless Airbnb postings which are just noise and do not provide a contact email address or phone number. The Airbnb automated postings are for Airbnb members only - craigslist should not allow them, they are just ads for Airbnb.

There are many sites with information on scams: Rental Scams, and here's a guide to craigslist scams. And important to note that while it is easy to spot the scammers that are from out-of-town, there are also scams involving local people, as shown in NY Times - Renters Get Swindled and Scammed article.

The easy signs of a scam are poor English in the posting and in subsequent communication, too many postings that look the same with different rentals and different email addresses, "contract" does not contain dates (they want you to fill in dates which means they don't really care), you can change dates a lot and apartment will still be available, and sometimes - low prices (no way a NYC midtown 2-bedroom apartment is available for $200/day). And if you ask to see the apartment and the renting agent immediately (even just as a bait - ask this even if you are not in that town), they will make up a reason why that is not possible, and that indicates a scam.

Of course, these are are easy scams - NYC especially is quite risky and you may even find someone to show you a room, and look all legit, but it can still be a scam - as the NY Times - Renters Get Swindled and Scammed article shows. But in general, to lower the risk, it is essential to see the place and meet the persons doing the renting in NYC or London before handing over any money. This may mean that you should book a hotel for 2 or more nights, and try to find someone willing to show a room when you are there.

So, while a vacation living in a apartment instead of a hotel in a new city is really worth it, unfortunately, at least for New York City and London, and similar cities, it is best to avoid craigslist when looking for a rental. Other sites claiming to offer NYC rentals are also quite risky since some such rentals are now illegal in NYC (and San Francisco).