There are many Scams out there that target travelers. I could do an entire blog about scams that are done person to person in foreign countries (and don't get me started on America!). However, I'm speaking of rental scams. Trying to find a rental apartment in Paris for the month of September is proving quite laborious. I would often get excited when I found a good deal and then I realized that the deal was "too good to be true". Which led me to do some research on the real estate rental scams. I found this great site on what to look out for:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travelg187147c127715/Paris:France:Paris.Rental.Scams.How.To.Avoid.Them.html.

Also a quick google search of "rental scams" will bring you a wealth of information; local and afar.