Is this Craigslist rental ad legit or a scam?

[magicbird]

Western Union! Run like the wind! I'm a landlord myself. No legitimate landlord would ask a prospective tenant to pay his deposit/first month's rent through Western Union! If the 'time' (like 'the last day of the month') were really a serious issue, a landlord could ask you to wire the money through your bank to his (which, unlike Western Union, would hold him accountable in some way for taking your money).

...and that Thing he said, that he is not "licensed" to receive money via credit card? He may not be set up to take credit cards--I'm not either--but you don't need any kind of license to accept credit cards. As a landlord, especially a landlord doing business long distance, he should have a bank account set up in his name so your transaction could/should be handled through his and your bank accounts. There's no reason to ask for payment through western union except that it's a scam.

...and how do you know that the license plate he sent you a picture of is really him? He may have faked his Facebook page. He may have faked all the apartment photos, or maybe the apartment belongs to his parents, or a friend of his. Con artists are good at things like 'faking.' And of course he's going to give you a Real Address, even if the place doesn't belong to him, because of course you can look the address up online to check it out. [Try checking out the county records on who owns the property--although he may be using that person's name, or perhaps his father has the same name].

Even if it really is him, you'd still have a hard time getting western union money back. Don't fall for it, the guy's a con artist.