Here are some tips for safely finding apartments or housing on Craigslist:

Personal Safety

• Do not extend payment to anyone you have not met in person. If you are unable to meet them in person, do some basic internet sleuthing to ascertain the validity of the offer.
  
• Use Google, Bing, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other platforms to confirm the identity of the landlord.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union and MoneyGram) - anyone who asks you to do so is a scammer.
• The “key-in-the-envelope” scam is quite common. Many times you will get an offer that asks you for a check, money order or cash with the promise that the landlord will “send you the key to the residence in the mail”. This is almost always a scam, and you will never get that envelope in the mail.
• Never give out financial information (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist. If you’re in a different state, ask for detailed photographs of the property. If the landlord refuses or takes too long to deliver, it’s a scam.
• Verify addresses using Google Maps and Street View.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord in person or spoken to them at length and verified their identity.
• If the property is also listed for sale on Redfin/Realtor/Zillow.com, and the Craigslist contact urges you to NOT contact the listed broker on those sites, be very wary. That is a common scam since it is an easy way for people to get real and nice looking property pictures, they just steal them off Zillow.

Finding a place to live in a state you don’t currently reside in can be tricky, but if you follow these basic rules and use good judgement, you shouldn’t have any problems.

More information about recognizing Craigslist scams, including examples of actual emails can be found on their site.

Finally, Reddit user /u/StacieDuffy is a local Realtor® who is willing to offer advice or provide you with links to informative websites if you are having a difficult time navigating Denver-area neighborhoods or learning about local housing prices. If you have any specific questions, feel free to send her a detailed PM and she'll be happy to lend a helping hand.

-The /r/denverlist mod team.