That Time I Almost Got Scammed Out Of $500

Time to time, I scroll on Trulia. I love looking for good deals on places we could move since we're paying for a house and have a teensy tiny apartment.  Couldn't hurt, right?   Wrong.   I came across this house. It's a beautiful 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house for $700! It's close to where I grew up, close to where my daddy lives, etc.

  We fell head over heels. I sent an inquiry through the website and got an e-mail back from the owner of the house. He had bid on petroleum land in California and was tying up loose ends back home.  It seemed legit... if you miss the big warning that says "Owners who claim to be in another state may be a scam". I missed that big warning.  Utilities were included and we would be taken out of our rent payment.  Too good to be true? No! It's our home! We were so thrilled. We would be saving so much per month that we could save for our own downpayment!!   Anyway. I go for days talking to this guy about this house, how beautiful it is, and arrange to send the money via PayPal for him to send the keys and the documents. Jackson was questioning it all along, but I had the answers, and I trusted him, so it was ok. (That is the part that makes me want to vomit)   He never replied. Looking back, huge red flag that he didn't reply after I said we didn't like mailing checks.   Monday morning, I woke up and went to work, started digging a little further and found a real estate agent's number.  He told me I would, however, they decided not to go with a realtor because their tenant may not get along with a realtor and it would be hard for them to be in California and have to be the gobetween.  Legit, right? I called the phone number, explained what happened to the young girl, and she informed me it was a scam.  Of course it was. The listing is gone, everything is gone. What was I thinking?   I have never felt more violated or taken advantage of in my life.  Never. Even when my purse was stolen and my credit card was used. Never.  I trusted whomever I was speaking to, and I gave information I thought would be used to check references.  Now, a creepo scammer knows where we live, knows our occupations, and he knows about my cleaning schedule!   Silver lining: I trusted my gut and called to check it out before we sent money.   Lesson learned: If it seems too good to be true, it's too good to be true.