So, I am searching on my next 3 month stay in Europe looking for cheap places to rent. Airbnb prices have been so inflated that even small towns and small countries have prices in the $1000 ranges.

Can’t even find monthly rents on airbnb in Moldova for under $1000 unless its 5 miles from the center. The hidden issues when renting far from center are the limitations in grocery stores and restaurants, the depressing state of broken down soviet era buildings.

So people posted on reddit about Facebook. I tried renting in Belgium, Spain, Czechia, Lithuania. No matter which city/country I searched, almost all affordable decent looking places were scams.

You contact the host thru facebook but the accounts are clearly fake, just started in a few months ago with no post or information on the person. Then I reverse image search on google images and all were stolen from, weirdly, Polish rental ads. I also examine the photos looking out the windows and cross reference google earth/street. Either the buildings seen across the rental do not match the street view and the window style to not match either.

Any response back said they required first month rent plus a huge security deposit.

Beware of trying to long term rent thru facebook. Wasted 3 days of trying.