I don't know about the laws in PA, but in MA, we're not allowed to collect more than first, last and security. The broker collects the broker fee so the max that anyone can legally ask you for is 3 months upfront for the landlord and then whatever fee the broker wants to charge. It varies from state to state, but I think most of them don't allow you to collect much more than that, some let you do two months security. Anyway, maybe it wasn't a scam. Someone in NJ called me once and told me they had put down a 5k deposit on a property I was managing that I didn't even know existed. I don't know how he got scammed, but he called my number listed on the company website after he put down the deposit. Never put a deposit down unless you've actually seen the property and met the person. And then you still have to check because I've heard of former tenants trying to scam new tenants.