How to verify housing listed online isn't a scam

[Bernt]

I was recently accepted to MIT and have been looking for off-campus housing. MIT has an official off-campus housing website for students, staff, and alumni, which is where I started looking. I found a potential roommate/place very quickly on there (like, in my first few hours). They work for the university and their LinkedIn/Twitter seem legit. They currently live in the apartment, and have found another roommate, so there would be three of us total.

Overall I think it's a great fit, but I want to be careful. I can't visit/check out the place in person because of COVID-19. The rent seems reasonable, but the security deposit is pretty low which has me worried. They seem very excited about me potentially moving in (and are considering talking to the landlord about getting my rent decreased for the months I won't be living there due to quarantine).

What should I do to make sure the offer is authentic/not a scam? 

[cropop]

Make sure there is some sort of legal document before you actually send any money for rent.

[CozyD]

If they can email you from a university email address, that's great. Extra great if you can verify on a public university website or directory who that email goes with. This might be a little much, but you could also try verifying through some kind of university office/admin who they are.

I rented a place from across the country and found it reassuring that a person was willing and able to give me a virtual tour of the house by carrying around their laptop.

[joysii]

I second the asking for a virtual tour if possible. I've been in a situation where I was sent a "legal document" and it looked legit with a lot of words on it but it was still fake, so just a reminder to read at least half the leasing document to make sure it was written like an actual document (this may sound silly but official documents really do use more "college-level" vocabulary). If they currently live in the apartment and they don't own the place, there must be a lease they signed so ask for that and look up the management company of the location to make sure it's an actual company. The lease would also have the security deposit written on it so you could check if it really was that low.

[DRMF]

If someone currently lives there, they should definitely be able and willing to Facetime or Zoom with you to show you the place. Also ask them to whom the security deposit check would be addressed to - it should be the name of a management or leasing company, and you can look up whether that's legit.