Oh my god, it's absolutely happening everywhere. This is actually like a top-5 scam happening in the US, along with reshipping and various other types of job scams.

Application/Deposit/Credit Check/Background Check Fee scams are incredibly common tactic, where people just relist a Zillow listing for a random occupied apartment and collect a fee before you see the apartment.

Worse yet, this type of scam is a totally legal money-making method for landlords. You basically just keep one free unit as a "tourable" one, and then collect fees for applications you'll always deny. Victims have no recourse, and it's fully legal in 48 states. Scammers without an apartment to show just get to hide behind this practice, so it can be difficult to discern actual fraud from just landlord parasitism.