You must remember that JTR also sells stuff on how to invest.I would suggest to look at JTR's reviews to see if there are blatant lawsuits and obvious scams, but ignore the commentary on it.Oh, one more knock on JTR, according to his own BIO: http://www.johntreed.com/Aboutauthor.htmlThe man hasn't bought a piece of property himself since 1983, only currently owns his own residence.

There are so many scams out there, it's difficult to determine what is legitimate these days.

It's those maniacs that buy homes cash via quit claim deed off of craigslist that really get screwed.Make sure your property manager is a licensed real estate brokerage.Google Clayton Morris scam and/or Morris Invest scam for a cautionary tale of what not to do when buying turnkey real estateUnderstand you can not eliminate all risk, only mitigate it.

But in the oilfield for the last 5 years.Spent money on all the real estate scams about 20 years ago, and got no where.

How can I know that it is not a scam?

I am not sure what the scam part might be. 

Suggesting that I don't take phone calls in an area where all landlords provide contact phone numbers would make my rental listing appear to be a scam.

You won't get scammed as far as auction.com stealing your money.

Everyone is trying to scam each other in the middle class because money is so tight. 

Would they be less likely to feel scammed by a company vs.