Flat rent - possible Western Union scam

[koster]

I placed a "Flat Wanted" advert on the Gumtree website.

I got a reply from someone offering a flat to rent, but the offer seems 'too good to be true'. Basically the person is offering a 2-bedroom flat with en-suite bathrooms for less than the price I would expect to pay for a 1-bedroom flat in a similar location.

Unusually, the deposit amount is just over double one month's rent (one month's rent is more common).

Before viewing, in order to prove that I am serious about wanting the flat, she has asked me to transfer the deposit amount to my partner or relative via Western Union, and email and scan the Western Union document to her. I should do this before viewing the flat.

So I would not be paying her any money, I am just transferring it to my relative and back. She says she will pay back the fee.

Presumably this is some kind of scam, but what's going on here? Obviously I'm not going to do it. Is she planning to use the scanned document to pose as my relative and pick up the money from a Western Union branch? I thought you needed to give the other person a secret code to pick up the funds.

[buildersmate]

Yes, it is a scam so well spotted. It works like this.
http://forums.gumtree.com/topic34380.html