Craigslist briefly filled this role. Before that, there were classified ads in papers. Those were lightly vetted by the local newspaper. Also, with a warrant

Craigslist briefly filled this role. Before that, there were classified ads in papers. Those were lightly vetted by the local newspaper. Also, with a warrant, the police could generally track down the person that placed the ad, which broke a lot of bullshit scams. (Like house sitters that don’t exist, but are instead getting lists of people that will be out of town.)