Scammed on Craigslist! - Comments Page 1

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Posted by:

Dave
06 Apr 2011

You see an amazing amount of people admitting to being scammed on Craigslist, how many are being silent about it, embarassed to admit they were scammed, probably 4 times the amount. I do a lot of selling, and a bit of buying on Craigslist, but only people face to face, and cash money.

Posted by:

Kevin
06 Apr 2011

Good advice given here about scams on Craig's List. It is a great place to buy & sell. I've had many good experiences. But I would recommend that people read all the scam warnings posted on Craig's List.
If someone attempts to scam you make sure you report it to Craig's List.
I follow one bit of advice they give. Keep the transaction local. The buyer should come to you. Since I put NO SHIPPING scammers in my ads I rarely get people trying to scam me.

Posted by:

Al Zimmerman
06 Apr 2011

I experienced a very similar response as Bob did with a craigs list ad. Same misspellings, poor english, and an offer to pay more than asked. My antennae went up and I ignored the offer.

Posted by:

natalie
06 Apr 2011

I was scammed for $3100.00 for a RV that was not delivered as promised through Craig's List. I am a senior lady on a small pension and to save that much money takes a long time. Beware of g-mail address. I now realize it is a different world and trust is not as it was in the good old days.It has been a hard lesson. I feel so gullible and since then I have seen those same people put ads in many states for RV's and are pros stealing legitimate business ads. BEWARE. My only consolation those rich and more savy then I were victims too. I think of the poor people of Enron, corporate greed and others who have lost so much more than I because of all the evil of greed, lies, theft, betrayal, deceit and all those things God disdains perpetuated on them. Unfortunately, no conscience and no soul have these people who cannot live a honest life and must steal from others.

Posted by:

Barbara
07 Apr 2011

My husband and I were looking for a truck to buy for him. We responded to an add that sounded ok, but the reply to the email that I received did not. The worst part about this particular scam was that the scammer was claiming to be one of our country's military members and needed to sell the truck before he was deployed. It made me angry to think that someone would try to use our honest military people in such a way. In searching the VIN number (which was sent in the email) I found several other flagged scams from Craigslist. Flagged this one and when I saw a similar ad, I flagged it as well.

Posted by:

Marc
07 Apr 2011

I always get a kick out of all the scams. I even put ads in the personals just to see all the crazy scams. I've never had a legitimate response and the respondents are clearly in foreign countries with their broken english like the letter bob illustrated. It's funny to play with these women. They respond to your ad and after you respond they pull the stunt where they won't talk through email, you must join a "free" dating site. Then there are the ones who want you to go to a background check site to prove you're not some underage kid or sex offender. If you are ever bored, place an ad in the CL personals and let the fun begin. You won't find a real person but it's entertaining playing with these fake people trying to sell dating sites and adult verification/background check sites.

Posted by:

Bob Grene
07 Apr 2011

LESSEZ UNFAIRE

The owner(s) of CraigsList raised their tent and make a considerable amount of money by an unregulated "buyer-beware" market that is frowned upon in regular business channels.

A regular business channel puts the customer first, and offers a reasonable level of protection to those who venture in. In stark contrast, Craigslist seems only a garage sale-gone-internet, and the buyer recourse is little more than sheer luck.

Wall Street taught us (once again) a lessez faire market policy is not a policy, but a free-for-all in which the little guys usually lose big. (Which was the idea, all along.)

Posted by:

gene jacobson
07 Apr 2011

I've never even visited Craig's List nor would I ever buy anything from it or anyone associated with it. I can't imagine why anyone would, it is simply begging to be cheated from everything I've ever heard about it...

Posted by:

Joey
07 Apr 2011

If you haven't tried CL don't criticize it. It is a wonderful and mostly free service. You are not forced to use it.

People get screwed all the time by big name companies with brick and mortar stores. You need to use common sense. CL is a great way to match buyers and sellers locally who can meet face to face.

Posted by:

Joe M
08 Apr 2011

I agree with Joey. I've used CL twice and had a good experience each time. Of course you have to be careful. In my case, both sales were for concert tickets that I had purchased and were unable to use. Cash-only transactions of course.

CL provides a free service that help many to get rid of unwanted items rather than sitting in their driveway for a weekend haggling with people over 50 cents and making very little money.

And to Bob Grene - let me ask you - have you ever purchased a used car from a dealer??? I'll stick to CL - thanks.

Posted by:

rick
09 Apr 2011

I have also used CL to sell a few things. I have found out that no one wants to pay you what you are asking. I now list items for more than I really want.

Posted by:

Jim
11 Apr 2011

I have bought and sold alot of different items on Craigslist, evening selling out of state. As long as you are careful and attentive, you don't have any problems. Only crap I get is people responding to you with links to Crest teeth whitening items.

Posted by:

Chany
13 Apr 2011

I am a C/L regular and see it more like an Internet Flea Market. I have been using it for over 7 years. To date I have gotten 3-4 pets,3 houses for rent, 2 jobs, several dates, have used the rideshare to make a major move across country and bought and sold too many items to list...if I need to replace something I go to C/L first...If I have a clean out and have stuff to get rid..I try to sell it C/L first..and sometimes instead of donating I just put it on the curb and post a free ad. These are my rules... all the regular ones about grammer and money orders and wire transfers...but 1. I do not respond to an ad unless it has a LOCAL phone number and
2. What ever it is if it doesn't have a local number and the grammer isn't right I flag it.
3. I only meet in public parking lots..like Walmart...because I KNOW they have video in their parking lots.
4. I only accept and pay in cash.
5. I don't use my real name..I have a C/L "handle" and I use it for ALL C/L transactions.
6. I am realistic about the site..I know I'm not going to get rich off it but, I refuse to make anyone else rich either.
7. Yes, I cruise the singles ads but more nowadays for laughs...but if I see someoe that seems interesting I look in the other sectios to see if they are posting there..and I Google their name before a meet (especially looking for Photos because if there is a mugshot on the web Google will show it)...and only meet in a public place of course.
8. Pictures sell stuff..learn how to use the system or accept the 1 million silly questions you will get. Pictures-take them, post them, sell your stuff and delete your ad.
9. This is CRUICIAL...always follow your gut instinct..if you don't feel 100% sure about a C/L deal then don't do it.
There's more I'm sure but I have forgotten them this is second nature to me now..
Maybe some day I will write about C/L etiquette, flagging and the pet section.
Hope this helps

Posted by:

Calvin Preece
13 Apr 2011

I have used CL to purchase a number of items from something as small as a smart cell phone to as large as a nice Mercedes-Benz. I have also sold two autos using the service. It is important to be aware of possible scams, of course. Only meet people who respond to you in public places. Starbucks is a great meeting place since there is one everywhere. Always meet people half-way or less as far as distance you travel to make a sell or a buy. Be willing to negotiate but be sure to give and get at a fair price.

Posted by:

Mark Jacobs
13 Apr 2011

This can also happen on E-Bay. I sold a laptop o E-Bay and before the end of the auction I received several offers to buy it. Most of them could be traced to African IPs and all were written in "Africanized" English. Most offered more than what I even paid for the computer new 4 years before. I responded to a few of these with profanity laced emails. Bottom line: don't bypass Ebay's auction process for a quick buck or you'll end up losing some bucks quick.

Posted by:

Glenn P.
13 Apr 2011

Bob, you wrote:

"...Beware of any seller who requests personal financial information such as a bank account number, credit card number, or PayPal E-Mail address..."

I beg  your pardon? PayPal E-Mail address? PayPal is one of the safest  ways of paying for things on the Internet; if I'm not allowed to specify PayPal for payment for something on Craigslist, precisely what method of payment DO  you suggest? Or are you so anti-CL that you suggest avoidng Craigslist altogether? If that is your true agenda, you should be upfront and say so!

EDITOR'S NOTE: If I had an anti-CL agenda, I would say so. But since I mentioned in the article that I recently used CL myself, I think it should be clear that I don't. My suggestion? Do as CL recommends: "DEAL LOCALLY WITH FOLKS YOU CAN MEET IN PERSON" and "NEVER GIVE OUT FINANCIAL INFORMATION (bank account number, social security number, eBay/PayPal info, etc.)"

See http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Posted by:

Larry
13 Apr 2011

I have sold and bought on Craigslist and was satisfied with the end result. I have received all the above scams when I was selling and I just deleted them.
Another quick tip off is if the exact entire description from your ad description line is in the email body, it is probably a scam. I actually put a real detail in the description line that any real person would never include in an email and use that as a scam guide so to speak.
However as Bob & others stated:
If it it seems to good to be true - you're right!
There is no real reason to watch a video - don't!

Posted by:

Brian
13 Apr 2011

I've been buying and selling on Craigslist for about 5 years, and while I've had a few scammers try and nick me, non has ever been successful.

If I want to purchase something from far away, I ask a local friend to act as a go between, and if I don't have a friend in the area, I ask if the seller is willing to drop off the item at a (fake) friends home (I only give the town name). If they are willing then I consider the seller safe and send him a check.

I never give out credit card nor personal info. Not even to legitimate businesses on the Internet. I just don't trust the Internet system. And I certainly don't trust Paypal. Had all sorts of problems getting my money from them.

Posted by:

Rick
13 Apr 2011

If I have securty software installed (and up to date), why would clikcing on a link result in "some nasty virus that will wreak havoc on your computer."?

EDITOR'S NOTE: Even an "up to date" anti-virus program might not know about ALL viruses, especially new variants.

Posted by:

Debra Scarborough
13 Apr 2011

Mantra: if it sounds too godd to be true, it is! Spouse looking for tractor found a $14K unit going for $3K. Called seller, who was in CA, selling his deceased father's tractor, in NY. Would send "papers" and have tractor shipped. Yea, right. Why was he posting on a York, PA CL? STGTBT!!
Have tried to sell stuff on CL. Received the usual scam offers and inquries from sort-of-interested folks who didn't follow through. Can't complain too much though, as it is a free service. Just remember, buyer/seller beware.

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