Craigslist has really grown in popularity over the last few years. On Craigslist.com you can find a job, or look for a job, you can sell that old china cabinet your mother gave you that you always hated, buy a perfect crib for the baby you’re expecting or even give away the Franklin Stove that came with your house. Unfortunately, Craigslist has become a wide field for fraudulent practices.
One scheme that is often seen involves listing a car for an amazingly low price. The listing may tell the story of how the vehicle is owned by someone in the armed forces and is being shipped home. And how desperately money is needed before its arrival. When the potential buyer sends the money the scam is complete, and the car never materializes.
Another scam recently shut down was a man attempting to rent out a house he did even own, luckily he was arrested. He collected thousand of dollars before being arrested for fraud. His many victims were left with no rental and no money. A little bit of background work and checking would have helped those prospective renters to avoid this scam and save their money.
Fraudulent employment offers are in abundance on this site and extreme caution should be taken, especially regarding “work at home” offers. These offers almost always require a fee up front and any work, if it appears, is not worth one’s time. If you ever get a phone number, its easy to use a telephone look-up directory such as cell-registry.com/816/277/ to make sure the person is not be impersonating someone else.
Make sure you do your research when buying anything off of Craigslist. And never, ever send money without either seeing the item or getting a genuine guarantee. If you’re thinking of answering personal ads, beware. There are many predators on Craigslist waiting to prey on the lonely.
Its a sad fact that many people never receive items they sent payment for. Of course, when this happens, there is no recourse and the money is simply gone. It is a good idea to check the location of the item for sale and, if it is nearby, go and pick it up personally. This way a person gets a good look at the item and has it in hand before turning over their money.
Craigslist is a free service for sellers of goods that has benefited a lot of people. However, with scammers ready to use any means to commit fraud it has become an easy means to swindle people. This is why it is important to exercise caution with Craigslist, take the time to do some research and be aware that there are people on it who are only looking to swindle and steal.
This site, as with others, caution that if someone wants money wire transferred to a distance location or sent in money order or cashiers check, be concerned. Ideally, all Craigslist purchases should be done locally where a physical meeting can be arranged for every one’s safety and convenience. You should also take care that you never give out your personal information and remember that if an offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
0 Responses
Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.