I think the key here is to just get word out that these scams are being attempted! Once you know that it might be the case, its pretty easy to recognize, scammers are trying it with cars for sale too. We all just have to be more careful with craigslist now, if something seems too good to be true, doesnt offer a phone number, or asks for a deposit without being face to face, its probably fake! JUST BE CAREFUL

I feel for the people in this story. I have been searching for another vehicle to replace the one I'm trying to sell on Craigslist. I have seen more fake ads on cars for sale on this website than I would've ever imagined. This makes it very difficult and frustrating to determine who is real and who is fake. There are a lot of people out there, like myself, who are honestly trying to do business while these people try time after time to take advantage of this website. I am truly disgusted by these fakes and I hope they all get what they deserve!

I have been checking Craigslist because my husband and I are looking for an apartment - how would I know which ads are fraudulent, and which are genuine?

I think the victims of this Home ID theft should take the same ad of the scammer and re-post. However in the headline it should read: This is a fake ad! Each day the scammer re-posts, the victim should do the same - we have got to start beating them at their own game!

Well, as with all scams of this sort, the rule of "caveat emptor" should always take precedence; know who you are buying from, meaning a face to face public meeting, with a friend for safety (and as a witness, should the need arise. Ask for identification and proof of ownership of said property-honest people won't mind.

Craigslist should be shut down, They are controlled by flaggers that abuse the site. The staff does nothing to help the victim, and they have a unsat rating with the BBB

I still don't understand why people are so stupid that they send money to someone without knowing anything about them. Send the money and I will send the keys....how does that sound legimate to you? If a person is stupid enough to send the money, honestly, it serves them right to be scammed. I do feel bad for the actual home owner because she has nothing to do with it. But still, people need to take personal responsiblity for their actions. If it doesn't sound like a normal business practice, then don't do it. There is always a scam to be had. Just do let it have you and you will be fine.

Though common sense doesn't always seem to dictate, I would at least ask a person for pictures of the inside of the home, etc before I would ever consider filling out even an application much less sending money. One thing to remember as well is that if someone is truly transferred out of state or the country, they will most likely have someone local handle the rental. (A friend or rental company.)

I haven't looked at Craigslist for housing but I would think it would be helpful to have a warning on the main housing page and possibly have a warning that is included at the bottom of every posting. Though some won't heed the warning at least they would be doing all that they can. I don't blame Craigslist though, it's the scum that is ruining it.

It's a shame that we live in a society where so many scams are taking place. I hope these people are caught and prosecuted.

This same thing happened to me here in Michigan. I was trying to rent a house and found a house on Craig's list and it was also listed for rent on a real estate website for more money. Of course I contacted the person on Craig's list thinking they were cheaper because they would not have to pay the real estate if they could rent it outright. The story was identical, they wanted me to send money and they would send me the keys, they were in Africa also, but they also wanted my passport number so I think they were also trying to steal my identity. They were actually even using the real estate agents name as their e-mail address. When I noticed that, I contacted the real estate and told them what was going on. The person had copied the real estates add totally. Fortunately, I did not send them money. I would hope no one would, you can tell they are foreign because of the way they use their words and phrase things. Some of the e-mail just didn't make sense because of the phrasing and grammar. I just knew it wasn't right. So be careful and pay attention.

its too bad people have a way to commit crimes and our law enforcement can't or won't do anything about it as its not "up close or personal." with todays types of ID theft, its unfortunate our personal information is so easily available for anyone to obtain and the crooks ALWAYS seem to have the time and money. I believe these tpes of crimes should be fully investigated..I for one would pay a few dollars more in taxes or prevention if the authorites or the government would see this too will become "A CRISIS" for so many with few options..ruining more lives as they just go on...

As long as you are addressing fraudulent ads on Craigs List, I think you should have included the
homicide of my friend, Katherine Olson,in Savage
Minnesot last October. Katherine answered an ad
for a nanny. When she went to the interview, the
guy murdered her.

Katherine's family does not want to "ditz" Craigs
List. I do however think it's important when you
are educating people about the fake ads, that this
crime cited.

I had a friend that got scammed for $6000 when he listed his apartment for rent on Craigslist. Its always the same deal, they want to send you a check for more than they owe you and then have you send the balance back to them. By the time your bank finds out its a bad check its too late and you've already send them a check for the overrage. I was selling a $300 couch and had a scammer try to scam me with the same type of ploy. I responded back that it was no longer for sale. It must be a full time job for these crooks to rip off innocent people. Shame on them!

Craigslist also has a problem with fake personal dating ads. The ad asks you to reply with a pic or they will not respond. The perpetrator then uses your pic, real name (if you add it) and email address to create a new fraudulent identity of you. It's kinds of obvious though when you see the same girls picture on different ads or when the girls looks are to beautiful to have really been self posted on a site such as Craigslist. Many ads stating "open minded" is just sexual type bait for you to respond. Be careful if it seems to good to be true, it is.

There are actually several simple methods craigslist could instititute to resolve this issue. They choose not to because it will hurt business (less visitors). Jim Buttmaster knows this but won't admit it.

Any one who would send money to someone they haven't met and is in Nigeria deserves to lose thier money. Come on!

And the likes of Craigslist need to find better ways to confirm identity and creat a trail to persue these crooks.

I have seen car ads on Craigslist that are duplicated with a different seller's name and phone number, and a slightly different price, but the ads are for the same car, perhaps to lead people to believe the price is fair market value for that particular model.

My experience: There was an attempt from another scammer on my business. I am a DJ and someone tried hiring me. I found it fishy when I asked for the deposit and they sent a money order for $2000 more than what was requested. They then said they were on vacation in Nigeria and it was a mistake, the rest was for the wedding planner who was to buy the dress. I would need to send the extra money to a bank account in Tennessee a day before the wedding so the wedding planner can buy the bride her dress. Everything seemed real as far as the wedding time, location and everything; except who buys their wedding dress a day before the wedding? Big Red Flag. Anyway, I didn't fall for it. Eventhough I had a money order in my hand, it wouldn't have cleared anyway...It was fraudulent.I hope this helps someone who may be a potential victim. Be carefull..

My 20 year old daughter was scammed the same way. She and a friend were going to room together in Manhattan and found a place a few blocks from where she works. Perfect! After her friend went to the apartment building and was shown an apartment, filled out an application and after being told they were approved, gave a check as a deposit to the "building manager". Needless to say, they never got keys the apartment, he never returned phone calls and was never at the building when they went there to find him. She called the police and filed a complaint, but my daughter was now $1200.00 in the hole and still without a place to live.
She has found temporary housing through July, looking for a new place and is hesitant to use craigslist again.

I was taken by one of these advertisements, myself, but on a different website (roommates.com)a couple years ago. The man advertised low rent payments in exchange for doing some work for him with customers in the area. I was dumb enough to also get caught in the Nigerian check scam as well and ultimately ended up out $1200 and with no place to live! The government and police really don't care about this issue which is more and more prevalent. I never heard anything back after filing several complaints with various authorities. The often overseas nature of these crimes makes it very difficult to have any recourse.

Craigslist also has many fake car advertisements. I can't tell you how many times I have seen a car and inquired about it and the person says the want to go thru ebay's paypal. Then you get a fake email from ebay asking you to send money and they will ship the vehicle to you it happened 6 or 7 times so I quit using craigslist.

Awesome information. I use Craigslist.org to find items I need and sell my items. So these kind of articles help me look out for scams, being a victim and remembering to flagged them. Thanks again

I work in real estate and i post a lot of commercial and residencial ads from our clients who want to have their properties posted on craigslist. I have had several people email me from the UK and Africa saying they are interesed in renting the apt. There are defenilty ways to know if someone is being serious or not. For example:
I never rent to anyone outside of the US unless i meet them in person and run their credit check.
I try to never give out the address of any property if someone is serious and interested they will call you for an apt.
I never accept any kind of wire transfer or personal check.
And the most important i send all criminal activity to the bank where they check for online fraud.

From the description of this article I almost got suckered into a deal for a rental in Australia. It reads just like the article - just transfered to West Africa, wife is in London very concerned with keeping the flat very clean, no cleaning deposit. I did get a phone number and did talk to the "husband" named Rev. David Halls. The phone numbers are:0112348033066260 and +23418747987. The email address sent was Mary Halls. I do not know if this would be of any help but perhaps some of this is traceable.

Don't kill the messenger... I've heard talk about craigslist being the root of evil in cases like these, but I'd like to point out that Craigslist is simply the medium being used, they are not perpetrating the crimes in question. People will always find a way to Scam and Con. Sad but true. Personally Craigslist has been invaluable to me, and if you're stupid enough to send money to someone you don't know... well is that really Craigs fault? I don't think So... go look in the mirror Mr. Gullible!

I work in real estate and i post a lot of commercial and residencial ads from our clients who want to have their properties posted on craigslist. I have had several people email me from the UK and Africa saying they are interesed in renting the apt. There are defenilty ways to know if someone is being serious or not. For example:
I never rent to anyone outside of the US unless i meet them in person and run their credit check.
I try to never give out the address of any property if someone is serious and interested they will call you for an apt.
I never accept any kind of wire transfer or personal check.
And the most important i send all criminal activity to the bank where they check for online fraud.

Yes, there are fake ads on Craigslist. Same for Ebay. But, if something looks to good to be true it's is. In the case of the rental home ruse, if you get the run around (remember, someone renting a house wants to rent), then it ain't so. Move on. It's pretty simple. If the Democrats get a hold fo this story, we'll no doubt have a government regulation to "protect" us. And, the cost of Craigslist will no longer be free. Let's not worry about the small stuff.

Been there!!! We got scammed this summer when trying to rent a place for a few months in New York. The guy who did it to us is in Canada. We're not completely naive, but it was so well done that we fell for it. Fortunately, we only lost $550, but for young people on a tiny budget, this was a tough blow- especially since we're having a baby in a few weeks. The Canadian police are investigating it, but we're not hopeful much will come of it.

The best thing you can do is follow the warnings that Craigslist gives- NEVER wire money. NEVER send anything outside the US. Try to arrange for someone to see the apartment/house and meet the "renter", even if it's just a casual associate or distant relative.

I wish we'd realized these things in advance.

By the way, some less than stellar humans try to do it in reverse too- if you are renting out your home, they contact you and tell you how they are so interested... and that their company in another state owes them their last paycheck, so they'll just have it sent to you to cash- and then you should send on the rest to them... this is a check fraud scam- the check is fake and you'll end up with no money and all the fees.

Frequently these scammers are internationals with poor English and really poor writing skills. Often the emails/postings are all in lower case with very little punctuation.

If it seems to good to be true, it probably is.

Best of luck not getting scammed. Too bad people are so pathetic.

There is a reverse rental scam as well involving Craig's list. We had a house for rent and received an email from a man supposedly in the UK working for James Bond Investments who explained that he was relocating to Pennsylvania. He wanted to rent the house sight-unseen. The poor use of the English language and bad grammar in his email immediately raised suspicion. And of course his offer, in his second email, to wire the money in advance to our checking account if we could provide the routing and account number was a huge red flag. At this point I was 99% sure this was a scam so I called James Bond Investments in the UK (real company BTW) to inquire about this employee. Guess what, they never heard of the guy. So as a follow up to the gentleman claiming to be employed by James Bond and living in the UK, I sent a follow up email stating that we could not take his check but if he were to forward his credit card information to us we would hold the house for him once we recieved the cash deposit from the credit card. Never heard from him again.

I have noticed severalfake ads in the San Diego area in various areas of Craigslist. Namely the Houses for sale, Apartments & homes forrent, cars for sale and roommates wanted too.
The worst perpetrators of crime seem to be the cars for sale. These ads are inundated with falsehoods & lies. The problem is that even when one flags the ads several times craigslist often don't take heed & continue to ignore them.

I think the only way for us to get the attention of craigslist is to actually institute a lawsuit against them for aiding and abetting. Because their lack of timely response is tantamount to exactly that - aiding and abetting.

Not having adiquate staff is merely an excuse to condone this behavior and allow it to continue unchecked, while the average American is being sailed down the river yet again, and another big money machine is raking in large profits without taking responsibility for the efeects of their websites actions. THIS IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE AND CANNOT BE LEFT UNCHECKED - Lets send them a message - by hitting them in their pockets, where they will feel it and it will induce them to take action!!!

Don't kill the messenger... Some of you state that Craigslist is at fault, but I'd like to point out that Craigslist is simply the medium being used, they are not perpetrating the crimes in question. People will always find a way to Scam and Con. Sad but true. Personally Craigslist has been invaluable to me, and if you're stupid enough to send money to someone you don't know, accpt checks or give checks for "overage" well is that really Craigs fault? I don't think So... I think you're Gullible and need to approach strangers with a grain of salt. Heck... even my 4 year old get's "stranger danger."

While I certainly sympathize with anyone who is ever a victim of fraud in general, I will voraciously defend Craigslist. I have found great deals on power tools, furniture, etc. I have also landed great jobs and housing with the site. It is by far the best thing to happen to online commerce if you ask me. Sure, I have gotten spam email whenever I put up an ad looking for housing, but c'mon. Simple common sense will tell you that someone looking for "an agent to accept payments in U.S in exchange for a place to stay" is quite obviously a fraud. Plus, to top it all off, the ads are F-R-E-E!

EVERY time I post an ad on CL trying to sell misc. items, the ONLY people who respond to me are SCAMMERS!! It gets so OLD!!!!!! After I post an ad I will get like 10 responses all claiming to be an elderly woman in london or africa or some other country. She needs me to be the executor of her finances because she doesn't want it to fall into the "WRONG HANDS" CL SERIOUSLY needs a fraud department, where all they do is sit on the computer all day and sort through the ads, deleting fake ones they can find!! They should find a way that when someone posts an ad their server saves that ISP address, and if it's fake ban it!! It just gets SOOOO ANNOYING!!! CL will end up failing over all these scammers!!!! My thoughts go out to you!!! and GOOD LUCK!!!

First, the perpetraitor is guilty of conspiring to commit larceny even if no money has been made yet.
Second, Craigs list does have a responsibility for what is being posted on their web site. They can utillize software that will search out key words for their postings such as pot, child-porn, hit-man, or even your address.
Third, consult your mayor over the police doing nothing, and if the mayor does nothing post your story all over town. Chances are if he or she wants to get re-elected action will be taken.
Finally, get a good lawyer and take Craigs-list to court. They need to be held accountable for what is posted on their web-site. Even if they never posted it, it's still their web site.

I have used CraigsList for years, bought and sold items with no problem. To say that it should be shut down (michael seattle wa) puts the blame on Craigs list which is not the case. Its a free service that all can use. Saying that you have to have and use a little common sence in replying to adds. If it sounds too good.... Double check be fore getting sucked in to a scam. As for dating on Craigs list, dont be stupid and desprate, its not for that.

"I still don't understand why people are so stupid that they send money to someone without knowing anything about them. Send the money and I will send the keys....how does that sound legimate to you? "

So you're too chicken to post your name with an insulting post like this? Just watch, someday it'll happen to you.

This isn't a matter of being stupid. I wasn't waiting for the keys to be sent- I already had a signed contract in hand, along with an address, phone number, fax number, email, etc. All he "wanted" was a small deposit. this isn't unusual when renting an apartment, in fact it's standard. Unfortunately, I was in a different state. I've had to rent out of state before and it worked fine.

Sometimes these are just hard to spot.

ELAINE- just be really careful. Read the "Warnings" on Craigslist and follow them to a T. Don't wire money. If you need to send money, send it in a traceable form- a credit card, personal check or a bank to bank transfer is the best. Do a google search on the "renter's" name. Do a reverse phone number lookup. Ask for an email address that requires registration (so not hotmail, gmail or yahoo.... something like a work email, school email, or paid service like peoplepc or earthlink is better).

If you can, make sure someone (preferably you, but if you can't get someone from your job, a neighbor, a friend or relative, whatever) to go check it out for you and actually TOUR the apartment.

If you're renting/subletting an apartment from the individual owner- ask for the number of the building landlord/superintenant and make sure that person actually lives there.

Just some ideas we learned from our bad experience.

Good luck.

This isn't necessarily unique to Craigslist. They could just as easily be forging ads in almost any medium. It's more convenient at Craigslist because it's free. When you consider the volume of postings the incidence of fraud is remarkably low. Cold comfort to the victims of such fraud but always a good reminder to exercise caution.

I use craiglist often. I have found scams are rampant there. If you are not on your toes you can get caught in one. But most are spotted quiet easily. The beauty of craigslist is it's freedom to operate with few restrictions. Post and ad wait for buyer, done. But this is also its biggest downfall because it allows for a lot of scumbags to operate there.

for those of you looking to rent an apartment/house somewhere, try sublet.com. It has a small fee, but it's totally worth it, plus its a little more regulated than Craigslist (thus the fee).

I have noticed severalfake ads in the San Diego area in various areas of Craigslist. Namely the Houses for sale, Apartments & homes forrent, cars for sale and roommates wanted too.
The worst perpetrators of crime seem to be the cars for sale. These ads are inundated with falsehoods & lies. The problem is that even when one flags the ads several times craigslist often don't take heed & continue to ignore them.

I think the only way for us to get the attention of craigslist is to actually institute a lawsuit against them for aiding and abetting. Because their lack of timely response is tantamount to exactly that - aiding and abetting.

Not having adiquate staff is merely an excuse to condone this behavior and allow it to continue unchecked, while the average American is being sailed down the river yet again, and another big money machine is raking in large profits without taking responsibility for the efeects of their websites actions. THIS IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE AND CANNOT BE LEFT UNCHECKED - Lets send them a message - by hitting them in their pockets, where they will feel it and it will induce them to take action!!!

These are all variations on The Nigerian Bank Scam. You can often tell by odd grammar or word usage. They tell you too much info. THEY ALWAYS SEND A CHECK FOR MORE THAN THE AMOUNT (this is an ebay scam, also an "I am the widow of the late Hatian dictator and he has left $3,000,000 of which you will receive half if you only send your bank account number and pin number) and the mark sends back a real check or money order, or bank account number. AT THIS POINT, EVERYONE HAS HEARD OF THESE AND OUTGHT TO BE AWARE. Craigslist is a GREAT resource, but you must read the adds with a bit of scepticism. I advertisied that I was needing vintage glass or old windows. I had a lovely man deliver a truck load of perfect vintage windows for free because he didn't want them to go into the landfill. USE YOUR HEAD!

While I realize this is a serious problem for the real owners of the property, the people being scammed deserve what they get if they're willing to send money to get keys from a stranger! These scams only work because people fall for them repeatedly. It seems rediculous that Craigslist or the media should have to 'warn' adults not to send money to strangers! Do the people that fall for these scams tell their children to get into cars with strangers too? Survival of the fittest!

In defense of Craigslist- There are thousands of transactions taking place each day that are NOT fraudulent, but the bad ones seem to get the lime light. True, there are alot of fake job listings, car listings and yes, even bogus real estate listings. I have purchased three cars and sold 2 on craigslist, (many of them sold in less than 24 hrs). You just can't get that kind of service FOR FREE elsewhere in this world, so you take the good with the bad. Because stupid (or gullible) people exist, criminals thrive. I flag bogus craigslist ads whenever I see them. If you make it too hard for the crooks maybe they will get tired of being shot down by the smart folks out there. Caveot Emptor as always!

YOU CAN'T FIX STUPID! Come on does anyone with a little bit of common sense believe that a home with 5 bedroom, 2.5 baths in Tampa Bay would rent for $800 a month. The second and even larger RED flag should have been, send the deposit and I will send the keys. DUH here is my cash for the rental, make sire you ask the renter if they have any relatives in Africa who have a couple million in the bank and you could help them transfer it to your account in the U.S. for a couple thousand dollars. The United States needs to put more emphasis on education; we have too many ignorant people in this country......

I agree with the other posters asking who would be stupid enough to fall for this. Who sends any money regarding a rental property without first seeing the inside? Wouldn't the average person with half a brain realize that handing money to an unknown party for a property that hasn't even been looked it might be a scam? I know people get drawn in by good deals, but taking a second and asking whether it makes sense might be a good idea in these cases.

I agree that craigslist is a joke. If you leave your phone # you get hundreds of calls from bots and if you leave your email you get tons of spam. I have tried to sell so many items on craigslist and decided to stick with ebay due to all the problems.

If it sounds too good to be true, it is. I was looking for a home to rent and there is an exact situation that happened last winter in Flemington, NJ. I knew it was a scam because I had talked to the real estate person and actually knew who the owners were. It's that easy, find out who the owners really are.

Please be aware that in addition to the real estate scams there are also vehicle scams. Usually the vehicle is listed 1/2 of what it is worth. The seller states he or she is out on assignment or vacation for weeks and will include shipping in the price with the caviat that the vehicle can be returned if not acceptable when it is delivered to the buyer.

I was looking to buy a travel trailer in the Denver area. I found an ad that tweaked my interest and responded to the craigslist e-mail. Supposedly the teailer was in SLC and he wanted me to send the money to MoneyBookers of Great Britain where he was recovering from a stroke. He would have the trailer sent to me for free. I said i'll go there and check it out. END of conversation! Two weeks later, a similar ad in the Dallas area and same thing about moneyBookers, free shipping. But now the trailer was in Tulsa! I knew their game so I replied back, Good News! My brother lives in Tulsa and he'll go check it this afternoon, what is the address, Once again, end of conversation. I reported both ads to CraigsList.

What bothers me here is Craigslist doing nothing to stop the reposting of the scam messages. It seems like it would be simple to set up a bot program which searches all new posts for addresses given in reported scam posts and removes any re-posting of the same scam.

Look, keep it simple people. If it seems to good to be true it is. And ONLY deal with cash when the item is rendered. NO MONEY EVER CHANGES HANDS UNTIL YOU HAVE INSPECTED THE ITEM YOU WANT TO PURCHASE AND IT MEETS YOUR REQUIREMENTS. Once again if it seems to good to be true then it is. I have sold lots of items on Craigs List and purchased as well and this is always the case. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, go by yourself to another persons home to make a purchase or to interview for a job. Common sense rules here people. Craigs list is great but people are by in large not. Use your head and you will have a good experience. Lets sum it up...Cash Only!!! Never go by yourself, No Deposits, IF IT IS TO GOOD TO BE TRUE THEN IT IS. Pass on the item and find another. Good Luck.

I agree with the posts suggesting Craigslist is not to blame, but that the gullible must shoulder responsibility. (Although I am astonished by the post describing a defrauded renter who was actually shown the baited apartment - what can you do there??) You would think in the absence of Craigslist there would be plenty of other forums for scamming, but I must admit I struggle to think of hearing of as much fraud being perpetrated as easily before Craigslist (CL) came along. I know that CL prides itself on its wideopen, free community aspect. But I wonder if a large degree of this activity couldn't be solved by charging a nominal fee for posting? If you are listing real estate legitimately, surely it would be worth $10, $20, $50 or more to place the ad (especially if by doing so you circumvent the outrageous fee you would otherwise have to pay an agent). I think that scammers would probably be less bold if they had to front their own money.

I use craigslist, and scams are definitely above the noise level, some days I see 30% of new postings that are recognized or obvious scams. Scammers are usually lazy, so they post the same ad to different market places. If I am suspicious about a item I am considering, I do a google search on the craigslist title. If I find identical ads spread around the country, I flag it and don't waste my time.

I use craigslist, and scams are definitely above the noise level, some days I see 30% of new postings that are recognized or obvious scams. Scammers are usually lazy, so they post the same ad to different market places. If I am suspicious about a item I am considering, I do a google search on the craigslist title. If I find identical ads spread around the country, I flag it and don't waste my time.

Craigslist intentionally provides a safe harbor for gypsy contractors, people selling stolen property, prostitutes and drug dealers. If you removed every criminal post from Craigslist the remaining content could be stored on a single floppy disk.

I think we should just not be so dumb as to fall for stupid scams like this... that alone will stop these scams from occuring.

Another SCAM: My wife and I posted some items for sale on "craigs list". A few days later we had a response from "erickwilliams@hotmail.com" stating he wanted an item and would even add an additional $50 if we removed the item in order to sercure the pruchase. Of course we agreed, then the SCAM began, a few days later we recieved a check in the mail for $2400. My wife called UPS to find out if this delivery was a mistake and found out that the acct. used to send this money was a cancelled acct., we then checked with the Bank, the check was issued from and the acct. existed yet had been closed and there was no funds. I played the email game with this scammer for two weeks, ( I hoped that if he/she was taking the time to try and get money from me, it would take time away from scamming someone else) In this scam he tried to get me to send the remaining $1900 ($400 for the purchase and as a bonus for my time "keep an extra $100") and send it to his "mover", a lady from CO., so she could pick-up the item and take it to NY for him...After several days I came up with the idea (knowing this was a scam I tried to get a physical address from him) so on a vacation we would take in a few weeks, we could drop off the item and even help set it up, sensing something was not going how he planned I received an email asking for $700 sent to his mover for her rent, and then the rest in a few days to finish the transaction. Much less the UPS package, and the check that was sent had a different name, then the email contact and from a diffenert state then the scammer had stated he lived. To sum-up this long drawn out SCAM, we were able to figure this out very quickly and reported everything to UPS, Bank, Craigslist, his phone co. he gave me the number to call, and the FBI internet scam number but I received the same response as Siddon did in your article, so finally I called his bluff via one last email which I never received a reponse. It is hard for me to see how people in todays society fall for this but I read about it all the time (such as this article I am responding to) it took me less then an hour to make some phone calls, and find out that this was all a scam. So when selling or buying/renting anything thru the internet, take a few minutes of your time and research before accepting anything.

I use Craigslist a lot. I have received several replies to my listed ads that have been suspect. My number one rule: I only sell locally & face to face. When I receive emails from people who offer complicated exchanges, etc, I simply reply "I only sell locally." They never email back. That's saved me so many times.

I agree with the other posts about our responsibility to start calling out these scammers and labeling their posts for others to see. I really appreciate reading all these posts. They are full of GREAT information.

I recently looked through Craigslist for a part-time job, and the majority of ads for jobs seemed flagrantly "too good to be true." Everyone was telling me to give Craigslist a try, so I emailed my resume to one posting that I thought seemed trustworthy. I received a response from someone who had nothing to do with the company listed, and I quickly realized that their job listing was fake and a marketing ploy. I am not going to utilize Craigslist again.

My husband and I were apartment hunting a few months ago and we found at least 3 apartments that were owned by people who were working/living out of the country and we needed to send money to get keys. We're not gullible, but the email responses are written very convincingly and include detailed information on how to send the money and where to receive keys. My husband called one of the complexes and asked if they were renting units and was told that the units are all privately owned and any private subletting is strictly prohibited except through agreements created through the complex management office. That's when we realized it was most likely a scam. It isn't black and white though... I can see how easy it would be for someone to be scammed.

I have had several try to pull scams on me. Two involved checks larger than asking price on items selling. They asked me to deposit, subtract shipping andf over payment and send balance to a third party. I opened an account at a bank and deposited check and spoke to clerk about suspicions. Check was monitored, but scariest part is it took three weeks even for them to determine it was fraud. second one, I strung them along with promised payment until they finally got tired of the game. Hopefully it kept them busy with me and not on someone willing to bite.
Simple rule: Nothing is free. Cash is best which is what I demand and everything sold as is. Let them come and test whetever it is out and tell them no warrany. Heck, you are usually giving it away anyways by comaprison of what you paid, why take a bigger hit with warranties etc?

I have been looking for an apartment in the Miami area for the past 2-3 months. I have run across 3 scams. One was the exact story as mentioned above, that of a good christian woman whos husband died and is in W. Africa. I became suspicious when the pictures posted for a "1 bedroom" didn't match. The flooring was different as so the light fixture. When I asked the person they told me they didn't need to deal with me, that they would rent it to someone else.
I told them I knew they were fraudulent posts, and flagged them, then never heard from them again.
Craigs List is un utter nightmare.

Jean Flood, you mean your daughter gave a $1,200 check t o someone, the check was cashed and the police can do nothing? That's hard to believe. The bank has to have a record of the check casher and from there, the police can begin a trace.

Police not doing anything about scams is just part of problem with our Country today - and minimal to what I've been experiencing for quite some time.

Crooked cops in Newport, RI jumped & beat me because I tried to exercise my 1st Ammendment Right.

In particular - NPD Lt. Jose Costa intentionally inflicted serious injuries upon me (by trying to break my left wrist & right thumb) without provocation & while defencelessly hand-cuffed behind my back. Several fellow uniformed Officers smiled as they watched & none attempted to intervene!

Very long story, but I wouldn't make these claims if I couldn't back them up. I've even offered to take a polygraph at numerous times to various groups, but none are willing to see this done. (I'm sure it's because they know I'm telling the truth & don't want this outragousness exposed to the public)

Ultimately - a Superior Court Jury found me NOT-Guilty of all charges at my MALICIOUS PROSECUTION. (NPD's attempt to justify thies shocking actions)

I later won a law-suit against City, but things have only gotten worse, since.

I'm repeatedly assaulted/harrassed/threatened/stalked by NPD Officers/colleagues & thier relatives/friends, but nobody is willing to investigate.

For almost a year - City of Newport has repeatedly refused to provide open-records of Documentation that WOULD support NPD's alledged claim of a surveillence camera (that I was attacked under - in thier parking lot) supposedly being broken for Months prior to incident & SUPPOSEDLY replaced with a new one - THE DAY AFTER ASSAULT TOOK PLACE!

I have abundent physical evidence supporting my claims (including video, photos, Testimony Transcripts of Perjury, Witness Statements/Interviews, Medical Records, admittedly fabricated police reports, etc.) but can't even get help from RI Chapter of ACLU. I feel they're just ANOTHER part of the over-all cover-up!

My advice to America...don't sweat the small stuff like a Craigslist scam, just be careful about who you do business with. Instead, do yourself & Family a favor & BOYCOTT Newport, RI - it just might be the best thing you ever did to protect your SAFETY.

Even Newport Mayor Steve Waluk & RI Senator Theresa Paiva Weed support the corruption here - thier city of residence. They were both EYE-WITNESSES to numerous parts of my "initial" confrontation with NPD back in 2004 & REFUSED TO COME FORWARD WITH THE TRUTH, ABOUT WHAT THEY SAW!

The job boards are bad too. That really hurts when you don't have a job and think you've found a possible opportunity. It really sucks.

I had my apartment to share ad in craigslist. I got a lot of response. I had not had experience with the site before. A girl??? from another country said she wanted the apt and would send a cashiers ck for MORE than the amount so I could pay the movers when they arrived. After taking it to my bank and finding out it was an OBVIOUS fraud, (duh), I continued to go along with her. She first said the mover needed the money ahead of time and gave a home add in Calif. Then she said that mover couldn't do it and to send the money to Ft. Lauderdale. I told her I lived 5 minutes from there and to have the person come over. Never heard from her again.

Basically - common sense will stop these kinds of scams from ever being successful. Who sends money for an apartment theyve never seen to a person they dont know ? I get those 'youve won the england/african/british lottery' everyday. of course that sounds like the supidest ish i've ever heard so they get automatically thrown in the trash. Dont blame craigslist - like someone said above, they are just the medium, the real error lies with the users.

In my search for an apt. to rent I also encountered the nigerian, christian, missionary SCAM e-mail in CRAIGSLIST. It showed amazing photos of the property for rent & as smart as people can be, we fall for it for different reasons. My weakness was the "CHRISTIAN" part of it, since I'm christian myself. I also contacted San Diego police & they just told me that theye couln't do anything until there's a crime done. I was & still am very concearned about identity theft, since these scamers do send you a questionere w/ personal info & although they didn't ask for SS#, Driver's License for example, they do have my address, phone #, Name & how many people in my family, possibly enough info to connect thed dots if they really want to to steal my identity. In my opinion, craigslist is not realy taking any steps to take care of this matter. Is anyone realy working on this problem?

I have to say to all the stupid people and ignorant people who actually think ads like that are real. Come on... send me deposit and Ill send you the keys.... obivously fake... kudos to the woman who reported the fake ad!

or how about, owner had to leave country everything on property free?! The people who show up are obviously stupid and ignorant about the fact that they are robbing someone... they should be arrested and charged... 1. robbery to grand theft(per item stolen), 2. Burglary and larceny , 3. Tresspassing, 4. Conspiracy to commit a crime/burglary, 5. Aiding and abetting to a burglary, 6. Breaking and Entering

I would throw the book at whomever... Common sense would kick in and say, Hey that ad is fake.. but lets go there anyway and STEAL! apparently some people dont have it... I guess I count my blessings...

I'm very sorry about your friend Katherine. It is a sad world we live in where someone is killed while looking for a job. You definitely honor her by remembering. Take heart in that she is at peace now.
Respectfully
Kim Sparks

It is unfortunate that scams happen but you can't blame Craiglist because crooks will always find a way whether it be by phone, email, paper or listings on the internet. Knowing that these scams happen should help you be on the lookout that this is a possibility and do more research instead of being so trusting. If a deal is too good to be true chances are you will get ripped off these days.
I have used Craiglist to sublet my apartment and it went wonderfully and found someone within two weeks but I made sure to get as much info as I could such as name, phone numbers, current place of residence before showing them my apt so I wouldn't be giving just anyone my address. When they came to look at my place being a single mom I made sure that I had a male friend come over in case there was a chance it was some pervert that could hurt myself or my daughter and let someone know I was showing the place and if for some reason they did not hear from me within 20-30 min to come check on things. It sucks that you have to be so cautious but unfortunately that is the world we currently live in and to me it is better safe then sorry.

It seems that Nigeria is the place where all of these people are taking base. The US Government needs to stop doing any transactions with Nigeria in an effort for the Nigerian Government to step up efforts to put their Con-artist in jail.

Advice for anything online: If you are selling something and a buyer is willing to pay more, it's a scam.

In the last year, I've purchased some furniture and rented an apartment from CL. All a screaming deal, nice people, good, no hassle transactions. CL is inherently good. Just be careful. If you can't do a transaction live without real people and cash, don't do it.

I have a small business and craigslist has been a terrific avenue for me to connect with potential customers. Right from the beginning I decided to never ask for any money until they receive the product. I also personally deliver it to them so the risk to me is minimized as well. In three years I have had three checks bounce but eventually I was paid. I do think there are ways that CL could improve things, but they would need to start charging for posting which is counter to their stated philosophy. BTW, I don't deliver to the UK or Nigeria! :-)

From time to time it's good to get ripped off. The best way to learn is from your mistakes.

Do what I do: don't use Craigs List. Nobody is making you use it. Yes, I used to look for good deals and even tried to sell my car there. Then I became tired of all the scams. If enough people become fed up and stop using the site, the owners will either put in place computer code to filter out (most) of the scam posts, or go out of business and close the website.
If Google mail can do such a great job of filtering spam email (and does it for free) other sites can, too.

We spend our whole lives learning to be safe. Our moms teach us not to talk to strangers, look both ways before crossing the street, etc. Then we get on the internet and forget everything we learned. Craigs list is a tool. It's not the fault of the web site, if some people don't have common sense. "..Be careful out there" and happy selling!!

Rule of Thumb: Don't respond to any ad or email that mentions Nigeria or any other African nation.

The scum who place the real estate listings are bad enough. What's worse is that some people are stupid enough to send money in hopes of being sent keys. Nobody does business that way. People who hand over money to strangers for goods not delivered might as well paint a bulls-eye on their shirt.

Craigslist could change two things that would greatly alleviate these types of problems:

1. Allow people to attach comments to ads that are posted. The comments themselves could have the option of being 'flagged' in case they are inflammatory or false.

2. In the case of outright fraud. There should be a way to include a note with your flag so that these cases are noticed immediately by Craigslist employees. As it is these ads will only get noticed by their employees when "enough" people flag it.

We were looking for a house to rent on Craigslist and we came across way more fraudulent ads then just a mere "rounding error" as the Craigslist CEO says in this article. We even came across a scammer from S. America who wanted us to wire him the money so that he could send the keys. Luckily, we weren't that gullible.

The main problem is the FBI and authorities are not doing a thing about this problem. Take it from someone who has experienced attemped scamming and received a counterfeit check but knew enough not to cash it. I reported it on the FBI website. No one has ever contacted me about it. The local authorities said because I did not try to cash the check, there was nothing they could do. Give me a break. This is the problem. Meanwhile this same bozo is still out there pulling scams using other people's names and the authorities are doing absolutely nothing about it.

Honestly, I don't get get why anyone who reads the word 'Nigeria' in an ad or a response to your own ad wouldn't just run for the hills! I mean, who on earth doesn't know about the Nigerian scammers? And yes, anyone dumb enough to hand over their money or personal information to a complete stranger is a moron and deserves what they get.

Now, I use Craigslist once in a while to meet new friends or to sell things, and here a few very good tips to remember:

- NEVER use an email address that you pay for, like comcast.net or mac.com - any hacker can get in and get your financial and identity info. Always use a generic yahoo or gmail or hotmail address and when signing up, type in false info, never your real name and contact info. And NEVER use your work email address - you want some nutjob showing up at your office looking for you?

- NEVER - like one poster above said - include a picture of yourself in your ad or in a response to a stranger. Describe yourself to your potential friend, and tell him or her that if they want to meet it will have to be on personality alone. Actually, what I do is post a joke picture - it tends to break the ice because it's funny and anyone who won't meet you if you don't provide a picture is up to no good.

- NEVER EVER EVER meet a stranger somewhere private! I had a friend who was so desperate for a guy she asked a total stranger over and got raped. Never tell them where you live or offer to have them over for dinner at a first meeting. ALWAYS meet for coffee at the first meeting, preferably at a crowded Starbucks, and DO NOT accept an offer for a ride home. Always have your own way home.

- LISTEN TO YOUR GUT! I once went on a date with a guy from CL who seemed nice then he spent the night saying terrible things about women and when he told me to 'shut up' when I told him how rude he was, I excused myself to the bathroom and high-tailed it home, making sure he didn't see me leave.

- NEVER EVER EVER EVER include in your email signature (or your email address) your real name, phone number or where you work. You are simply asking for big time trouble. I use a distorted version of my real name - one no one earth could figure our - and never talk to a stranger on the phone - only in emails.

- NEVER get involved in cyberbullying. This is a tough one for me because I always like to have the last word, but I've learned that a great deal of men on Craigslist are angry and volatile and become much braver behind a computer screen than they are in real life. It's not worth it to fight, especially given the "revenge" ads they can then post about you. If you do get into a fight with someone online, change your email address and start all over again as someone new. I have unfortunately had the same angry people respond to various ads.

I don't think that Craigslist is totally a bad thing and I don't think it can be blamed for every single thing that happens on it. It's personal responsibility that is the issue and like I mentioned before, technology makes people act braver in private because they do not have to face the conserquences of hurting someone in person.

Honestly, I don't get get why anyone who reads the word 'Nigeria' in an ad or a response to your own ad wouldn't just run for the hills! I mean, who on earth doesn't know about the Nigerian scammers? And yes, anyone dumb enough to hand over their money or personal information to a complete stranger is a moron and deserves what they get.

Now, I use Craigslist once in a while to meet new friends or to sell things, and here a few very good tips to remember:

- NEVER use an email address that you pay for, like comcast.net or mac.com - any hacker can get in and get your financial and identity info. Always use a generic yahoo or gmail or hotmail address and when signing up, type in false info, never your real name and contact info. And NEVER use your work email address - you want some nutjob showing up at your office looking for you?

- NEVER - like one poster above said - include a picture of yourself in your ad or in a response to a stranger. Describe yourself to your potential friend, and tell him or her that if they want to meet it will have to be on personality alone. Actually, what I do is post a joke picture - it tends to break the ice because it's funny and anyone who won't meet you if you don't provide a picture is up to no good.

- NEVER EVER EVER meet a stranger somewhere private! I had a friend who was so desperate for a guy she asked a total stranger over and got raped. Never tell them where you live or offer to have them over for dinner at a first meeting. ALWAYS meet for coffee at the first meeting, preferably at a crowded Starbucks, and DO NOT accept an offer for a ride home. Always have your own way home.

- LISTEN TO YOUR GUT! I once went on a date with a guy from CL who seemed nice then he spent the night saying terrible things about women and when he told me to 'shut up' when I told him how rude he was, I excused myself to the bathroom and high-tailed it home, making sure he didn't see me leave.

- NEVER EVER EVER EVER include in your email signature (or your email address) your real name, phone number or where you work. You are simply asking for big time trouble. I use a distorted version of my real name - one no one earth could figure our - and never talk to a stranger on the phone - only in emails.

- NEVER get involved in cyberbullying. This is a tough one for me because I always like to have the last word, but I've learned that a great deal of men on Craigslist are angry and volatile and become much braver behind a computer screen than they are in real life. It's not worth it to fight, especially given the "revenge" ads they can then post about you. If you do get into a fight with someone online, change your email address and start all over again as someone new. I have unfortunately had the same angry people respond to various ads.

I don't think that Craigslist is totally a bad thing and I don't think it can be blamed for every single thing that happens on it. It's personal responsibility that is the issue and like I mentioned before, technology makes people act braver in private because they do not have to face the conserquences of hurting someone in person.

Every apartment I have had and the last two jobs I've had I found on Craig's list. I also was able to sell a lot of stuff I no longer needed but couldn't move at a yard sale on Craig's list. i have seent he scams, but Craig's list has a warning telling you what a scam looks like - out of country, no face to face, etc. My #1 rule- if you want to buy something from me or if I'm going to get something from you, I want a phone number and I want to meet face to face. Scams are so easy to spot, only people who are desperate to get something for impossibly cheap would take the bait. I saw an apartment listed for Boston, incredibly cheap with all utilities included. I e-mailed the person asking lots of questions- they did not answer any of my questions directly, I could tell right away that this was a generated e-mail. I didn't even respond.
Don't knock Craig's list, it is wonderful, just are just some bad apples out there. If you don't want to use Carig's list, then don't. The rest of us can still continue to use it, find good jobs and great apartments and sell our mini fridges with ease.

I think we should start an underground check system that people who are victim's of scams can complain to. Then the group would track down the ISP and, eventually, the person....and kick their a$$. ;-)

I think CL should charge a nominal fee to post on their site -- One dollar for small items, 5 -10 bucks for cars, employment and housing as well as other larger items. This would discourage scammers in poor countries from posting as much, and CL could use the money for an anti-fraud dept.

This isn't rare. I've had this happen to me before in the form of a car. They used my name and phone number to post a fake listing for a car that was priced ridiculously. I had never even heard of "Craigslist" until this happened to me. I had to deal with angry people when I told them I had no clue what they were talking about and I, myself, got upset with some people thinking it was a group harassing me for the sake of doing so. So anyhow, I had to use my own time to go and find this ad and ask that craigslist take it down. I don't even know if they caught the person, but I would of happily filed charges. Mark my words, if it ever happens again, I'll be calling craigslist with both the police and lawyer at hand.

The perpetrators of the real estate scam are operating in many segments of Craigslist. I live in France and we are looking for housing, but most of the ads which appear on Craigslist are scams, following the same MO except in the ads in France, the owners have been transferred to somewhere in the US. I agree with most people that we have to take responsibility for our actions, but I do believe Craigslist could do more to eliminate the scams, especially the recurring ones. From a Craigslist prospective, I don't think it is responsible to say "We are just a conduit for the ads, and not responsible for the consequences".

I use Craigslist all of the time selling some of my stuff. I would run into a scammer once in awhile if I had a large $ item for sale. They would see if I would take a cashiers check and since they were out of the state, they would send someone over to pick up the item after they sent me the check. (So we gave them a fake address to send the check to)They would then say they made a mistake on the amount of the cashiers check and instead of $200 it was $2000. They asked if we would cash the check and keep an extra $300 for our troubles and send the balance to them. We messed with them for awhile, scamming them back, even giving them the FBI's phone number as our #. I make sure I put "CASH ONLY" on my ads from now on and I don't even have them come to my house (incase it is a potential theif wanting to scope my house), I meet them in a busy parking lot.

When doing business with anyone. Whether it is a legit business or not.

You have to take personal responsibilty for the transaction. that means knowing who and what you are dealing with upfront.

Most people do not do the research before hand, and just jump at things because everyone wants something for nothing.

You can't post an ad on CL or send an e-mail through a CL blindbox without getting a large, simply-worded, comprehensive scam warning. Honest to peezus, folks... Do you want the Big Nanny to wipe your ass for you after you use the restroom too?

It's been said so many times, in so many different ways, it seems sad that someone has to say it again, but here goes... IF IT LOOKS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT PROBABLY IS.

A five-bedroom, 2.5 bath house in an expensive market for $800 a month? Puhleeze.

A brand new high-end sports car for a couple thousand dollars? Catch a clue.

There is commercially-available forum-moderation software out there designed to block posts from spam-generating URLs, and I'm sure it could be modified for CL to block posts from frequently-flagged URLs and ones from which multiple identical or near-identical posts are made in different categories, so no, CL doesn't really do everything it COULD do to cut down on bogus posts, but how about in the meantime, folks catch a clue?

The weird, provincial, nonsensical attitude that if it was printed in the newspaper it must be true has evidently transferred to the internet, with tragicomic results.

Scams and grifters have existed essentially forever. The internet gives them a wider available audience, but their existence is not a product of the internet, nor can it be blamed on the internet, except by stupid people who don't want to take responsibility for their own actions.

It stinks that cons use great mediums like Craigslist to do their dirty tricks. As with anything online where people are posting in mass ... watch out for yourself. Personally, I have successfully used Craigslist to find housing (twice) and a job -- both in the metro area where I was living and while I lived halfway across the country. We also sold a car through Craigslist. I definitely experienced some fishy posts, but as with anything, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

I love CL and have sold many items that would now just be taking up room in my house.BUT you have to be very careful. I sold my beautiful canoe and when the add went up--I got those fake offers from Africa asking me to accept more money,blah,blah,and I just deleted them! I did sell it for top price to an honest person and I always stipulate CASH only for all sales. So, here are my rules that may help anyone who uses CL for sales.1)Stipulate "Cash only sale"-delete any emails that try to talk you into any other way of paying for the item. 2) If someone emails you and wants to buy your item--ask for THEIR phone number. Then call them back and check them out. 3)If you decide to sell them the item--DO NOT HAVE THEM COME TO YOUR HOUSE WHILE YOU ARE ALONE and do not let them go inside of your house--regardless of what excuse they use. Make sure to invite a few friends over and bring the item for sale outside--meet them in your front yard and hand over the item after you count your cash.4)Always meet the buyer in the day time--never at night. 5)Use the delete button when you get email offers that sound like scams. Using these rules, I have sold many things to many people. All so far to very honest people. But I have had to delete many emails that were clearly African scam artist or people trying to get me to give them my address. Scammers and crazy people will back off if you sound like you know what you are doing with confidence. Personally, I think that CL should charge for Real Estate listings--it may limit the fraud.

We also were contacted by Eric Williams. (ericwillims@gmail.com) Here was his response...

Thanks for the prompt response. I have instructed my
account officer to mail (overnight) a certified
check, while you hold this item for me. Let me know
when you receive the check and I will have my mover
will come pick up at your place. Please forward me
the following info so I can issue your check . . .

1.Your full name
2.Your mailing address(Physical)
3.Your phone number.

** Please note that I will overnight the payment,and
you should receive it tomorrow. I appreciate you
holding this for me. Please delete the posting as I
am definitely buying it from you and it would be sad
for me to have the payment in the mail only to be
informed of the its sale**

I realized that this was a scam and asked him to meet us with cash and never heard from him again. If we didn't catch this scam, he would have taken our items, left us without payment and a fee for a fraudulent cashiers check. Beware!

My husband fell for the same sort of thing. We were trying to sell our snake and someone in another state said they wanted it so he was going to send one of his friends to get it. We got a money order from some company and it was 2000 more than what we were supposed to get... Not only did it not clear our bank but no one came to get the snake! When the money order didnt clear the bank the guy asked him for our bank account info so he could just transfer the money... thats about the time that my husband told him to kiss his you know what!

Well I agree with a majority of what I read from other posters about the issues on Craigslist. On the one hand if something sounds to good to be true, it probably is is a great addage to remember. I utilize craigslist to search for jobs and to post my resume. I'm cautious about other areas of use as the scams are more prevalent. But if you use good judgment then your chances of being scammed are greatly reduced. Not to mention craigslist isn't the only source for scams we as a society need just to be more vigilant in how and with whom we do business.

VISTA is hands down the worst product Microsoft ever released.

Before anyone rents a house or apartment, you need to first make sure the person you are renting from actually owns the property and it's not in foreclosure. If it's in foreclosure (a common scam), you will be evicted faster than you can unpack. Contact your county assessor's office or the recorder for the information.

Craigs list most certainly has some responsability here. If someone owns a house and friends use it for illegal activities, the home owner has to take some responsibility. The site would be useless if we, the consumers, did not use it. Don't you think that makes us their customer. They can't provide fraudulent products to customers and not be held liable. It's funny this article came out today. My lady and I are going to ny next month and she suggested craigslist to find somewhere to stay for a few nights. I looked at it last night for the first time and the whole thing just seemed real shady. The site needs to do more to make its customers feel secure. I'll pay the extra money for the secure hotel.

it still surprises me as to how some people still fall for scams like these! i mean everyone talks about scams like these day in day out. still surprises me to hear about people falling for the nigerian email scams, even after this scam has been exposed and fallen for year after year...cmon quit believing everything you read on add is true. Deal locally and check these adds thoroughly. As someone posted above me said "if you are still falling for these scams, it serves you right"
its not too hard to do a quick search online and figure someone is trying to scam you.

I scammed the CL scammers :-) I had put an add out for furniture that someone out of state responded to (with terrible english and obviously little knowledge of how 'real' business is done in the US). They said they would send me a check for like 5x the amount I was asking and all I had to do was cash the check, use the money to send the furniture, and keep the shipping fee while sending them the balance of the check. Knowing they were full of it I strung them along until they had called me 3 times (long distance, on their dime) and even FedEx'd me the check (costing them a few bucks). SUCKERS!

The woman in this story could try posting a sign next to her For Sale sign that warns Craigslist users that the house is for sale, not for rent, and that they should not send money to anyone. This will help for drive-bys, and like someone else said, if you're filling out applications and sending money for a place you haven't even inspected in person, then you have yourself to blame.

iF THE DEAL SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE THEN IN ALL LIKELYHOOD IT IS,PEOPLE NEED TO CHECK AND SEE IF THE AD IS GOOD,IF IT ISNT THEN LET THESE PEOPLE AT cRAIGSLIST KNOW ITTS NOT THEN THEY CAN LET THE POLICE KNOW AND THESE GUYS CAN GET BUSTED.fOOLS ARE BORN EVERY 2 SECONDS AND CROOKS KN0W HOW TO SKIRT THE ISSUES AND KEEP RIGHT ON DOING WHATS WRONG WITH WEBSITES LIKE CRAIGSLIST.....

We have used Craigslist for several years with great success both buying and selling. We have also dealt with our share of scammers both buying and selling!! We responded to car ads that had pictures and descriptions in the ad. We then requested the VIN number to run a carfax, which they promptly provided. We ran the carfax and they were perfectly clean. For one reason or another the seller could never meet with us so I became suspicious. I entered the VIN into Google and about 10 Craigslist ads came up in various states PLUS the ad for the actual car dealerships that had the cars for sale came up too! I contacted them and informed them that scammers were using their pictures, descriptions and VIN to try and get deposits from buyers. Unreal! It's definitely a full time job for these scammers, if only they would put that much effort into a REAL job! The best advise I have is never respond to an ad that will not provide you with a LOCAL phone number contact. That's been the best thing we have done and we no longer chase false ads. Good Luck to all!

THIS IS HAPPENING BOSTON!!! THANK GOD I FOUND THIS WEBSITE! I WAS READY TO SEND MY DEPOSIT! A CROCK "APPLICATION" ASKING SUCH QUESTIONS AND YOUR AGE, NAME, RACE, AND RELIGION...NO CREDIT CHECK?!?!? WHAT WAS THIS LADY THINKING!!!! SHE IS CRAZY!

Craigslistings is a wonderful opportunity for people who cannot afford a paid site. However, con artist and fakers post ads, especially on the personal services. I would recomment that the honest people be vigil and flagged all the fakers and con artist. Flagged them wild. Come on honest people "flagged these fakers ads and con artist. lets show tem who is the boss.

WE SHOULD NUKE NIGERIA...THIS IS WHERE ALL OF THIS IS COMING FROM.
THIS IS THEIR FULL TIME JOBS! THEIR PARENTS SHOULD BE PROUD OF THEIR CHOSEN "PROFESSION".
IT'S CALLED A 419 SCHEME...GOOGLE IT...CHECK OUT 419FUN.COM.
THESE PEOPLE ARE LOSERS!!

for the property couldn't you check the tax records to see who the owner of record is then be sure that is the person you are dealing with ?? and never do a deal over the phone.

I got that "I am an honest person" email from a mitchelljackson27@yahoo.com. He is a pastor and his job was moved to Texas!!! Said he didn't have a phone to contact me, but when he did he would call. He never got one, cause he never called. He must be busy praying!! It was a house for rent. I am glad I found out while waiting!!!

I had been looking for apartments in New York City. I responded to three ads which all turned out to be scams. I Googled the phone numbers and these people were in Nigeria and various locations in Africa. Be aware!! They asked for a deposit in return for the keys and they mentioned God quite often. These days, that doesn't say much. To use the Lord's name in vain to make money...these aren't God's children. Shame on scammers!!!

This could all be prevented , but sadly , enforcement is lacking because it happens so much. Think of the manpower needed to file and adminsister each case (let alone the manpower required to investigate) , and you easily see why the law does next to nothing about it.

It would be easy to catch these people - just arrest the people accepting the scammed money. An undercover cop posing as a UPS delivery person , or the bank cooperating and releasing the information on acounts accepting fraudulent deposits are good starts, but again it requires effort and manpower to be effective.

Craigslist can use a automated crawler to search for adds with keywords common to the scams.

Someone just has to kickstart the process and of course , it eats tax, or other dollars and time. Perhaps a work program for those found guilty and incarcerated in which they are made to spend their time helping with enforcement , or stay in solitary confinement until they change their minds about it.

Also , how about some education (instead of the crap that passes for curriculum in our schools these days)? Home economics and history should be mandatory classes , and should include education about fraud , scams ,generally poor business and investment traps.

Then no one would fall for this stuff and places like craigslist would be areas of legitamate commerce.

CAVEAT EMPTOR

I had just sold an expensive racing bicycle on eBay when I discovered an ad on craigslist/Sacramento that had cut and pasted the photos and text right off my eBay auction page. The bike was a one of a kind, with custom components and wheels, so there was no way this person had this bike for sale. And no, it was not the guy I had just sold it to. When I answered the ad with a few questions the repsonse came from a guy who said he was on his honeymoon in Hawaii and had left some items with an eBay franchise store front called "I Sold It" or something like that. I emailed him back and told him they were scamming him and the craigslist was gone the next day. I never did report this to craigslist or eBay, but I guess I should have.

When a person doesnt want to show you the place they are renting before asking for money, it is likely a fraud. When they claim to have travelled, especially to West Africa, it is likely a fraud. I am an african but I also met a similar situation with the same storyline. Most of the Nigerians involved in such scams will always ask you to send money by Western Union.
in my situation, I wanted to get the Canadian police involved but it I could not go very far with it.

People need to start taking resposibility for their own actions rather than blaming craigslist. If you are crazy enough to send money overseas or cash a money order from overseas without actually knowing the person, then you are the one at fault. Come on people, how long have these scams been around? With all the warnings, who ever falls for these scams deserve what they get.

If you're looking for stuff on craigslist, I would only recommend buying if you can pick it up in person. The key to identifying scams is that if the person if "out" of the country or state and you have to send money. Most car deals are usually too good to be true and offers free shipping. Probably the most important thing to keep in mind is that if it's too good to be true then it is a scam.

I have used Craigslist in the past to purchase furniture, but I keep it local, where I meet the seller and purchase the item on the spot, and carry the merchandise away. But funny, just today, I received an email at work soliciting me for a job with some company where I collect checks for them and cash them, take my commission, and mail the balance of the check amount back to them. This of course is a scam, so I sent an alert on this particular email address. You just have to keep your eyes open all the time. And if its too good to be true, it probably is.

I have had great success with Craigslist from finding jobs and an apartment to selling things. Use common sense and you will be alright. These scams could easily be run out of the local newspaper or another site (Ebay, scam city).

Common sense means sending resumes only to emails with company names and only after you have done a little research on the company (hello google). Leave your full address and landline off the resume, city and cell only. Looking for apartments, insist on interior photos and a tour done with a male friend. Make sure the person can actually rent you the apartment (contact the building management company, check public ownership records). Selling stuff? Meet at a busy restaurant during daylight hours (ie. Starbucks or better, next to a police station). Bring cash to buy. Ladies - NEVER meet a stranger alone.

In addition to what other writers have mentioned, please take into consideration that there are a lot of scammers supposedly from Nigeria and Ghana in Africa, posting these scams through websites and even through spam e-mail. The second you read any message from anyone from these alleged countries or other foreign countries, just disregard or delete!

It is truly amazing how many people continue to use something they know is full of scams, totally convinced they are too 'smart' to be fooled!

craigslist helped right away ...I just complained when my e-mail got flooded with replies to and ad we didn't post for an atv for sale in chicogo with a pic up and our e-mail posted to send inquieries to. They removed it right away and no more problems.

I've had no problem posting to CL. Each person has been easy to deal with. I had to part with a Bowflex and the guy showed up, paid cash up front, disassembled it, loaded it in his car and made sure he picked up leaves that he accidently tracked into my house. I think just be careful, post ads with cash only and pick up only. If you're honest and fair upfront, that's what you'll get.

This happened to me a couple of moths ago, Same story, he said that he was sent to West Africa on a mission (I still have the emails)and that if I sent him the deposit he would send the keys. When i told him I thought it was a scam he never emailed me back.

Quit trying to save a few dollars to either sell, buy, or rent a house. Use a reputable real estate agent and you will be better off. Craigslist is the #1 scam site, if you people are dumb enough to fall for an offer you deserve it.

I am female I put an ad on Craigslist simply offering my skills as a gardener and cleaner, asking for help with furanture, giving away my bike etc and 90% of the calls/emails I recieved were of a sexually harrasing nature. According to the person I wrote to at CL it is very common on that site given the open nature of it apparently there have been many complaints and men simply go through the ads randomly picking people to call/email. I wont be going on there again it is distressing.

I may have been about to fall for this very scam. The person was Leslie Webb. I thought I was doing good by checking to see who owned the home. This person was listed as the homeowner. Something in my gut just didnt feel right about the whole thing. It was the same ammo, he said he lived in california but was on an excursion in africa, (but this house is in Kentucky), and as soon as I send the deposit he would send the keys by DHL. I asked if he had anyone here in Kentucky to transact for him and ironically he only had 1 person that could do that, and they had just gone out of town. I finally just emailed him and told him I would not be willing to take the risk, but if he had anyone here who could take the money and give me the key at the same time to let me know, haven't heard anything since. What is funny is that when I went to do a "drive by" there was no for rent sign....

I think I'm the victim of fraud on roommate.com. I met with a young girl who placed an ad looking for a roommate for a place she found. It sounded like a great place at a great price so I responded. She showed me an apartment that looked spectacular, however she said she needed to sign the lease asap and that in order to secure it I would have to give her the security deposit plus 1 month rent upfront in cash only. I think the apt she showed me may have been an open house. She keeps dodging me, but I do have her cell number and she is still signing on to roommate.com as the same user. If it does prove to be a scam I'm going to the police or the local news, maybe they can get her in a setup or sting operation. Has anyone ever heard of this type of scam?

I was just scammed from a pay per use roommate finder site. Everyone beware, I can't believe I fell for it, an innocent looking young lady shows me an aprtment she claims to rent and is in need of a roommate. She sets up the appointments during an open house while the realtor is in the lobby, she told me cause she just signed the lease it needed to be cash, and now I'm out $2100...please, use good judgment, if the deal seems to good to be true, more than likely it is

WATCH OUT FOR THIS GUY ADVERTISING CARS FOR SALE ON CRAIGSLIST. THIS IS AN EMAIL I RECEIVED FROM HIM:

RE: Corvette‏
From: stevenlucky@netzero.net (stevenlucky@netzero.net)
Sent: Tue 3/25/08 12:38 PM
To:

Hi again,
Thank you very much I really think you are a serious buyer. I just used your information to open a case to Global-Payments Inc. and you will receive an invoice with all the details about the payment and please follow the instructions from there. The car is ready for shipping, I am waiting for your payment confirmation to start the shipping, so make the deposit fast because I want to shipp the car soon and you will receive it at your address in 1-2 days maximum .I will put along with the car : keys, title, all the receipts that I have from it, owner's manual, service manual, and also a sale receipt signed at a legal attorney stating that I'm selling you this car. When it arrives, you must have your id ( preferably 2 forms of identification ) and sign for receiving. You don't have to pay any taxes duties or so. Email me back and tell me if you received the deposit form from Global-Payments Inc. and I will also need to tell me when you will pay the deposit to them, so I could manage my time for delivery. Email me back and tell me if you received the deposit form from Global-Payments Inc.
Have a nice day!

My advice is to not enter into any transaction on Craiglist that includes any moderate or significant amount of money.
Sure, if someone is getting rid of their Van Halen record collection, even if it was a scam, you wouldn't be out too much money.
But anything that is over a couple of hundred dollars, I would beware.
One thing I have noticed on the real vs. fake ads:
The real ads always have a way to contact the seller (at least an email, or phone #, etc.).

We almost got duped by a guy selling a computer last year. He had pictures, a good looking ad (lots of real-world verbiage, etc.) but there was no name, no phone #, no email. When you "reply to the ad", you will most likely get a reply via email, but it won't be a real email address. If you ask them for a phone # or alternate email, you most likely will not get one. THAT is a clue.

After the guy responded to us that he was "out of the country on business and that his cell phone did not work there," and that he only had one email address, that was a giant red flag. We stopped contact. And, in classic con style, his next few emails to us were hostile in nature, such as, "Hey, you said you were going to buy this, and now you're backing out. That is poor business practice. I will report you. If you don't contact me and tell me when you are going to pay for it