How Do Craigslist Scams Work?...very common scams

Craigslist scams.....don't fall victim to these scams

Craigslist Scams Beware!

There are many ways that scammers operate on Craigslist, but there are also common sense ways of avoiding most of them if you sell or purchase items from the site. When it comes to handing over money for goods or actually selling valuable belongings to others, there are a few things you have to look out for.

The most common Craigslist scam is the fake check. Many people selling top dollar items will not accept checks at all, even if they are cashier’s checks. This is something that you should consider doing yourself, once you are aware of the fake checks now being used to rip unsuspecting sellers off.

It usually starts with someone showing sincere interest in a high price item you have listed. Sometimes they may haggle with the price to appear to be a legitimate buyer, but often they will simply accept your asking price. But, they will have some excuse as to why they cannot just come purchase the item directly from you.

Some may say they are on vacation or away on business, while others may just say they live in another area or another state and would like to send you a check and have the item shipped to them. Or, they could claim to have someone else come pick the item up later.

Next, they either send you a fake check for the item that will eventually be rejected by your bank after they have taken the item, or they will request that you give them your name, address, and phone number so they can fill out a cashier’s check to you.

In this first case they are trying to get the item for free. The fake check will eventually be dishonored by your bank, leaving you with an overdrawn account and no item. In the second case, they are not interested in your item at all. They want your personal information to use for illegal purposes. Escrow companies are now becoming a popular Craigslist scam. Many people have been using escrow services as a way of ensuring transactions dealing with larger amounts of money are safe for both the buyer and the seller. The problem is many of these little known escrow companies are owned by the scammer on one end of the transaction.

In this case, a scammer will set up the escrow account and list an expensive item on Craigslist for a very low, tempting price. When they rope in unsuspecting buyers, they instruct them to use the escrow account to ensure everything goes smooth. The victims go to the website for the scammer’s escrow account (no knowing it is owned by the seller) and put in their personal information, including bank account or credit card number. The scammer, or “seller,” then has their personal information and access to their credit card or bank account and simply disappears to use it.

The best way to deal with people you meet on Craigslist is to stay completely local. Never ship out items or accept checks or escrow payments of any variety. Do not think that is ok to accept Paypal through Craigslist. Scammers are getting smarter and smarter every day. They know that Paypal appears to look legit, because it is an escrow service, but there are always loopholes in the system. Pay with cash yourself after verifying the item is legit, and expect the same of your buyers when you sell your own items.

Craigslist Scam Site

taking advantage of Craigslist by setting up scams.....

Another common misconception that fools users online is that they accidently mistype Craigslist.org, and end up on another site. (make sure you don’t type in craiglist.org or craigslist.com) These sites are designed to look like Craigslist, but in reality it is just a scam.

A good idea to take advantage of, if you are a Craigslist buyer/seller is to bookmark the page, that way you will not falsely arrive at a site that is not really Craigslist. However, there are hundreds of typo’s that lead people to scam sites, if you are ever in doubt; go back and type it in, or Google it to make sure you are at the correct site.

Please read this reported "Craigslist Scam," about a scammer posing to provide people with a job.