What Is Craigslist?
CraigsList is a free classified advertising site where you can sell anything; look for a job; rent out your house or car
Craig’s List has operations all over the world and lists everything from clothing and cars for sale to job listings and rentals. Most listings are free and reach a wide, but local, geographic audience.
The only problem: Because Craig’s List has more than 20 million active users, it is a magnet for scam artists, who attempt everything from renting other people’s homes to passing fake checks. Founder Craig Newmark is working on ways to spot and stop these scams, but the crooks are faster than the filters.
You must use good judgment when you use this site.
- Don’t take a check for more than the cost of the goods and services you’re selling and agree to “refund” the rest. This is a fake check scam.
- Be wary of rentals listed here too. They’re sometimes cut and pasted from other paid sites, such as VRBO. Usually, you’ll see warning signs, but only if you look carefully. Do that.
CraigsList’s Husl$core
We love Craig’s List. Its high rating reflects the fact that it works for sellers, renters and job seekers most of the time. The one missing $ here is mainly related to the scam issue. This site, more than others, has a problem with crooks.
The one other issue that weighed down this company’s (still high) score is that it does everything. If you scour the listings on SideHusl, you’ll see Craig’s List in practically every category — you can find a job; rent a house; sell your puppies. The site is a “jack-of-all-trades.” But because it doesn’t specialize, this is not the first place to go when you want to rent out your vacation home; or buy expensive jewelry. Buyers (and sellers) tend to be bargain-hunters, not the type to pay a premium price for a premium product.
What their users say
“I’ve always loved this website! From being able to sell your stuff, searching for jobs, and purchasing things, this site offers it all! Not to mention, being able to make $$$ by posting ads for some companies! There’s definitely some non-legitimate ads out there but there are also legit ones too! This is always a site I refer to whenever I need anything! Highly recommended!!”
“I was told yesterday that someone posted our vacation home that is rented on VRBO via Craigslist. Someone stole the pictures and information off the VRBO site and pasted them onto the Craigslist site. They were trying to rent it on a week that was already rented on VRBO and collect the money in advance. BUYER BEWARE
Gotta watch all the scammers on there, I have listed a item for say $250.00 and immediately I have low-life scammers try to get me to accept their check. I sometimes want to tell them what they can do with their offer.
“Individual by the name of XXX XXX is using Craigslist to find a roommate for $385.00 monthly. However, she describes that due to past experiences and no show she will need a $168.00 deposit which must be done using western union account number she provides. In total, you will pay $171.95 because of the transfer fee. Prior to the transfer being done she stays in touch answering every question that you may have about the room. She does not care if you have to drive for hours to get to the apartment. Once you confirm that you have arrived her telephone number goes straight to voicemail, but if you text she says that she’s on her way the address she provides is extremely beautiful, but XXX is a thief who uses people to get money transferred to Money Network Paycard. .”
“I have sold countless bicycles, sporting goods … there are genuine buyers out there. But they are all local. If out of state, Beware !! These are scumbag scammers. But Craig’s List is not at fault here. Just a fact of life that Scumbags are people too, with smartphones
Craigslist Controversy
One of the biggest challenges for the craigslist community is weeding out scam artists. The site has a section describing common scam tactics and what users should do if they come across them. Scams might involve fake money orders or checks, bait-and-switch schemes (in which you think you're getting one thing but end up with another), phishing schemes designed to obtain personal information, identity theft schemes and other unethical and illegal activities.
One scam that has popped up in several craigslist communities involves a buyer overpaying for an item. In this scam, an innocent seller advertises an item on craigslist for a given amount -- say $1,500. An interested buyer contacts the seller and says he'll send a check for the item, but when the check arrives, it's written for a much larger amount. When the seller contacts the buyer to inform him of the difference, the buyer apologizes and explains that he wrote the wrong amount after confusing it with another purchase. He tells the seller to deposit the check and wire him the difference. What the seller doesn't know is that the check is a fake, so he cashes it and wires the difference to the buyer. Once the bank researches the check and discovers it's a fake, the seller is held responsible. The scam artist has his money, and the innocent seller takes the blame.
Police scan craigslist for ads soliciting illegal goods or services. Newspapers have featured several stories about cops busting prostitution rings after finding them through craigslist. Papers have also published stories about police using craigslist to find sexual predators. In October 2007, craigslist made headlines after a member posted an ad for a babysitter and then killed the young woman who responded to the ad. In craigslist's defense, Buckmaster has said that newspapers are more likely to report negative stories about the site, possibly because some business managers feel craigslist robs papers of revenue.
The terms of use on craigslist make it clear that the site has nothing to do with the content users post, that it will work with authorities in cases involving illegal activity and that violating the site's terms can result in stiff fines. Users posting to craigslist must first click on a button that says they understand and accept the terms of use. Even so, when members use the site for illegal or unethical purposes, some people try to hold craigslist responsible.Craigslist's terms of use include a long list of forbidden topics and language, including: Abusive, unlawful, discriminatory, harmful, harassing, defamatory or libelous language Posts that reveal someone else's private information Job posts that violate Equal Employment Opportunity laws Housing posts that violate the Fair Housing Act Posts that impersonate someone else, unless the post is a nondeceptive parody of a public figure Scam ads Ads that advertise illegal services Posts that include computer viruses or other harmful computer code
