I’m sure everyone knows what Craigslist is, right? Like an online giant store where you can find anything and everything! Jason is a big Craigslist fan. I like to go on there sometimes but it’s more his thing than mine. He has found a few cars on there and has gotten rid of some things thanks to Craigslist. A lot of people are weary about it, as am I. Scams and murderers, crazy people are on there. You really have to be careful. You really never know what you are getting yourself into.
Well up until just recently we have never been scammed or attempted to be scammed. We are moving and looking for a place in the same town we live in. We found this beautiful house, perfect for us. A good price and a great neighborhood, the best in our town actually. We emailed the guy, he said go look at it and let me now what you think. He said that due to the nature of his work he travels outside the US a lot, red flag for me, but we looked at it anyway. There was a FOR SALE sign in the front. I emailed him again telling him I wasn’t looking to get scammed here, things don’t seem right, I want some details! OMG….we get an email saying “well just send me a deposit of $900 western union and I will UPS the keys.” You’re outa you’re F**CKIN mind!!!!! REALLY??? Do people fall for this??? We were mad that he wasted our time but laughed at the audacity of people! It really makes me wonder if people do fall for this and more importantly, why do people feel it necessary to scam people??? I don’t get it!
Have you ever been scammed or at least attempted to be scammed? Why do people do this?? We were thinking, wow this is a great house, perfect size, perfect price…ahhh when it’s too good to be true it usually is! BUT alas we did not fall for it….I feel bad for the ones who do!
Us Girls..Our Views 
Knock on wood, I’ve been pretty lucky. I’ve made a fool of myself a few times, but haven’t lost much money doing it.
I am sure they could catch these people fairly easily if enough people filed complaints. Of course, some of them (or most of them?) live halfway across the globe, so just “identifying” them wouldn’t solve the problem.
I frequently get emails from foreigners, offering me big bucks if I help them by “just” giving them my bank details so they can resolve a family emergency or whatever. Yeah, right – but these come so frequently, and this has gone on for so many years, they must be having some success. Who would be that dumb?
How did these people happen to have the info on this house for sale? Do you think they are using that satellite program where they can see anyone, anywhere, any time via the internet? That kinda freaks me out. They can stalk me and my kids from the comfort of their homes, and make a plan and do who knows what, all without my knowing they even exist. That technology ought to be illegal, in my opinion.
you did hear about the craigslist killer right? I’m staying clear away from that place!
so yeah people fall for lots of stuff and I trust amazon.com and that’s as far as the trust goes 😦
Wow, thanks for the heads up java. I think, though, trouble is everywhere and we attract it. My friends have gotten great things off craigslist-their nursery’s totally decorated with furniture for free. My brother shops there too. You just have to be smart and listen to your gut intuition like you did, Nikki. People scam because they only care about themselves!
I’ve used Craigslist to look for apartments in years back, as well as to sublet my own apartment. Fortunately, the scamming attempts have been blazingly obvious, so I didn’t get sucked in.
I think, unfortunately, that scams are inevitable no matter what you do. I get a couple scam emails a week about piano lessons, so they’ve even gotten there.
It’s unfortunate about the poor girl that was killed after a Craigslist rendezvous, but that’s an extremely rare case. I think as long as you’re being smart about it, you’ll be safe. I plan to sell a bunch of my belongings before I move, and have no intention of being in this apartment alone when potential buyers come to look at my loft bed.
I like reading the Best of Craigslist. Some of pretty dumb, but there are some winners in there.
Wow.Good for you Nikki.Gut instincts have always worked for me all these years.You gotta watch people,there are scammers out there.Always go by your gut instincts.They are usually right.
I do think there are a lot of scammers out there and you do have to be really careful. Unfortunately, people get taken all the time and it’s pretty sad. But really, anyone who would send that kind of money and “wait” for a key…..well….
I find nothing amusing about Craigslist. It’s a big jumbled mess to me. I find it’s like “window shopping” which I also hate to do. I have gotten things on eBay but it’s friendlier to me than Craigs. I also only look for something I need or want. If I don’t need or want something, I hate to shop. But, to each their own. It just seems like a “seedy” place. We hear about all kinds of bad things that happen there from rapes and prostitution to people luring people for who knows what and I just don’t need that bother. I just find eBay a lot more controlled.
I’m glad you were using your thinking cap Nikki.
Why don’t you call the phone number on the for sale sign & ask if they would be interested in renting it?
Also the library has a book that lists all land line phone #s by street address or you can look up the street address to see if there’s a phone listed there.
To good to be true, good thing you listen to your gut. It is too bad that it wasted your time. It’s too bad that our world is that you have to be on alert and on guard. I’m glad your story has a happy ending.
I keep a pretty keen eye on things and have never been scammed. About the only attempts of being scammed I can think of are the dumb one’s we all get in our email inbox. Send money here or send money there and we need your password for verification.
As long as people continue to fall for scams, people will continue attempting to scam. I’m glad you guys didn’t fall for it!!
I do remember another way someone has tried to scam me! It was on the television actually!
T.V. Evangelists!
My granny believed in some guy – she laid her hands on the TV during his sermon and supposedly a quarter-sized gallstone disappeared. Personally I suspect medical error, but who am I to say? I think she did send him a little money. Whatever floats your boat – as long as you can still pay your bills.
Nikki, I think your post about Craigslist was funny in a way, and sad in another. You are right, well over half the garbage on Craigs is a scam. A big Scam is people selling reports, How to buy a House, buy a Car, Information Products, you contact them, they ask for a couple of bucks and send you a link to an Article Directory.
Someone on Craigslist attempted to scam my son but fortunately he told me about it. I ended up wasting the scammers time and getting his hopes up so badly. I wrote a post about it http://joanharvest.wordpress.com/2008/12/03/rant-and-rave/
I still have the two checks the scammer sent my son.
I read that about 70% of the sales on Craigslist are scams. My son did sell some fishing equipment but insisted on cash which worked out fine.
It’s a shifty world out there and people are getting scammed all the time.
It’s funny you should write this because I have been getting phone call scams about buying a warranty for my car. I don’t own a car. I am going to do a post about it.
Now that you mention this, I remember that post about Damon. It really is sad isn’t it?
I kind of feel bad for people who don’t know any better or don’t check things out. A lot of scammers pay attention to the elderly and or lonely people. Think of the construction business alone. You hear all the time about people paying for roof repairs or things like that and they pay that money and the crooks take off with it. It wasn’t on to long ago where an elderly couple paid over $15,000 to someone for basement repair and the men just disappeared with the money. That’s a terrible crime.
I could honestly do without Craigslist! Jason’s off to buy another car from there! HELP ME!!!!!!!
Sorry Nikki, there may be help for you but not that dear husband of yours!!!
Your blog is very interresting for me, i will come back here..
well thanks! We love new comers!!! Feel free to comment whenever you want! 🙂
Unfortunately i have recently been scammed on Craigslist. My husband has been looking for a motorcycle for a while and finally found one on there. The guy sent us all of his “information” and we even recieved some things from the “e-bay buyer protection program” we were supposed to be using. We sent $3000.00 to what we thought was our e-bay finacial agent. Be very very careful when buying on the internet. there are to many psychos and sick-os in this world!
People will do anything for money these days.
SERIOUSLY PEOPLE GET A JOB! IT’S NOT THAT HARD!
Oh goodness, I am so sorry that happened. Yes, you really do need to be very careful. There are so many people out there with very bad intentions. Live and learn I suppose. Thanks for commenting!