Posted by the author on January 31st, 2010
One of the most popular Internet venues of the past few years has been Craigslist. On this Internet site things can be listed for sale, job opportunities can be listed, things one desires can be found, and many other things are listed. Unfortunately, Craigslist has become a wide field for fraudulent practices.
One example of a common fraud is the sale of a car at a tremendous bargain. The car supposedly belongs to someone in the service and is being shipped home, but money is needed for current expenses or some other such thing before it arrives. The potential buyer sends the money and that is the last they hear of it.
Recently a man was arrested for advertising on Craigslist for putting an ad to rent a house he did not own. He collected thousand of dollars before being arrested for fraud. In the meantime, many people were out money they could not afford. The prospective renters could have easily avoided losing money if they had done a little checking.
Fraudulent employment offers are in abundance on this site and extreme caution should be taken, especially regarding “work at home” offers. These offers almost always require a fee up front and any work, if it appears, is not worth ones time. When the exchange moves onto a verbal telephone exchange, however, one can utilize telephone look up services such as http://411telephonedirectory.com/Texas in order to be able to verify if the caller really is whom he or she says.
When considering anything on Craigslist, it is very important that a thorough investigation be conducted. Money should never be sent for anything without a personal review or some type of a legitimate guarantee on the item. Additionally, any response to personal ads should be done with much caution as many romance scammers utilize this site to take advantage of lonely hearts.
Unfortunately, many people have sent money to purchase an item and the item never arrives. There is no recourse and it is money lost. It is a good idea to check the location of the item for sale and, if it is nearby, go and pick it up personally. This way a person gets a good look at the item and has it in hand before turning over their money.
Craigslist is a free service for sellers of goods that has benefited a lot of people. However, with scammers ready to use any means to commit fraud it has become an easy means to swindle people. Any use of this program should be approached with the same caution one would use when dealing with any unknown person to avoid being cheated out of their funds.
This site, as with others, caution that if someone wants money wire transferred to a distance location or sent in money order or cashiers check, be concerned. It is best to buy locally and meet the sellers face-to-face to exchange funds. Additionally, you should never give out personal information and, most of all, use gut instinct to decline any offers that sound too good to be true.