Fraudsters operating at Craigslist are trying to con those who are seeking a dwelling on rent. In a recent incident, a lady seeking rented accommodation in Juneau, Alaska was almost duped by scammers who pretended to be owners of a property there.
When she responded to an ad on Craigslist, fraudsters asked her to make a deposit and for some personal information to be sent via email. Keys to the home, they promised, would be sent to her as soon as she did as told.
The lady was saved from being conned when she decided to physically verify the offer made by the fraudsters. She was surprised to find the listed property happily occupied by owners who had no clue that someone had put ads offering their house for rent.
Craigslist Rental Scam Now Spreading Wide
These scams should now be seen as a common ploy adopted by fraudsters. They take down particulars of homes listed for sale at online auction sites and use it to offer the same place for rent elsewhere.
Correspondences with prospects are often done entirely via emails. The email will claim they moved recently from their homes to wherever-they-are-now on missionary work. It will use flowery words and will tug at your heartstrings to cover the scam.
The scams have their origins usually in Nigeria. As is expected, they rarely ever mention their postal address. An early warning sign, in such a case, is a contact number posted in the ad carrying the Nigerian country code.
Apart from pouching the deposit, fraudsters also use information given away by victims to steal their money. If you handover your bank account info, they are capable of transferring money from this account into one of theirs. If you divulge your driving license or social security information, they use these to open credit accounts against your name and make purchases against the same. Ditto for credit card details.
A good rule against falling prey to scams at online auction sites is to only deal with local buyers and sellers. When renting homes, especially, it is a good idea to pay a visit to the offered space. This enables you to verify independently whether the offers are genuine or not.

Tried to buy a car on craigslist via ebay. Got scammed. I sent a Money Gram, they cashed it, i never got ther car. I tried to confirm my purchase on ebay, they said the had no record of the sale or purchase. Even though i recieved sevral emails confirming my order from some one claiming to be ebay.

On September 9, 2010 started receiving numerous phone calls and emails about jobs posted on craigslist.org. I advised the callers I don't post jobs on craigslist too many scams there. I went to take a look in the state of NY where the caller was calling from and found under the position of Theatre Box Office a job posting. When you click to apply it jumps you to another page that had my company name, company logo, company slogan, company pictures and color scheme, but it wasn't my company. The domain name was www.ikulich.com instead. And, the jobs were posted in Phoenix for Airport Valet, San Diego for Restaurant Dishwashers, New York for Theatre Box Office and Washington DC for Salon Receptionist-Guest Service Coordinator under 3 different categories.

I notified everyone that the jobs were not posted by The Fair Recruitment Agency LLC and that they were check cashing scams. The second web page with the same set up lists the above jobs as well as Classifieds Advertiser. You click on the jobs you want to apply for and it says to mail your resume to [email protected] or [email protected]. To see what the jobs were about I applied for the Classifieds Advertiser for $500-$700/week. Sent my information in and received an email that my employment was confirmed.

I then got another email stating they would send me a check for $2410.55 to cash immediately at my own bank the same day I received it. Then, to send an email stating I got the check and they will send me the information where to post the ads. Well, a week later I got the check from postmarked from Canada, sent the email I received it and they replied to me. They said to buy three money orders from the US Postal Service and send them overnight to an address in Canada. But send them overnight from UPS. But the money orders at the Post Office but send them from UPS so they get them the next day.

This was obviously a scam. And, it's rampant on craigslist. So, Consumers beware of who you send your information to when applying for jobs!

We are a tax preparation service that is looking to hire several new employees for the tax season. We're offering real positions in a tight job market.

Craigslist is not letting us run our ads based on arguments that are not valid conerns, primarily because we have a tax course that employees need to pass in order to work for us.

Seems like a website that allows infinte questionable 'personal' ads should not have a problem with something that actually contributes to society.

Scam Posting:

teenager here, want somebody very soon - w4m - 24 (all neighborhoods)

Here you will find me who am both sober and wild, so make your sleeves ready. To tell you frankly I love casual dating only. I really do not care if you are single or not. I care about your love making methods. I like cigarettes but not too much

I hope to soon see your photos

my reply:

Hi, I am interested. I have been hit with too many spam replies. If your real then hit me back i will give you all the info you need.

P

Her Reply:

Hey, just got ur message back abouy my ad, i got a whole lot of emails from that lol... what plans do you have tonight, interested in getting together?

btw i attached my pic

Kayla

NEVER TRUST CL IT SUCKS...