Done With Craigslist...Here Is Why

About a month ago I made an advertisement on Craigslist.org regarding my apartment search. I have since found an apartment at school, and Craigslist never helped once. I made the mistake of putting my name and phone number on the post saying I was looking for an apartment. That was not a good idea.

The most recent incident:

Yesterday I got a call from a guy looking for me to give me information about the FJ Cruiser he was selling on Craigslist. Somebody had called him from a California number, which turns out is a random number generated by Google's new Gmail phone feature. That somebody gave him my name and my phone number, despite calling from a completely bogus number.

This morning I got another call about a different car. Same story. Guy calls from bogus number, leaves my name and phone number and I get a call from a bewildered citizen turned would be car salesman who hears my voice and realizes I am not the guy who called.

Both people are from the area in which I got a new apartment, which makes sense because the post was for that area. And no, I am not going to tell you where. I am already paranoid as # now.

I have now given my Craigslist account a new and very convoluted password and I am never going to login in again. I am waiting for the account to be terminated by Craigslist. After I did this, I find a spam email from Craigslist.org, although it isn't the real Craigslist. The email addy is "[email protected]." Notice the dyslexic spelling of "reply?" The email says someone from a foreign IP tryied to login to my account, and asks me to login or else my account will be suspended because of a security compromise. The email is wrought with spelling errors.

Past incident:

This one was kind of reverse and I am not sure if it is Craiglist related or not. It is essentially the opposite. I got a call from a "Bob" claiming to be a tour guide business owner and bus driver in D.C. He said he was looking for me, had got my info from an Unemployment Registry (no such thing) and was offering me a 5 - 6 figure job driving buses. He also included that his "nemesis," whom he also named, was trying to steal his business and that he was "F&^*ing his wife." He left his phone number, which was completely different that the one that called.

I called the number that "Bob" left me, and it was the real "Bob," whose flamboyant, lisp told me was not the man who called.

So...

Maybe I am wrong, but with all the calls I am getting personally about cars for sale, it seems there is no threat of Financial Compromise or any sort of danger other than harassment, considering the person left my phone number and not his own and that there is no bank info of mine anywhere but at the bank. However, I do not welcome these "pranks" if that is what they are, and I am still worried that it may lead elsewhere.

Does anyone know how to track someone like this down, or other ways to prevent future incidents? I have updated all my passwords, given my Gmail boosted security, and have updated and boosted that security range of my security software.

What else can I do to ensure this does not happen again? I greatly enjoy my privacy.

reply to post by SubPop79


Craigslist is a love hate for me...ive used it tons! Gotten lots of great deals...you just really need to know how to spot a scam...remember always talk face to face before doing anything money related never ship an item before you get paid and know the check is legit.

I can understand your frustration but...

Originally posted by SubPop79
. I made the mistake of putting my name and phone number on the post saying I was looking for an apartment. That was not a good idea.

You put out your info.

Don't do it anymore=problem solved

Originally posted by satron
I can understand your frustration but...

Originally posted by SubPop79
. I made the mistake of putting my name and phone number on the post saying I was looking for an apartment. That was not a good idea.

You put out your info.

Don't do it anymore=problem solved

Unfortunately very true.

But I would oh so like revenge, even if just to annoy the guy.

I have used craigslist to great success, but at great paranoid lengths to do so.

The simplest way to do things is never post your phone number, and only reply to emails that have legitimate spelling and punctuation. If you do decide to call on an ad, or contact someone who contacts you, use a number that is blocked or a payphone to call them, don't give out your number.

Craigslist is unregulated, so spammers and scammers outnumber the legitmate traders probably 4 to 1.

Only try and deal with people in your area, and never try and deal with someone out of state unless you get pictures, phone numbers and addresses for the individuals that can be verified. Google maps is your friend to "double check" these addresses and for you to ask subtle questions like house colors and such so they can be proven legit or shady.

If you are careful, you can still use craigslist, just make sure the "don't contact me with offers" box is checked so that you don't get people trying to sell you things you don't want.

Scammers are creative, but they can only use what you give them.

King

How long ago since you took down your ad and people are still calling you? Hopefully it stops soon, it sounds like a real pain.

I would suggest you make an alternative email address, like [email protected] and use that to post craigslist ads. That way if you end up getting spammed you don't have to worry about your real email being compromised. When I looked for apartments on Craigslist, it was pretty successful. I was careful who I responded to only answering emails that sounded legit. Every once in awhile I would get an email that didn't make much sense in context to my ad. And I knew it was some spambot emailer, and I just didn't respond to them.

Good luck!

but I can see why you would quite CL. A lot of people don't trust them. But I've had a lot of luck on them. Found 3 different apartments through them, and they worked out moderately well.

Originally posted by Xaberz
How long ago since you took down your ad and people are still calling you? Hopefully it stops soon, it sounds like a real pain.

I would suggest you make an alternative email address, like [email protected] and use that to post craigslist ads. That way if you end up getting spammed you don't have to worry about your real email being compromised. When I looked for apartments on Craigslist, it was pretty successful. I was careful who I responded to only answering emails that sounded legit. Every once in awhile I would get an email that didn't make much sense in context to my ad. And I knew it was some spambot emailer, and I just didn't respond to them.

Good luck!

but I can see why you would quite CL. A lot of people don't trust them. But I've had a lot of luck on them. Found 3 different apartments through them, and they worked out moderately well.

Changed the password yesterday. Haven't been back since. Still waiting for Craigslist to reply and delete the account.

Is it still a scam if the person leaves my number for other to call? The would be scammer is getting nothing out of this other than what I imagine is immense pleasure knowing I am getting annoying phone calls about cars I cannot afford. What is the point of all this?

reply to post by SubPop79

I placed an ad for web design in there and I am still getting my web site attacked from random bots, and the spam email never ends. I hat craigslist, haven't used it in about a year.

reply to post by SubPop79


I don't have any exact answers for you....but here is what happened to me....I got home one day (around 8 months ago) and checked my messages.....there was a threatening message from a man with a middle eastern accent saying...that if I did not pay a processing fee (to keep my info quiet) he and his cohorts were going to find me...they said they knew my address, phone number and name.....and then they gave me a number to call back. Instead of calling that number ...I googled it and found out that many others were being harassed by people from that same phone number...only by different names. I saved the message and reported it to the local FBI....a call was made....and they never bothered me again.

I posted my truck up for sale, posted a detailed ad and included a variety of pictures.

The very first email I got was:

"I saw your ad, do you have any pictures?"

Things like this are an automatic red flag to alert to spam and scams. If something seems out of place, it usually is. Also, just for fun I prodded the emailer and replied "pics are in the ad", nothing more, nothing less.

The response I got was completely predictable:

"Hey wonderful, could you go to "...." website and check on car insurance so that I know how much it will be?

It's little things like this that can get you into trouble if you put out personal information. Also be aware if people call you funny names like "wonderful", "sweetie" or "honey" out of the blue, this is almost always a sign of a scammer.

King

Originally posted by SubPop79

Originally posted by Xaberz
How long ago since you took down your ad and people are still calling you? Hopefully it stops soon, it sounds like a real pain.

I would suggest you make an alternative email address, like [email protected] and use that to post craigslist ads. That way if you end up getting spammed you don't have to worry about your real email being compromised. When I looked for apartments on Craigslist, it was pretty successful. I was careful who I responded to only answering emails that sounded legit. Every once in awhile I would get an email that didn't make much sense in context to my ad. And I knew it was some spambot emailer, and I just didn't respond to them.

Good luck!

but I can see why you would quite CL. A lot of people don't trust them. But I've had a lot of luck on them. Found 3 different apartments through them, and they worked out moderately well.

Changed the password yesterday. Haven't been back since. Still waiting for Craigslist to reply and delete the account.

Is it still a scam if the person leaves my number for other to call? The would be scammer is getting nothing out of this other than what I imagine is immense pleasure knowing I am getting annoying phone calls about cars I cannot afford. What is the point of all this?

edit on 15-8-2011 by SubPop79 because: (no reason given)

A person took your phone number and gave it to people looking to sell their car? It could be a prank. But it could also be a mistake. Maybe he meant to give his phone number, but did a typo, which happened to be yours. The only way I can see it being a scam is if you felt interested in what the people on the phone calls were offering, and then they asked for your social security number and/or your bank account/routing number.

Originally posted by Kingalbrect79
I posted my truck up for sale, posted a detailed ad and included a variety of pictures.

The very first email I got was:

"I saw your ad, do you have any pictures?"

Exactly! This is what I was trying to point out earlier, but you did a good job describing it. I posted an ad looking for a roommate and I gave all the information I could, how much the rent was, how much the utilities were, where it was located, etc, and I would still get emails from people asking how much the rent was or what the utilities were. I just didn't respond. Personally, if a person is that dumb to ask a question when the answer is right in front of them, I wouldn't want them as a roommate anyway. haha.

Originally posted by Kingalbrect79
I posted my truck up for sale, posted a detailed ad and included a variety of pictures.

The very first email I got was:

"I saw your ad, do you have any pictures?"

LOL! I've posted a couple of motorcycles on there and for every legitimate response I get about ten that say something like "what is the conditions of vehicle" and nothing more. Ummm, yeah. That's got "scammer" written all over it!

A person took your phone number and gave it to people looking to sell their car? It could be a prank. But it could also be a mistake. Maybe he meant to give his phone number, but did a typo, which happened to be yours. The only way I can see it being a scam is if you felt interested in what the people on the phone calls were offering, and then they asked for your social security number and/or your bank account/routing number.

Oh, there are no mistakes going on here. I have asked the sellers what number contacted them, and each one is different. I have looked up the numbers and they are numbers associated with Google servers. They generate random numbers when the person using the Gmail phone calls someone. They can call 1 person a hundred times and the person will see a hundred different numbers.

Also they are leaving my name.

reply to post by SubPop79


Protect yourself by only communicating via the Craigslist email system and don't leave a phone number. If they have seen your ad then they damned well can send you an email at the same time. (Oh, I know, they wanna move on it, pronto!...and of course, we, the sellers, want the same.)

A couple of years ago I searched Craigslist for several months looking for a small tractor. Everyday there would be "for sale" ads that had fabulously cheap deals of like-new, quality equipment for give-away prices. The telling feature of each one is that there was not a Craigslist email addy to respond to. Only a personal phone number and usually a female name. (Seems safe, right?) When the pictures were studied, you could tell in some cases that the tractor wasn't even in my part of the country. It would be a picture they took from some place to create the bogus sale.

Of course, the price would be soo good that--oops, it was delayed in transit but coming in tonight. But if you want to met and leave a desposit with a couple of zeros after the number, you would be asssured that you were the buyer, etc. Same time, same meeting spot the next day.

Craigslist IS the medium for buying and selling about anything these days. But don't be stupid and greedy when offered a deal too good to pass up or even in passing around your personal info.

I tried to find a house rental on craigslist...Almost every single one was a scam.
Many were local houses on the buyers market..people would post them as rentals. Then say the were off in somalia, africa, etc. etc. always doing missionary or "work for the lord" very suddenly and needing to rent their house.
Of course you can't see inside, but trust it is nice from the pics..(always copied from legit realty site)
You can drive by, but you cant get the keys until you wire them the deposit to some foreign acct.
Freaking BOGUS!
I never fell for it, but it was a frustration during my search.
I just gave up on craigslist for anything more serious than a table lamp or a blender.

reply to post by Htrowklis82


It could be worse, have you ever checked out the free section?

It is super rare to find anything actually worth picking up (Like finding a duplicate Mona Lisa in your grandma's attic), but it is almost guaranteed good for a laugh just to cruise the ads with pictures.

Some people get very creative, and some are just desperate.

King

Craigslist does not work. I noticed that a long time ago. I have searched for roommates, and apartments on there and haven't done anything. Nobody responded and nothing helped. Girls who responded just sent me dead links to empty websites and the guys all sent me criticism or spam.

Those are all college dudes who have nothing more to do with their lives than post spam. I don't know why after the party of their lives they go on there just to criticise people because that's all they ever do. If I were on a site where people were super busy and were looking for help I wouldn't spend 3 minutes responding to an ad just to criticise it.