Latest Craigslist Scam

[EddieWalker]

While looking at what's for sale in the Farm and Garden section of Craigslist, I saw a really good price on an older Ford tractor. I copied the gmail address and googled it. Sure enough, that same name, kelliebennett32@gmail.com, was listed all over the country selling tractors and other items. Most of the adds where already flagged and deleted. So I looked some more and noticed a lot of adds with a gmail.com address as the way to contact the seller. It looks like a pattern, and something to be careful of.

 

[fried1765]

While looking at what's for sale in the Farm and Garden section of Craigslist, I saw a really good price on an older Ford tractor. I copied the gmail address and googled it. Sure enough, that same name, kelliebennett32@gmail.com, was listed all over the country selling tractors and other items. Most of the adds where already flagged and deleted. So I looked some more and noticed a lot of adds with a gmail.com address as the way to contact the seller. It looks like a pattern, and something to be careful of.

That particular scam has been going on for more than a year.
Hopefully, no one has been taken in by it.
I have had some fun playing with several of the scammers.

 

[NorTracNY]

They have even become "advanced" and bury the e-mail into the single picture. They figure it will prevent people from searching the address.

 

[TheMan419]

This is because gmail is easy and free to set up. Also gmail hides your true location in the email header. They all look they originated in California. With other email providers you can pinpoint the location the email originated.

 

[Ford850]

You can do a google image search on many of them and find where they were pulled from legitimate auctions etc, to be used in their scams. Most of the scams only post a single image too, while legitimate sales postings will post at least a few pictures. Another tipoff is the vegetation in the background. I see many listed for my area with shrubs and trees that don't grow here. A palm tree in an Ohio add is a good example.

 

[KennyG]

The incoherent English and oddball descriptions are another indicator.

 

[Stimw]

Just a disclaimer, I have a gmail email (because that STUPID yahoo won't let me into my 20 year old email account and offers NO customer support!!).
When I post a CL ad I always include my phone number.
When looking at CL ads, no phone number, gmail, I assume it is a scammer.
Also when I right click on a pic there is an option to search the web for pic to see where else it appears.

 

[Sysop]

Everyone surfing craigslist should start sending 10 BS emails to every scam they see. Spam the scammers... :laughing:

 

[japody]

There are a lot of tell tale signs in the ads:

- most have a gmail or Comcast account
- prices are odd numbers like $2038
- locations are listed in the header, i.e. "Richmond John Deere tractor"
- when a location is actually listed, it is in the middle of the city. Not many tractors are used in the middle of the city.
- some have a tremendous amount of space under the listing where it appears they have cut and pasted other ads

On every one I see I hit "prohibited" and then refresh. That seems to delete them.

 

[teg]

Everyone surfing craigslist should start sending 10 BS emails to every scam they see. Spam the scammers... :laughing:

If everyone would give (ie. make up) information the spammers are looking for, it could protect the 1 (hundred) morons who gives out the information that they are looking for.

 

[jaxs]

It appears to me that the majority of those too good to be true ads are fishing for phone numbers and email addresses. I always use CL 2 way relay and response from them if I say I'll take it and have cash,is "send me you email address and I'll send more pictures and information". I haven't come across a shipping,paypal or certified check scam in months. Something I can't put reason to is odd ball prices ($2106).

 

[KennyG]

The scammers include all the obvious tip offs (gmail, odd price, bad english, silly descriptions) so aware people will recognize them and not bother. They are trying to narrow respondents to the most naive and gullible people who are most likely to fall for the scam. That's why many of the scams still claim to be from Nigeria rather than other less obvious countries.

 

[EddieWalker]

On this add, it was an early 1970's Ford tractor with a front loader for $2,500. That seemed too cheap, but otherwise, there where no other indications that it was a scam other then the gmail address. The ad is gone, but in all the other ads that had the same email address, it was similar, but never the same tractor. Kubota and Deere older tractors. Prices where always low, but not absurd. Just a really good deals. And then other items like welders, gates, and other farm related stuff. Just the one item listed, and all in different areas of the country. To me, this is what made it seem like a new scam.

 

[groundcover]

Just sold a boat on Craigslist, it does bring out the crazy. Ended well with a good buyer but ended up with a heap of junk email too.

 

[MJO63]

Was she in the service and wanted to go thru a 3rd party and was not in the State the she was selling in.

 

[California]

The goofy titles and unreasonable prices are obvious giveaways.

Here are a couple more you can catch at a glance:

The photo just doesn't look right. Often bad focus and too green in tone. Or maybe the greenery or terrain doesn't match the season / claimed location.
Doesn't have the CL map for location.
The whole ad including text is a jpeg. (So the text isn't searchable).
The contact is an email shown in the ad instead of using the CL 'reply' feature. When combined with unreasonable price these are *always* fraudulent.
Try a Google search on that make/year/model, or the email as Eddie said. The same ad will pop up all over the country. Even Guam! (yes, really).

And just for fun:
I pursued an ebay offer that would have been local, they told me the tractor had been relocated to Portugal after they put it on ebay.
Hurry and pay now, free delivery in under 5 weeks!

 

[fried1765]

The goofy titles and unreasonable prices are obvious giveaways.

Here are a couple more you can catch at a glance:

The photo just doesn't look right. Often bad focus and too green in tone. Or maybe the greenery or terrain doesn't match the season / claimed location.
Doesn't have the CL map for location.
The whole ad including text is a jpeg. (So the text isn't searchable).
The contact is an email shown in the ad instead of using the CL 'reply' feature. When combined with unreasonable price these are *always* fraudulent.
Try a Google search on that make/year/model, or the email as Eddie said. The same ad will pop up all over the country. Even Guam! (yes, really).

And just for fun:
I pursued an ebay offer that would have been local, they told me the tractor had been relocated to Portugal after they put it on ebay.
Hurry and pay now, free delivery in under 5 weeks!

When I told "her" that I would actually like to see the tractor, "she" told me that the tractor was already loaded on a truck in Kansas City, for delivery to me.
I said: great!
My brother lives in Kansas City, just tell me where the tractor is, and I'll have him come look at it tomorrow.
Never got a response!
I am an only child!

 

[jaxs]

They say the bugger man will get for lying just quick as he will for stealing.:laughing:

 

[greenmojo]

We are in Wenatchee, WA (center of the state), and my neighbor finds those scam ads all of the time. Someone with poor english and of course the tractor ends up being a good distance away.

Off-topic a bit, we were interested in renting a house in Wyoming years ago for a vacation spot, and eventually I got suspicious and looked up the property owner, found a phone number and called the owner. Turns out, it was his vacation home and these craigslist people were taking rental down-payments on homes they didn't own. Great business! ;-)

~Moses

 

[California]

... called the owner. Turns out, it was his vacation home and these craigslist people were taking rental down-payments on homes they didn't own. Great business! ;-)

I've read this is a big problem in NYC and other major cities here and abroad where housing is tight. Worst case an 'agent' gets a key perhaps from the departing tenant by misrepresenting that he is associated with the owner. Then this bogus 'agent' shows the place, takes the normal application fee/first month/last month/cleaning deposit, from several prospective renters at a few thousand dollars each! So long as the place remains vacant and the real owner isn't revealed to the applicants he can keep this up scamming several people. In the big city you'll never find him if he gave a false name and bogus business card, rental contract, etc and only made contact at the rental site.

When my daughter rented in NYC she said you engage an agent representing you to find a rental to avoid scams, and gross misrepresentations that just waste your time going to see.