Craigslist
Craigslist has exploded in popularity over the last few years. 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. However, the popularity of Craigslist has also made it home to many people seeking to take advantage, and so you have to watch carefully for frauds.
One very common fraud being used is the lure of a car being sold at a fantastic bargain. The listing may tell the story of how the vehicle is owned by someone in the armed forces and is being shipped home. And how desperately money is needed before its arrival. When the potential buyer sends the money the scam is complete, and the car never materializes.
Another scam recently shut down was a man attempting to rent out a house he did even own, luckily he was arrested. He collected thousand of dollars before being arrested for fraud. In the meantime, many people were out money they could not afford. A little bit of background work and checking would have helped those prospective renters to avoid this scam and save their money.
Fraudulent employment offers are in abundance on this site and extreme caution should be taken, especially regarding "work at home" offers. These offers are almost always nothing more than another scam which requires the prospective employee to pay fees up front for the "job". When the exchange moves onto a verbal telephone exchange, however, one can utilize telephone look up services such as annoying-callers.com/479-arkansas.html in order to be able to verify if the caller really is whom he or she says.
Make sure you do your research when buying anything off of Craigslist. And never, ever send money without either seeing the item or getting a genuine guarantee. If you're thinking of answering personal ads, beware. There are many predators on Craigslist waiting to prey on the lonely.
There have also been many people who have sent money to pay for an item and the item is never sent. Of course, when this happens, there is no recourse and the money is simply gone. The best way to avoid a scam is to pick up your items yourself. Doing this allows you to check the item out before any money is exchanged.
A great benefit of Craigslist is that it is free, and many people have benefited from it. It is unfortunate that scam artists have also discovered this site and are only too happy to take advantage of it. 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.
Anytime there is a request to have money wired to a distant location, or a money order or cashiers check is being requested, those are red flags and you may not want to deal with those sellers. It is best to buy locally and meet the sellers face-to-face to exchange funds. You should also take care that you never give out your personal information and remember that if an offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
