Hey I always wondered, how do people get scammed on CL? I figured since everyone's always looking for the best deals here, there might be some stories/advice for how to avoid it.
Hey I always wondered, how do people get scammed on CL? I figured since everyone's always looking for the best deals here, there might be some stories/advice for how to avoid it.
A buddy's dad got scammed. Bought a boat by sending someone payment before seeing the item in person. Item didn't exist. So, basically any time someone wants a payment up front or money wired to them or whatever to "hold" an item, it's a scam.
The other common one is the people who claim to want to buy something from you, send you a check for more than the listed amount, and ask you to wire back the difference. (Check bounces, of course.)
Basically, to avoid getting scammed: don't send money to anyone, and don't accept checks that you can't verify the security of.
And the check scam one can take a long, long time to bounce.
I think Beer Baron covered most of them. Paying for a car that doesn't exist (because it's too cheap to be true and the buyer is overly credulous) and accepting bad checks, even bad cashier's checks, accounts for most Craigslist scams.
Meet in person. Deal in cash. If an item is more expensive than you are comfortable carrying around cash for, meet at the bank to watch the cashiers check be withdrawn.
Beer Baron wrote: Meet in person...
In a public area.
There are cases of people offering to buy or sell item, then robbing person when they show up.
aircooled wrote:Beer Baron wrote: Meet in person...In a public area. There are cases of people offering to buy or sell item, then robbing person when they show up.
Yeah, I usually suggest meeting at a nearby Starbucks.
Interesting
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