Craigslist can be a great place to find deals and to get rid of items you no longer need and pick up some cash along the way. Unfortunately, just like anything used by millions of people, there are risks associated with it due to those who wish to prey on others. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use Craigslist. It is a great way to find good deals and to sell things you want to get rid of. You just have to be smart and be safe with your transactions. This page will share some safety tips to help make your Craigslist transactions safe and profitable.
Don’t Provide Your Real Contact Information
Use the Craigslist-provided proxy e-mail address so that you don’t have to expose your true e-mail when posting an ad. This protects your privacy from potential scammers and spammers. This helps you when placing ads, but if you want to respond to an ad and keep your identity from being known you’ll have to set up a separate e-mail to protect your identity. This will help preserve your anonymity throughout the entire transaction instead of just during the initial inquiry.
Never Give out any Personal or Financial Information
Never give your personal or financial information to someone requesting it on-line via Craigslist. Meet in person and use cash or a secured form of payment such as paypal so you don’t have to provide your credit information to the seller. Beware of scam artists who want to get you to submit to a “credit check” so they can steal your information.
Avoid Using Money Wiring Services for Craigslist Transactions
A lot of scammers want you to use a money wiring service. Play it safe and don’t. If someone even wants you to use a money wiring service it should set of some warnings and you should scrutinize the transaction carefully. Better yet, stop right there and don’t proceed any further. (That might be extreme, but it’s safe.)
Never Buy Something Without Seeing it in Person First
Don’t just trust pictures sellers post of items being sold. It could be a picture the seller found on the Internet. Some sellers do this because it is easier than taking a picture and uploading it themselves, and others do it to conceal something about what they are selling. It is always best to check out the item in person before you make a deal. Don’t give any money, make any commitments, or sign anything until you have checked it out in person first.
Always Meet the Buyer or Seller in a Public Place and Bring a Friend
Be smart and never meet someone at their home or some out of the way location. Always meet the buyer or selling in a public place. I also strongly recommend bringing along a friend. This person can help you stay safe, but also be a witness to the transaction in case something comes up later.
Some police stations are setting up “safe zones” to complete your transactions, so check with your local police to see if there is such a location in your area. Here is a Today Show spot on how these are growing around the country.
NBC’s Today Show Ran This Short Story on Safe Zones:
Following a string of crimes involving victims killed after responding to Craigslist ads, a growing number of police departments are creating “safe zones” nationwide to help online sellers and buyers complete their transactions in a secure environment.
Be sure to watch The Today Show on NBC for many stories they feature to help keep people safe.
Craigslist Safety Tips
This is what Craigslist lists on their website to help stay safe when making transactions. This was briefly shown in the Today Show spot:
Personal Safety
The overwhelming majority of craigslist users are trustworthy and well-intentioned.
With billions of human interactions facilitated, the incidence of violent crime is extremely low.
Nevertheless, please take the same common sense precautions online as you would offline.
When meeting someone for the first time, please remember to:
- Insist on a public meeting place like a cafe.
- Do not meet in a secluded place, or invite strangers into your home.
- Be especially careful when buying/selling high value items.
- Tell a friend or family member where you’re going.
- Take your cell phone along if you have one.
- Consider having a friend accompany you.
- Trust your instincts.
Avoiding Scams
Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.
- Do not extend payment to anyone you have not met in person.
- Beware offers involving shipping – deal with locals you can meet in person.
- Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) – anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
- Don’t accept cashier/certified checks or money orders – banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
- Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a “guarantee”.
- Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
- Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing “deal” may not exist.
- Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.
Recognizing Scams: There are often warning signs and signals that can tip you off that the Craigslist transaction is probably a scam and not legitimate. Here are a few things that could alert you to such a scam. Avoid these:
- Broken English, poor grammar and spelling, etc. Many scammers are from foreign countries where English is not their first language.
- Wanting to use Western Union, Money Gram, cashier check, money order, paypal, special shipping, or escrow services. These are often included in scam listings.
- Emails and test messages from people not in your local area. These should raise a red flag.
- A very vague initial inquiry. Besides Craigslist, I get these all the time about the “products” I sell. They may ask about “the item” or “the listing” rather than identifying it by what it is.
- Refusing to meet in person, or stating they are unable to meet in person, to complete the transaction.
- Be wary of sweet talk, trying to avoid in person, or going on about family problems as to why they can’t meet. All of these “excuses” trying to play on your emotions are used to sucker you in. If there really is a sucker born every minute, don’t you be one of them.
- Avoid paying partial payments upfront to sellers who will “hold the item for you.”
Remove Geotags From Pictures Before you Post Them on Craigslist
If your smartphone has a GPS, which most do, and it is enabled, it may be embedding the physical location of where you took the picture in the EXIF metadata which is part of the picture’s file header. You should remove any geotag information from your photos before uploading them to Craigslist. You can do this with a EXIF geotag removal app. You don’t want to give a criminal your location hidden in the file header that they can read with an EXIF metadata viewer.
Shop Smart and Stay Safe!
Also see: Online Marketplace App Alert