Beware of non-working phone numbers included in ads on Craigslist.
While Craigslist can serve as a helpful, online marketplace where you can find products you want to buy or advertise items you have for sale, it has some pitfalls. Even if you're a savvy seller or buyer, you can fall victim to a dishonest person running a scam. The best practice is to be skeptical of everyone you encounter through Craigslist and follow certain rules, such as never giving personal information to buyers or sellers and insisting on seeing a product in person before committing your money toward a purchase.
Instructions
1. Deal only with people who are willing to meet with you in person. Never conduct transactions with people who are out of the country or claim to be from another country. You need to inspect the item in person before you pay for it. If you purchase items without seeing them in person, you risk receiving something that doesn't meet your expectations.
2. Offer to sell your items only to those who agree to pay in cash. One of the most common scams is someone telling you he is out of state or out of the country and offering to send you a money order or cashier's check for the merchandise. Unfortunately, the cashier's check or money order he will send is a fake. When you receive the check, it's for an amount that's more than what the buyer owes. The buyer asks you to cash the check and send him the difference with the merchandise. Once the bank realizes the cashier's check or money order is fake, you will be held responsible for the whole amount.
Even if someone offers to write you a check, don't accept it. The buyer could write a check on a closed or fictitious account or the check might bounce, leaving you with no money and little recourse.
3. Do not give your sensitive personal or financial information to anyone you've contacted through Craigslist. Never give a buyer or seller your Social Security number, bank account number, credit card number or any of your online auction or payment account information. Dishonest buyers or sellers can use your personal or financial information to defraud you.
4. Do not pay up front for training fees, give personal information for background checks, set up a direct deposit, pay rent or a deposit for a job or housing that's being offered to you by someone who you've contacted through Craigslist. The "employer" or "landlord" might be offering empty promises in exchange for your money or personal information. Instead, ask for a physical address and contact number of the employer and call or visit. Check with your local Better Business Bureau to see if the employer is legitimate. In the case of housing, insist on seeing the inside of the property before paying a deposit or rent.
5. Arrange a public meeting between you and anyone you contact via Craigslist. For example, if you advertise in the personal section for a male or female companion, arrange your first meeting in a public place. Do not invite someone you don't know to your home or give them your home address. Wait until after you meet the individual to give him your personal information. You might meet the person and decide you don't want to see him again. If you sell something, meet the person in a safe, public location to sell the item. Don't allow the person to come to your home.
Tags: personal information, cashier check, money order, through Craigslist, your home, buyers sellers, cashier check money
