I'm getting on scammer nerves. This is the sixth reposting recently, as they flag my post so they can defraud people. Scammers lose money when I post. A new crop of them that hide email addresses in the post to geemail probably did it. Big red flag.
The most recent scams:
* "I'm selling this for my mother" scams with vehicles prices crazy-low.
* The horse trailer scammers, having one or two pics, and a one-liner description.
* A new variation: Nice Airstreams with a street address in two different locations and no other text.
* Trailers with a street address in the listing and odd prices; same trailer, many locations. Search the same vehicle type to see if it appears in many places at once, a sure sign of a scam.
* Beware of horse/animal trailers with no info or fewer than four pictures. Great sounding prices, little info.
* Ads with a 206 (Seattle) phone listing or anyone with a message service
* Coyote, or Airstream Bambi, or Scamp campers, one pic, bizarre text with phone #
* Blue tinted photos, often with a zipcode in the post title; some have a street address.
* Dealers fraudulently posting as Owners, avoiding Craigslist fees, polluting Owner categories-- please flag the cheapskates. These are often in Nashville TN (brick wall background), Plain City OH, Frankfort KY, and Tazewell TN. When you see someone posting NEW, they're very likely a dealer and have to pay Craigslist fees and are avoiding it by posting as owner and polluting listings. Please flag these cheapskate fraudsters.
* Posts with frames around them, or altered pics to avoid the Craigslist photo filters. Might have a haze, a screen, a weird fraction of a pic, etc.
* Posts with word salad inside of them, as though pasted from some unknown place.
The details:
They're back again. $800 Harley trailers, and impossibly cheap "canned ham" 1970s trailers. Two-horse "bumper-pull trailers" for $901!! They're scams.
It's likely a scam if: the post HasAGmailAddress or HasAComcastAddress similar obscured in the body or pasted on a pic; has a colored border on a Pic By Owner. If you see dealers posting as owners, PLEASE FLAG THEM. Posts an obscured phone number with an out of state area code.
Think about what you're looking at. Always question the pictures. See palm trees? Listed in Michigan? Think about what you're looking at because the low price might be a scam, and the item simply doesn't exist. Read the whole ad. Is there word salad in it, like it was pasted from a pet ad? The posters are experts at sucking you in; they do this for a living and are very clever.
Showing a license plate from your locale (the locale of the ad), helps verify that it's not a fraudster.
Here's what to look for, which identifies them as probable scams:
1. Three or less attached pics, often with borders or weird pic sizes. These pics are stolen from other ads and altered in small ways with shading, borders, or vast re-sizing. This fools Craiglist photo filters. Flag them. Sometimes you can search on the model and find the same scam listed across the USA. They're fake. Sadly, Craigslist doesn't do anything about them. This also applies to most higher-cost merchandise.
2. Attempts at obscuring an email address in the body of the post. Often, the addresses start with a woman's name.
3. Attempts at obscuring a phone number, especially one not used in your area.
4. Multiple postings in differing areas that identify them as being in that area on the map.
5. References to Lake Elsinore and Decatur AL and phone numbers not your area code.
6. Weird characters and emojis everywhere, as if done by a 13 year old on sugar.
7. Posts that are too short, or contain BS. Likely the description is word salad, absurd, or doesn't match reality.
8. Picture backgrounds of palm trees, a different season, mountains in flatland, etc. than your locale. Does it have mountains and trees in a listing for the Plains States? Desert for a listing in Ohio? Think about what you're looking at and ignore the fake high price. They're bait.
9. Sounds way too good to be true.
10. Weird prices like $801 or $1026
Although dealers are permitted to put banners on their pics, those suggesting an email address on the pic or lightly obscured inside the text of the post are highly suspect. Please flag dealers posing as civilian owners. There are dealers posting as owners using various techniques.
The are a lot of reasons to never put a phone number in a text but people try to do this anyway. Remember that if it goes to court, voice conversations can't be used as evidence, but emails can. Scammers want you to call them. They'll give you all sorts of bogus sob stories about why you need to send them money, which you'll never ever see again. Don't be tempted. Never send money under any circumstances without a title within the reach of your hand. Never Never Never do that. No excuses.
Please flag these when you see them. Never send money; you absolutely MUST do your transaction in person in a public place (local bank, police station, other SAFE place)! Never do a deal without a title in your hand for the vehicle. You may never be able to get a title or insurance with just a bill of sale because many states won't issue you a title without the docs, and without a title, you can't get insurance on your purchase.
My postings about scams have been flagged down countless times by the scammers who post this stuff. Remember, low and odd prices that are almost too low to believe, weird pics, multiple postings of the same item in various Craigslists, and email or phone addresses in the description, are HUGE ALARMS that mean scams. Dealer listings often have these items, but Owner listings do not. Scammers won't pay a dealer fee. Please flag these. Please.
The only way to stop bogus/scam posts is to flag the post. I flag 20-40 day. They pollute Craigslist, but Craigslist leaves this to us to clean up. These are flagged because they all follow the same pattern of deceit-- it works. Don't Be A Victim. Flag them! Don't burn your money!
Think twice; meet only in a public place. Take pics of what you're doing-- ask permission. Only deal with titles and never send money for any reason. Crypto is a scam. Flag the obvious scammers and dealers, please. Be safe-- it's YOUR money. Flag these posts when you see them, please. Keep this a decent place to buy and sell.