There is nothing more frustrating than receiving a Craigslist email asking “is this still available“. Usually, when a seller replies “yes”, the response is a poorly disguised phishing email trying to obtain personal information and/or offering more money to remove the listing and consider it sold.
Recently, I stopped putting a value into the “Price” section when creating my listing. Instead, I include my asking price inside the description.
This has cut down TREMENDOUSLY on phishing emails!
Perhaps spammers have a program created based on the “Price” value that alerts them when a big ticket item is listed so they can attempt their scam? I am assuming they are too lazy to open the listing to see how much the seller is asking. This has worked for me, so I wanted to pass the tidbit along.
Below are additional Craigslist scams I have shared. Familiarize yourself with these scams and do NOT fall for them.
- I caught my partner cheating on me.
- Using religion to trick sellers.
- I’ll pay you more for your item, just give me your personal info.
- I’ll pay more and send my movers to pick the item up.
- Military PayPal Scam
- I’m Speech Disabled
- Bank Certified Check Scam
- Free Apple iPad
- Free Apple iPhone
- Embarking on Business Trip, Need To Send Official Bank Check
Also, check out my tips for being safe on Craigslist!