Craigslist is a great place to unload stuff that you don't want or need anymore and in the process maybe make a little cash or find new stuff at bargain prices. The best part of Craigslist is also the worst part - it is free. Since it is free, many people use it to post phony ads in an attempt to steal your money. I will talk more about these phony ads and how they steal your money in another post. In this post I want to talk about keeping yourself safe when you advertise on Craigslist.
The first thing that tips you off about possible scams is creating an account on Craigslist. It reminds you often that you should not respond to a link that claims to be from Craigslist but instead bring up Craigslist in your browser and sign in from there. This is a very real threat. I post a lot of ads and every time I post a new ad I get a few emails that appear to be from Craigslist at first but with a closer look I notice that the spelling is not quite "Craigslist". It might be "Crigslist" or "Craigslsist" or something similar. They always provide a link to "verify your account". The link does not go to craigslist regardless of what the link says. If you mouse over the link you should see the real destination. The reason they want your account info is to steal your account to place more fraudulent ads and stay anonymous or even use your ads to steal others money or even to steal your identity with spyware.
Another way to steal from you is to accuse you of stealing their account. Example from my e-mail: Why did you an identical ad like mine? I reported you to craigslist. (notice the mis-spelling, a lot of these scammers are from other countries and their grammar is less than perfect.) After this they will include a link to supposedly take you to the ad in question. It won't go there, it will place spyware on your computer and steal your identity.
