Re-imagine your love for Craigslist

Ignore the news stories about the Craigslist killer. Ignore the stories about rapists, murderers, muggers and bandits of all kinds using Craigslist. These are the stuff of news stories and fantasy horror reports from all around the internet. Simply disregard them and live life without worrying about what might or could happen.

A few weeks ago, there was a camper that had been converted from a bus advertised on Craigslist. Suspiciously the fellow wanted only to be texted - did not want to be phoned nor emailed. Out of curiosity a text exchange was commenced. It transpired that the camper was located in the North East of the city. Interestingly, Google maps satellite view showed a much smaller camper than was advertised on the driveway of the given address. Clearly something fishy was afoot. With this in mind, the day that the camper was to be viewed, a profitable time cleaning out the fridge was substituted.

Roll forward a week or two and the same camper with the same background appears on Facebook but in a totally different location. This time it was in the South West of the city. So, which one was genuine or not genuine or were they both fakes? This will never be known as big purchases should always be done with more care than viewing simply from an online advert.

15 years ago, the Russian Mafia paid Russian women for portraits of them. They were invited to portrait sessions and paid handsomely and given complete sets of photographs. The use for those portraits - they were used on dating sites created by the Russian mafia. The sites were geared particularly to lonely, elderly American men. The scam went as follows - the victim was conned into sending the scammer small amounts of money for telephone and internet expenses. This would continue for a long time. All the scammer had to do was to send emails and pictures to and fro. Then the scammer would ask for money for a visa, visa lawyer and plane ticket. After that there would be some problem that meant the lady could not come to the US. If the victim announced they were coming to Russia then the lady would immediately find and marry some other guy. Given the low regard for international law by the Russian government, this was just viewed as a way of getting income for Mother Russia.

So, Craigslist - a scammers paradise and a victim's Hell or a wonderful place to do business? I'll leave that decision up to you. Keep your powder dry and trust in Craigslist for an exciting time.