Jim McFarland
03-04-2011, 7:48 PM
I know lots of SMC folks use craigslist to sell wwing equipment so wanted to warn of a new scam I saw today. I got an innocuous email reply saying "I want to buy this item." I replied with phone # and emailer then sends what sorta looks like a youtube link...wanting me to view to make sure my item isn't the item shown in the video. I obviously didn't click on their link and when I searched I found several other craigslist posters had been baited the same way and the link reportedly leads to a computer virus infection.
I know I may miss a sale but I'm not going to reply to queries in the future unless they mention the specific item I'm selling or a local phone #. I'm still ticked at the creeps who try this sort of con.
Another way to recognize scammers is to post 2 separate craigslist items near the same time. If you get replies from the same or similar email with simple or leading queries about the separate items & the 2 emails arrive about the same time -- it is almost certainly a scammer. I got 2 of those today: one with same email and a second with same last name and different first name. I can always find 2 items to sell so I'm going to do this as SOP now when posting on craigslist.
Be careful out there!
I know I may miss a sale but I'm not going to reply to queries in the future unless they mention the specific item I'm selling or a local phone #. I'm still ticked at the creeps who try this sort of con.
Another way to recognize scammers is to post 2 separate craigslist items near the same time. If you get replies from the same or similar email with simple or leading queries about the separate items & the 2 emails arrive about the same time -- it is almost certainly a scammer. I got 2 of those today: one with same email and a second with same last name and different first name. I can always find 2 items to sell so I'm going to do this as SOP now when posting on craigslist.
Be careful out there!