What are /r/craigslist's favorite Products & Services?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

- be sure you are choosing the individual category where ads for what you're looking for would be posted, instead of searching "all for sale"

- use the min/max price search to exclude ads that list a price that is wildly out of range of what would be reasonable for what you're seeking.

- consider "title only" search.

- try choosing only "by owner" if there seems to be lots of spam in "by dealer"

- if there is lots of spam with similar phrases or keywords, use negative keywords to exclude those ads.

If you mention which city/site you're looking on, I could take a look at the "spam" results you're finding and offer you any specific tips applicable to that specific spam I notice.

Also, you can review the various search features craigslist offers at:

https://www.craigslist.org/about/help/search

Scam. This is fourth down on the craigslist scams faq where they say Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible. The buyer will "accidentally" send you a check with too high of an amount and ask that you refund all or part of the difference. A couple days later your bank informs you that the check was bad and you're out all the money from the fake check's original face value and whatever irrelevant thing you were selling, if they even bothered to pick it up.

Spammers/scammers. Do not reply.

They send those out in bulk to see who is naive enough to reply back. They build a list of the numbers of those people, and then work through them to send other spam, or scam attempts.

A legitimate reply will either ask specific questions about whatever your ad was offering, and/or will ask about arranging to come in-person to look at it.

Ignore anyone that offers to buy sight unseen, or that wants to do anything other than come in-person. No shipping. No escrow services. No electronic/online payments or mailed payments. No checks except in the case of high-dollar items (like late-model cars, boats) where you go together to the buyer's bank where you can personally see the bank teller printing up a real check on the bank's equipment.

Ignore generic "is it still available" that don't actually state what the item is.

If you're using the CL email relay, ignore replies that immediately want you to contact via some other channel like text or direct email. (or use the "flag unwanted messages" link CL provides at the bottom of relayed messages)

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

It's not so much phishing as it is just a scam attempt.

They actually mail you a "check". It looks very much like a valid real check. Good enough that your bank will cash it.

But somewhere along the line they will come up with some reason why the need you to wire a portion of it somewhere using moneygram or western union or similar (to a 'shipper', back to them or their 'secretary' because they sent too much accidentally - it doesn't matter)

You, feeling secure because your bank gave you cash, think you're safe, and wire the money.

The problem is, the check WILL be returned as invalid, sometime later. It could take several week or longer. When it does, your bank WILL take the money back from your account, even if they have to overdraft you. You will likely get hit with extra fees to for the overdraft and for the bad check.

Any money you wired is pretty much irrecoverable. The scammer profits, you get a huge debt and headache.

This is also an old scam. Its even included on craigslist's scam warnings page (Its number 2 in the "examples")

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

​

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Its 100% NOT "legit" - its a blatant obvious scam.

Have you read craigslist's scam warnings? (see below) The biggest red flag here is their unwillingness to deal locally in-person. And the wanting you to fill out an application prior to being able to see the inside of the apartment. And once they saw you were willing to do that, they'd want you to wire a "deposit" to them in exchange for them promising to send you the keys. The reality is they copied pictures and description of a random home somewhere, that they have no ownership rights or involvement with, to use as bait to con people into sending them money. Its 100% a scam.

NEVER rent sight-unseen. DEMAND to be able to see the apartment, including the inside, before sharing anything other than your basic contact info.

If you can't see the apartment "because of COVID" then you can't RENT the apartment "because of COVID".

NEVER provide personal/private financial information, or agree to credit checks prior to meeting in-person.

And if craigslist is blocking this person's emails, its because this person is trying to SCAM people.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

Perhaps they are scams?

If you consider replying to any of them, be sure to first carefully read craigslist's scam warnings at www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Its a scam. Refer to craigslist's warnings at https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Paypal offers ZERO protection outside of eBay transactions. Most likely the scammer will pay you from a stolen paypal account. Once the true owner of the account discovers the fraud, they WILL take the money back, even if they have to overdraft your account.

"applying" or "replying"?

You shouldn't be filling out any applications until after you've gone in person to see the room and meet the landlord.

An ad which requires you to fill out any sort "application" first before the in-person meeting is likely to be a scam.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

There have been fees to post ads on craigslist depending on the section/category (and in some cases the city) for a long time.

For instance there has been a fee to post to certain housing and jobs categories in NYC and San Francisco for many years.

Fees were added to all "for-sale by dealer" ads (in the US, and some Canadian sites) in 2013

Fees were added to services and gigs (US and some Canada) least year, and for job ads in US cities in 2018.

Most recently, in April 2019, a fee was add to post in "cars/trucks for sale by owner".

You can see the specific fees that apply for which category at this page:

https://www.craigslist.org/about/help/posting_fees

Answered on the FAQ:

https://www.craigslist.org/about/help/faq

>Can I post my ad on more than one craigslist site?

> Please choose just ONE local craigslist site for which your ad is most relevant—generally the site closest to you. If your ad is equally relevant to all locations, your ad does not belong on craigslist. Please find another service. Posting the same ad to multiple locations on craigslist is prohibited.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/terms.of.use

>USE. You agree not to use or provide software (except for general purpose web browsers and email clients, or software expressly licensed by us) or services that interact or interoperate with CL, e.g. for downloading, uploading, posting, flagging, emailing, search, or mobile use. Robots, spiders, scripts, scrapers, crawlers, etc. are prohibited, as are misleading, unsolicited, unlawful, and/or spam postings/email. You agree not to collect users' personal and/or contact information ("PI").

Paypal is only safe for an eBay transaction.

Terminate all contact. 99.99% chance its a scam. Wait for someone local that wants to come meet in person. Have you READ CL's scam warnings?

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

You'd need a subpoena. And it wouldn't do you any good - a craigslist ad is not a contract. Unless you have something in writing from the seller, that makes some promise or guarantee, you're probably out of luck. If you're contemplating a lawsuit, consult an attorney before you take any further action. Note that CL does not take calls, and they won't give you access to someone else's ad without a warrant or subpoena - legal documents must be sent by email or fax as described at: https://www.craigslist.org/about/help/subpoenas_and_search_warrants

I've bought several cars off craigslist in the $3000+ range, and I have always paid in cash. It's just easier.

One of the largest scam attempts is using fake checks, cashiers checks and money orders. Look at it from the prospective of the seller, especially faced with a warning like this on almost every page. https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

It says quite plainly that accepting any other form of payment besides cash is a bad idea.

I'd be sketched as hell if someone offered to buy my car with a check, who could, on a whim, order a stop payment after they have taken "delivery" of the car.

Amazon is simple to use, convenient, has a good reputation, has a fantastic return policy, and can guarantee the product you receive. To further help differentiate, the product on Amazon is new.

Buying used on Craigslist is a large risk and people expect to be compensated for it. Buying from a stranger can be complicated, sketchy, and there is zero guarantee you can get your money back after the purchase is made. Losing the ability to return a product if there is damage or even if they flat out dislike it is a huge disadvantage.

50% of retail cost for a used product purchased from a third party through a service which officers absolutely zero protection (Craigslist) is not outrageous. You can argue it is worth more than $400, and you are absolutely free to feel entitled to get your perceived value for your item, but I feel the initial inquiry was not out of line.

Also, this is the most expensive bundle for the P115 I could find on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-88-Key-Weighted-Digital-Sustain/dp/B017TXC0JE?th=1

Here's what you need:

IFTTT

Also this

You could also install craigslist's own mobile app, and find the ad and use the reply function in the app (which does the same thing - it opens your phone's email app to send an email)

https://www.craigslist.org/about/craigslist_app

Here's some more specific details from craigslist's own site:

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

Its a pretty common garden-variety scam attempt.

In fact I think almost that exact example is shown on craigslist's own scam warnings page

www.craigslist.org/about/scams

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

Also be sure to carefully read all the info on both of these pages before you engage with anyone:

www.craigslist.org/about/scams

and

www.craigslist.org/about/help/phishing

The email relay wouldn't last for 4 years anyway, especially after a long period of time in which no emails are exchanged. Each address was a temporary one assigned for that specific ad only. And now it even changes for each new person that replies to an ad. And each person replying gets their own temporary address.

If you contact someone via craigslist email relay, if you want to maintain contact beyond the first few messages, you should exchange direct contact info.

It is highly unlikely that you will be able to contact that person again. Even assuming craigslist still has a record of that relay address, you would need to file a legal action and a subpoena ..

https://www.craigslist.org/about/help/subpoenas_and_search_warrants

.. to get it (which would have to have some legitimate legal reason, and its doubtful that "I want to hook up with the same stranger again" would count) And even if you did manage to get through all that, all you'll get is the email address they were using at the time, which they might not even be using. People use different email accounts/addresses all the time, and many aren't associated with their real name. And especially if this was a personals ad - many posters often prefer that emails related to their "hooking up" activities to NOT be in their regular personal email inbox, and so they set up some temporary free address through yahoo, hotmail, etc to use for that.

What you should do

- Ask the next person that contacts you to give you the ad ID number/URL. Also ask anyone that calls you to flag the ad.

- Put a sign in your door/window stating that any ad anyone saw on craigslist is a fraud, and that your property is NOT for rent. Mention that it *is* for sale, and give your realtor's contact info.

- Use the following form to report the fraud to craigslist. Choose "Personal harassment", then "Other information". Read the information that will be shown in the box, and look in the lower right for "Contact us regarding your personal information."

https://www.craigslist.org/contact

That is all you can do about "1)".

It is unlikely that you have any legal issues or obligation in regards to "2)" - you are neither the scammer nor the victim.

Three ways, in descending order of likelihood of success:

1. Contact the seller, ask them to see if they still have a copy (there might be a copy in their craigslist account.
2. Court order/subpoena: https://www.craigslist.org/about/help/subpoenas_and_search_warrants
3. Build a time machine. Go back in time to when the ad was still published, and tell your former self to save a copy at that time.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/help/faq#wronggeo

Can I post my ad on more than one craigslist site?

Please choose just ONE local craigslist site for which your ad is most relevant—generally the site closest to you. If your ad is equally relevant to all locations, your ad does not belong on craigslist. Please find another service. Posting the same ad to multiple locations on craigslist is prohibited.

rooms/shares is a legit category, sure. But ads there are generally expected to be either:

- advertising an available room

- from an individual looking for an available room

.. not from someone that does not have a room looking for other people that do not have a room.

As far as whether or when to trust people, that's entirely up to you.

There *are* scams on craigslist, and scammers respond to ads too. But they are fairly easy to recognize if you do some learning and apply common sense.

Before you do ANYthing on craigslist, you should carefully read the information at:

www.craigslist.org/about/scams

and

www.craigslist.org/about/help/phishing

If you are in touch with someone through craigslist, do not send money or engage in any transactions where you don't meet in-person first. That would include credit checks, applications to rent, deposits, etc. Anyone that expects you to is a scammer.

Keep in mind that craigslist is JUST a place for people to post ads. They are not involved in any transaction or dealing you choose to enter into with others - such deals are solely between you and the other person(s).

Was the text from craigslist or somewhere else?

If it was from craigslist, what happened is he used YOUR phone number to verify HIS craigslist account. This doesn't give him access to your account, but it will make it so that if YOU ever have to verify, you may not be able to. If this is what happened, go to craigslist "contact us" page, and select "phone verification" then "I have my code to someone else"

Start here, and then look in the lower left area for "contact us"

https://www.craigslist.org/about/help/

If the code came from somewhere else, then what that did, and what you might want to do about it will depend on where it was.

First, let me start by saying this guy absolutely isn't worth your time and you should only reply for the purpose of entertaining yourself.

That said, I'm not seeing anything in the terms of use prohibiting deleting and reposting the same entry, unless you're doing so to circumvent CL moderation. So if the post was deleted by a mod, and you reposted it, that would be a TOS violation -- but merely deleting your own post and reposting it isn't mentioned anywhere in the TOS.

There is this bit though:

>Unless licensed by us in a written agreement, you agree not to use or provide software (except general purpose web browsers and email clients) or services that interact or interoperate with CL, e.g. for downloading, uploading, creating/accessing/using an account, posting, flagging, emailing, searching, or mobile use.

which makes me wonder what he's using to "trigger one of [his] watches." You should accuse him of violating the TOS.

If you're worried about this guy spamming reports and getting your posting ability revoked or something, you could contact the Craigslist mods ahead of time notifying them that someone has threatened to flag-spam your posts.

Please post any updates if you keep talking to this guy. He sounds like a nutjob.

One benefit is that you aren't violating the Terms of Use of the site.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/ctd

(written when the fee was added to car/truck by dealer category, but applies to any by-dealer category)

> Q. What may happen if a dealer posts in "by owner" to avoid the fee?

> A. Ad deletion, account closure, other remedial actions. Please flag any dealer ads in "by owner."

As noted by the other response, it also means your ad isn't subject to auto-removal from user flags - there is an additional level of review by CL staff.

Also, you don't have to fight with all the other dealers renewing their ads to be above yours - the paid by-dealer categories don't have renewal.

Your dispute is with the person(s) posting the ad, not with craigslist.

craigslist is neither a law enforcement agency nor in a position to verify who has the right to advertise a given address.

If a law is being broken, contact a law enforcement agency.

If you want to take civil action (lawsuit) against the person(s) posting, consult with an attorney. If you don't know who it is, file against "John Doe" and then your attorney can submit a subpoena to craigslist to obtain the email address(es) or IP address(es) associated with the identified posts.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/help/subpoenas_and_search_warrants

CL has a built in function for this

https://www.craigslist.org/about/saved_searches_and_alerts

Also, its best to avoid using any "app" with cl - none of them are authorized or supported by CL, and many violate CL terms and/or are malware or spyware.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/ctd

Q. Are paid ads subject to automated deletion due to user flagging?

A. No. Paid posts flagged by users are reviewed by staff before any deletions take place.

(Yes, its in the cars-by-dealer FAQ, but that was written when cars-by-dealer was the only for-sale category that was paid)

CL is for local in-person advertising. You are only allowed to post to the SINGLE most locally relevant craigslist city/site. Posting to multiple sites is prohibited. Posting to non-local sites is prohibited.

You can reach your existing clients by contacting them directly.

Clients in Florida, New York, New Jersey, etc, that are interested in finding someone in Michigan offering services, may read the ads on the appropriate Michigan site.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/help/faq#wronggeo

>Can I post my ad on more than one craigslist site? Please choose just ONE local craigslist site for which your ad is most relevant—generally the site closest to you. If your ad is equally relevant to all locations, your ad does not belong on craigslist. Please find another service. Posting the same ad to multiple locations on craigslist is prohibited.

craigslist has no 'TOS'..

It has a Terms of Use, which it sounds like you didn't actually read.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/terms.of.use Here's an excerpt:

> USE. You agree not to use or provide software (except for general purpose web browsers and email clients, or software expressly licensed by us) or services that interact or interoperate with CL, e.g. for downloading, uploading, posting, flagging, emailing, search, or mobile use.

First, make sure that your location is not represented. Check here: Be sure to scroll down to find non-US areas.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/sites

Then, post a suggestion that craigslist add a site for your country here:

https://forums.craigslist.org/?forumID=1

I feel your pain. I border like 6 CL areas. CPRO used to be the best. I've been using clmobile. It does allow mileage searches. No notifiers though. I miss those the most.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mtph.clmobile

I use the IOS version, so can’t confirm compatibility with diff versions of android.

There are a number of third party apps; but this would be the official app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.craigslist.CraigslistMobile&hl=en_CA&gl=US

Yes, when someone replies to an ad, they reply from whatever email address/account they use, and using the normal "reply to sender" in your email address forwards it back to them.

There is no "cl email"

But spammers and scammers often try to get you to reply directly outside the CL email relay, which lets them get your direct email address, which they can use to send you other spam or scams without it going through CL's servers. Or they can sell/share it with other spammers or scammers.

Flag such inquiries without even replying to them.

Legitimate replies from real potential buyers, will either ask about arranging to come IN PERSON to see the item, or will ask for specific additional information that either wasn't present in your ad or perhaps they missed seeing.

Also note, you don't sell "on" craigslist. All you do on craigslist is advertise. Any sales or other transactions you engage in as a result, do not involve craigslist, only you and the other party, locally in-person.

Be sure to carefully read this information from craigslist before you do anything.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

Give them a disposable email if you must.

Ask when you can come in-person to look at the property.

DO NOT agree to rent sight-unseen without meeting the landlord or property manager.

DO NOT agree to fill out any applications or background/credit check forms, and do NOT send any money or deposit, prior to meeting in person at the property.

Also, read this carefully:

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

Flag the message without replying. Also, carefully read this:

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

Yes, there is. On the sidebar, choose "titles only".

But getting to just the right category would be the first step, instead of searching an entire section.

And title-only search is just one of a variety of fairly powerful search functions available.

One can read about that and others here:

https://www.craigslist.org/about/help/search

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

Anyone else read the search documentation, that shows you how to use "exclude" keywords to suppress unwanted ads for their results?

https://www.craigslist.org/about/help/search#NarrowingSearch

Clue: add

-carvana

to your search/filter bar

You don't.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

Probably. Reply (from a disposable email address) and see what you get.

Maybe its stolen. Maybe they will want you to pay with gift cards or wire transfer.

Be sure to carefully read everything at www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Stop responding. If the emails are being sent through the CL email relay, flag ever further email from them. (Look near the bottom of the email for a link)

If you receive the check:

- if it comes via regular postal mail, see if the postal inspection services wants it

- if it comes some other way (more likely) then you can see if some other law enforcement entity wants it, or even maybe your bank, but if not, either shred it, or perhaps write "FRAUD" on it, and keep it in a frame on your wall to remind you not to fall for these in the future.

Assuming you did not give out any truly sensitive information, such as passwords, SSN, bank account or other financial information, you are probably fine.

Be sure to carefully read over everything at

www.craigslist.org/about/scams

and www.craigslist.org/about/help/phishing

https://www.craigslist.org/about/help/faq#auction

>Can I put a link in my for sale posting pointing to an auction site like eBay?
>
>No. Please post a set price, do not solicit bidding, and do not link to auctions elsewhere.

That CPU is 5 years old, the video card is old too, best to put that money towards new parts.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

No. The critical key to recognizing a scam on craigslist is whether someone is willing and able to meet locally in person to deal.

If anyone refuses (or if they pretend to be willing but then make some excuse) and wants to do ANYthing involving shipping, mailed or electronic/app payments, "escrow" services or anything remotely like that, 99% chance its a scam. As soon as someone suggests any of those things, just stop replying to them.

A local person that either will come to your location to look at your item for sale, or that agrees to let you come to theirs to look at their item, the chances its a scam are very small.

Now, depending on the city/neighborhood, it *could* be a setup to be mugged, but that applies anytime you meet someone locally, and you should take appropriate precautions - some people suggest meeting only at a public place, or perhaps even at a police station (muggers tend to be uncomfortable with that, unsurprisingly) - or bring a streetwise big strong friend with you.

For people that have a firearm and are fully confident, that is an option as well (but NOT a good idea unless you are fully confident with it, and of course its legal for you to have in your location)

There is more information on safety in regards to in-person meets at https://www.craigslist.org/about/safety

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

Some posters do get their accounts "banned" after sufficient abuse. Most of them don't shed a tear over it, and just make a new one.

But you wouldn't have any way to know that, unless it was YOUR account that was banned.

And it is trivial to filter out such noise using CL's search tools, if you want to browse without seeing that.

Use the categories. Don't search "all for sale" or "all jobs" - choose the specific category where what you're looking for would be.

Use search terms - understand that all it does is match words. It doesn't understand the meanings of the terms. But you can quote phrases to match words in a specific order.

Use *exclude* search terms. For instance, if you're searching for a driving job, and don't want to see the thousands of uber or lyft ads then just add:

-uber -lyft

to the search bar, and "poof" any ad with either of those terms will be suppressed.

But note that those ads are not posted by those companies, but rather by hundreds of individual drivers trying to get "referral" credits so there isn't an account to "ban" over it.

Learn about more search and filtering functionality here:

https://www.craigslist.org/about/help/search

Have you read craigslist's own scam warnings page?

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

You can flag the ad.

You can use craigslist's "contact us" function from this page (scroll down, its under the "miscellaneous" header) - then choose "personal harassment" and "other information")

https://www.craigslist.org/about/help/

Beyond that, there isn't much you can do. Scammers do this all the time - copying pictures or descriptions from random housing ads to use for their fake ads. You bear no liability or responsibility for the people that naively fall for the scams, despite CL specifically saying to never buy or rent sight-unseen in their scam warnings.

Yes, 100% scam. Don't even reply. Refer to the guidance from craigslist:

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

craigslist does not have "moderators" like reddit does.

craigslist moderation works as described here:

https://www.craigslist.org/about/help/flags_and_community_moderation

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

Classic scam attempt.

Ignore, do not reply.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

I assume you are referring to "in the past, when craigslist still had personals"

If you aren't, note that craigslist eliminated all personals categories after the FOSTA/SESTA legislation passed in 2018, and they published the following statement:

https://www.craigslist.org/about/FOSTA

​

>US Congress recently passed HR 1865, "FOSTA", seeking to subject websites to criminal and civil liability when third parties (users) misuse online personals unlawfully.
>
>Any tool or service can be misused. We can't take such risk without jeopardizing all our other services, so we have regretfully taken craigslist personals offline.
>
>Hopefully we can bring them back some day.
>
>To the millions of spouses, partners, and couples who met through craigslist, we wish you every happiness!

FYI, your craigslist account is not involved when replying to ads.

One doesn't even need a craigslist account to read and reply to ads.

Be sure to heed craigslist's scam warnings, particularly the last two, related to renting housing.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/help/faq#wronggeo

Can I post my ad on more than one craigslist site?
Please choose just ONE local craigslist site for which your ad is most relevant—generally the site closest to you. If your ad is equally relevant to all locations, your ad does not belong on craigslist. Please find another service. Posting the same ad to multiple locations on craigslist is prohibited.

If you look up "craigslist scam" in a dictionary, there would probably be copy of nearly that exact message. Also in the samples of scams at the craigslist scam warnings page:

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

craigslist's own website has some information that may answer your questions:

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

VERY risky. Not a good idea.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

Some general tips below. Never agree to buy ANYTHING advertised in a craigslist ad without going in person to inspect and test it. Never send any form of payment first either.

No electronic/app payments. No shipping. No "escrow" services. In-Person, cash only.

And understand that unless you have something in writing and signed by the seller that clearly says otherwise, private sales are "as is" - once you pay and accept the item, if it turns out to be a potato you're stuck.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

Anything else opens you up to being scammed. If a buyer wants to use something else, you're free to accept it, but all risk of it being fraudulent is on you.

Have you read craigslist's warnings?

www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

Writing an ad all as one unbroken block is called "wall of text" and is hard to read and headache inducing.

And no one in their right mind agrees to buy an item offered on craigslist without seeing it with their own eyes, in person first. Or to send money in advance of just before they can physically take possession of the item. So "video" calls are irrelevant anyway.

And while many scammers are using "covid" as an excuse to convince victims to fall for the "send me money I promise to send the item" scam, its still a scam, and savvy people still insist on dealing locally in-person only. You can wear a mask, or meet outside, or both.

CL scam warnings still apply.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

The biggest red flag is that they come up with a lame excuse about why they posted in a wrong city, and they want you to pay using online/electronic means, and they want to use shipping.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

Including this one?

https://www.craigslist.org/about/help/services

>craigslist accepts ads for services ONLY under "services offered."
>
>You are welcome to advertise your services there.
>
>Ads for related services are NOT allowed in the "for sale" and "housing" categories.
>
>Services ads submitted to categories outside of "services offered" are subject to removal and other remedial measures.

Absolutely skip anything where

- you have to send any money, fill out any application or provide personal information, or submit to any sort of credit or background check prior to having a chance to come meet the landlord and view the home first (including the inside)

- or if they want you to sign up for some other website - usually those are just spam to get people to sign up on those other websites and the apartment shown in the craigslist ad isn't actually owned or offered by the spammer.

Both of those are "common", but they are common SCAMS. And yes, many scammers will use "COVID" as an excuse for why they won't let you come visit first. You should still INSIST on being able to visit/tour FIRST (wearing a mask, etc as appropriate) and terminate contact with anyone that demands money or personal info first.

Also carefully review everything on this page:

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.
• "craigslist voicemails" - Any message asking you to access or check "craigslist voicemails" or "craigslist voice messages" is fraudulent - no such service exists.

Read over this warning page on craigslist, and see what you think:

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

^ This, exactly. Let Carvana pay five bucks for each ad, for ads that can easily be filtered out.

More details about advanced craigslist search/filter functions here:

https://www.craigslist.org/about/help/search

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

Well, pet sales are prohibited on craigslist, so if someone was offering a pet for sale, that would be the first clue that they were dishonest. ($300 would never be a justifiable small adoption fee)

Second, CL warns to ONLY deal locally, in-person, and never send money to anyone you haven't met. So that would be a second clue.

Basically, you've just learned a $300 lesson. You'll certainly never fall for that again. You'll flag ads on craigslist from anyone trying to sell a pet (even if they call it a "rehoming"), and you'll ignore anyone that wants you to send money prior to meeting them. More things to learn here (for free):

www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

This subreddit has no affiliation with, and is not operated by, craigslist, Inc.

To contact craigslist, use their contact form, which is linked from their help/faq area.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/help/

Getting scammed is routine for people that use craigslist but disregard the warnings.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

Insufficient information to know.

Will you be going to meet them in person to personally inspect the item, prior to any money changing hands?

Have you read craigslist's scam warnings?

www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

Be sure to only deal only with locals you can meet in person. Nearly all cases where someone wants to hire you to do something without ever meeting them are scams.

Some examples of scams include anyone that says they want to hire you to do any of the following:

- post ads on craigslist (violation of craigslist terms too)

- receive money or goods and resend it/them somewhere else

- print and mail checks

Or anyone that wants to mail you a check, buy stuff with it, and wire part of the money somewhere.

Also carefully read over craigslist's warnings at www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Yes, its a classic/common scam.

Read craigslist's scam warnings page:

www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Do not even reply to that email.

Ignore anyone that wants to do anything other than come in person to look at your item. (Or that asks you specific questions about the item itself)

On CL, local in-person only. No mailed payments. No paypal, cashapp, venmo or anything similar. No shipping. No "escrow"

There have been reports that they do, and others that report that they do not. It may depend on the specific card type, or even the specific card number you end up with.

There is probably no way to know in advance. You could try loading just enough to post ONE job ad, and try it out and see if it works.

Refer to craigslist's FAQ.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/help/faq-job

Suggestions:

One, LOG IN FIRST, before you click to post an ad. Then it won't have to send you links to sign in.

Two, read this documentation, that has existed for many years:

https://www.craigslist.org/about/help/phone_verification

>Never pay or sign to anything before visiting the place and making sure the place and the landlords are good.

THIS. 100%. Which dovetails with craigslists own warnings:

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

The email is under the "REPLY" button.

It may be an anonymized email. You can reply to it and ask.

It's possible they made a type when entering their own phone number, and would be glad of you to inform them.

The only other way would be via legal action

https://www.craigslist.org/about/help/subpoenas_and_search_warrants

^ THIS.

Also, refer to craigslist's own information on this:

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

Except what they claim to offer flies in the face of all the warnings on craigslist. Many scammers set up fake sites like that, to make their scams appear more legitimate.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

While there is a VERY slim chance that the person really will ship you something, and a chance it might be what you are expecting, you've probably just paid for an expensive lesson on what NOT to do on craigslist.

Didn't you read the scam warnings page that there are links to all over the craigslist site?

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

craigslist 101:

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

No.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

Scam, 100%.

The check will seem ok, your bank will even let you deposit it and take the cash. But they aren't interested in your piano - what they will do is make the "check" for MORE than the agreed price, and they will want you to wire the "extra" somewhere. Perhaps to the "pickup company/person" or perhaps they'll claim it was too much accidentally and want you to wire a part of it back. They will be in a rush for you to do this, just in case by some chance the check gets returned to your bank more quickly than the usually 3 or more weeks. Your bank WILL take the full amount of the check, plus bounced check fees back from you even if they have to overdraft your account (and then there will be overdraft fees too)

Any money you wired will be lost.

Terminate all contact with scammer - do not reply any further at all.

Wait for contact from someone that wants to come meet in person to see the piano.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

Make sure that if the person decides to pursue it, that you deal only in-person locally. Do not agree to any online/electronic or mailed payment.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

That is not a normal or sane response.

I would ignore that response and NOT reply back to it.

In fact, I would ignore any response that wasn't either:

- someone asking for more specific details about the shoes (or whatever other item)

and/or:

- someone asking about when they could come in-person to look at (maybe try on?) the shoes.

Ignore anyone that agrees to by without seeing. Ignore anyone that wants to use paypal, cashapp or any sort of online or electronic payment. Ignore anyone that wants to do anything other than come in-person to deal.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

By using a well-known well known site that offers "buy online to have shipped" services.

NOT in relation to a craigslist ad. On craigslist, you go in person to look at the item and inspect/test it prior to agreeing to buy it, and certainly before you give anyone any money.

craigslist scam warnings specifically tell you not to do not-in-person deals using their site. If you choose to do so anyway, if you get scammed, its entirely on you.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

Paypal does not offer "buyer protection" unless you buy online through a "ecommerce" site/service that offers "buying online"

craigslist is for local in-person dealings. craigslist is NOT an "ecommerce" site. Any and all transactions you enter into are entirely outside of craigslist.

scammers know all the fine details of the terms of whatever service(s) they use to try to scam people. They know exactly how to comply with the terms "to the letter" but still work the system so that they benefit from whatever scam they run.

You are of course free to proceed whatever way you want, but understand that you take full responsibility for the results. craigslist specifically warns against anything other than local in-person dealings:

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

If they actually list the item for sale ON eBay, and describe it properly ON eBay, and you buy it ON eBay's site, using eBay's built-in checkout process, then your deal would be covered by whatever eBay's rules are. If you send them money directly through paypal, without it going through eBay, its a scam.

(Be wary of any links they send you, which might be to a FAKE site - instead ask for the eBay listing number, and go to eBay yourself and search for the item)

Typically, on craigslist, you deal locally, in-person, cash only, and 99% of the time, anyone that is unwilling or claims to be unable to meet in person is a scammer.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

Yes, its a classic scam (although they usually claim eBay will hold the money - in truth neither eBay nor Amazon offer any such service)

"Item already package for shipping"

You can't go look at it first.

You have to send money, they promise it will be "held" for you until you get the item and get to test it out.

And that is a complete lie. You send money, its gone, no item is ever sent, you never get your money back. Read closely:

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

Ignore anyone that wants to do anything other than come IN PERSON to look at your guitar and then decide whether to buy it.

99.99% of inquiries wanting to "send you a check" are scam atempts.

No one in their right mind buys something advertised on craigslist without going to look at it first.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

100% scam.

https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Avoiding Scams

Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not provide payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee".
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.