Beware of new Craigslist scam

[Russ & Marian McLean]

2008 WARRANTY 17' Casita Travel Trailer

Found this in Phoenix Craiglist. Asking under $5000... Google showed variants in many other cities, including Canada.

Russ

[Jake Jacobson]

There was a flurry of these same ads for the Casita all over craigslist in various cities. The giveaway to the scam is that it the title always starts with the city it is listed in.

[Scott S.]

how does the scam work? are they asking for a deposit? selling something that doesn't exist I imagine...

[Greg A]

I flagged every one of those I could find yesterday. Make sure you flag them when you find them so they go away.

[Tom U]

I followed up with an email. The way the scam works is that they say the trailer is ready to ship from Las Vegas and that they can't go there but that they will hold a "private auction" on ebay for you so that you will be protected by ebay's buyers policies. Anybody that went through the auction, paid and didn't see the trailer would go to ebay and be met with blank looks - Private Auction?????

They tried this last week with an Airstream Bambi - different email addresses but same payment scam.

Yes, Flag the ads wherever you see them.

[Greg A]

I even had them give me the website and address in Las Vegas of the shipper.
The website exists, but you notice a template pattern to these sites after awhile.
When you Map the address the street doesn't exist in Las Vegas. When I sent that back to the
seller they quit responding to me.

I usually try to keep them engaged as long as I can just to learn more, but I do it with a fake hotmail address.
I figure if they're messing with me maybe less time messing with someone else.
I once had a General in the Ethiopian Army after many weeks of emailing back and forth, agreeing that we would meet naked in the woods outside Zurich so he could transfer the millions to my bank account and I could take my 10%. But that's another story.

[Raya]

The giveaway to the scam is that it the title always starts with the city it is listed in.

I guess they do that so that they can keep track of which ad a person is responding to and then react accordingly. I mean, it would look too fishy to say "Oh, what city did you see that ad in?"

I used to use a reverse tactic similar to this when I was looking for a used car and trying to buy from a private seller. I noticed that sometimes dealers would try to act like they were private sellers, so I started calling and saying "I'm calling about your car for sale." If they said "Uh...which one?" that usually meant it was a dealer; private sellers would say "Oh, sure, what can I tell you about it."

When I was trailer shopping I ran into one of those scam ads for the smallest Airstream. It was priced at a "too good to be true" price, so I was pretty sure it was a scam, but since I'd never responded to one of those, I gave it a whirl. Sure enough, he was "working on an oil rig but the trailer was with a shipper" etc. etc.

I wonder how many people they "get" with these?

Raya

[Jake Jacobson]

Everyone please be aware that this scam has resurfaced this morning all over Craigslist in almost every city. The new ads list a Casita always for a price under $5000, usually $4800.

This same text is in all the ads:

" I do not answer on Sundays, Sunday is my day for church and my family.

I answer questions via email only as that provides written record of all discourse, to the benefit of everyone for clarity.

Thanks for looking and God bless you all!"

Beware this is a scam!

[Scott S.]

you're a braver man than I am Greg. Naked in the woods you say? lol

I usually try to keep them engaged as long as I can just to learn more, but I do it with a fake hotmail address.
I figure if they're messing with me maybe less time messing with someone else.
I once had a General in the Ethiopian Army after many weeks of emailing back and forth, agreeing that we would meet naked in the woods outside Zurich so he could transfer the millions to my bank account and I could take my 10%. But that's another story.
[/quote]

[April Wilcox]

I guess they do that so that they can keep track of which ad a person is responding to and then react accordingly. I mean, it would look too fishy to say "Oh, what city did you see that ad in?"

I used to use a reverse tactic similar to this when I was looking for a used car and trying to buy from a private seller. I noticed that sometimes dealers would try to act like they were private sellers, so I started calling and saying "I'm calling about your car for sale." If they said "Uh...which one?" that usually meant it was a dealer; private sellers would say "Oh, sure, what can I tell you about it."

When I was trailer shopping I ran into one of those scam ads for the smallest Airstream. It was priced at a "too good to be true" price, so I was pretty sure it was a scam, but since I'd never responded to one of those, I gave it a whirl. Sure enough, he was "working on an oil rig but the trailer was with a shipper" etc. etc.

I wonder how many people they "get" with these?

Raya

I also ran into what seemed to be a scam, the add read Burro but when I called them up to find out more, they told me it was a U-hual. It just didn't add up, then they told me they had not title or registration, so I passed on it. He just didn't seem to have his facts straight compared to what the add said.

I also got one of the "My camper is somewhere else in a warehouse and we ship it to you" scams when I was hunting for a 13'. There are good deals out there though, we found one! $1500 was a very low price for one in usable condition, IMO.