SCAM 17' 2001 Casita Spirit Deluxe

[Dana T]

SF bay area craigslist > santa cruz > sporting goods

Air Cond 2001 Casita 17' Spirit Deluxe No stains or tears anywhere (Watsonville - $5099 (watsonville)

Note: Some things about the original craigslist post make me suspicious that this may be a scam.
Please be careful!!

It has been confirmed that this is a scam. When I posted this ad there were no other similar ads in the western US, but now there are 6 in the SF Bay area, several in Colorado, and several more in other western states.


Date: 2009-04-23, 10:02AM PDT

This 17' Spirit Deluxe Casita is in Exc. Cond. and has been Garaged or Covered Since New. It has an Awning, Roof A/C with heat strip, Water Heater,Restroom/Shwr, 2 Burner Stove, Large 3 Way Fridge, Custom Mattress made for Casita, 2 Propane Bottles, Etc. Everything works like new. Never smoked in and no pets. No stains or tears anywhere. It has all options that were available except the propane furnace but it does have heater built in to the roof AC that works great. Also includes sway bar for towing. Must see to appreciate how nice it is. Thanks for your interest and good luck.

Water capacity: 21-30 gallons
Air conditioners: 1
Leveling jacks included: Yes

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/scz/spo/1136430352.html

[Lizbeth]

The Casita scammer was busy today. There have been several posts flagged and removed. This ad still is up so I can't compare them. Be careful!

[Dana T]

Well when I put it up there were no other entries in the western US.

But I just checked and there were 6 in the SF Bay area, several in Colorado, and several more in other western states.

I just now flagged to them to help get them down ASAP.

Now I'll edit the top post ...

[Raya]

Adding "good luck" at the end of the ad seems kind of weird. Just saying.

R.

[Dana T]

Adding "good luck" at the end of the ad seems kind of weird. Just saying.

R.

You're quite right, that was one cautionary flag.

Others were the long list of "keywords" and the nearly invisible light yellow text. I didn't reproduce them in my referral, but if you look at one of the listings that's still up (for instance Auburn Alabama http://auburn.craigslist.org/spo/1137173778.html) you will see these "tells."

The keywords are directly above the picture and the almost invisible words are directly below the picture. The invisible words become much more visible if you highlight them.

These things were the reason I checked all the listings in the western states to see if there were other ads like this before posting the referral -- at that time there weren't any. Even so, I posted the caution that it could well be a scam. An hour later there were ads blooming all over the place!