Beware when buying on Craigslist

[dabrooks]

My friend has been looking for a travel trailer and has had two occasions where the sellers were scammers. He did not fall for the scams but he has decided not to use Craigslist again. He sent me this this morning. Couple missing after posting Craigslist ad for car; suspect identified - CNN.com

[jplante4]

Yeah, and it's not just Craigs List. I put my gasser on this board's classified and got the New Zealand offshore oil rig scam.

[Tetonchief]

Buyer Beware no matter where you shop or sell. That being said, I have sold things on Craigs List and I have purchased some things as well. Try and deal local--or at least deal where you can go and inspect the product or the buyer comes in person to see and pay in person. If you have small items you want to deal with shipping then use EBAY. In al reality, Craig's list etc is no much different than posting an ad in the paper like it was done before the internet.

[Harley1994]

I agree, I've bought ALOT off craigs list, DW bought one of her motorcycles, I've bought two rv's, after awhile you get to see who the scammers are and how they list. Buy local.

[SkiSmuggs]

And when selling on Craigslist as well. Beware of replies or texts that seem in stilted English and offer to send cashiers check. The checks are counterfeit for more than the asking price, they ask for change and will send someone to pick up the item.

[98FPA]

I agree with all the above posts. Need to be very cautious buying or selling. I've sold and bought off of Craigslist. I've had scammers on both ends. However, I bought our current MH off Craigslist from a couple just 45 miles away so I was able to met these people one on one.

[reubenray]

Thanks for the info. I had been thinking about posting my RV for sale on Craigslist.

[dabrooks]

I was not trying yo discourage any one from using Craigslist to make everyone aware of the possibility of scams. In the article that I included it turns out that the victims may have lost more than money.

[jfran304]

Originally Posted by dabrooks

I was not trying yo discourage any one from using Craigslist to make everyone aware of the possibility of scams. In the article that I included it turns out that the victims may have lost more than money.

Latest I've heard is that they found the couples vehicle submerged in a shallow pond. They have arrested one suspect.

Jon

[Tetonchief]

I would also recommend RV trader.com or Auto trader.com, Motorcycle trader.com and snowmobile trader.com, I have sold cars, motorcycles and snowmobiles off of these and I just bought my motorhome from the RV site. The seller was 6 hours away and I went to see the MH. made and offer and a deposit pending an inspection and all went well.

[V3600]

My boat is listed on Boattrader. Today I received a text message on my cell phone where the texter wanted me to reply not by texting him back but by me sending an email to his email address. Was it just a scam to try to get my email address?

[Tetonchief]

Originally Posted by V3600

My boat is listed on Boattrader. Today I received a text message on my cell phone where the texter wanted me to reply not by texting him back but by me sending an email to his email address. Was it just a scam to try to get my email address?

Could be, but not everyone has texting. If you set up your account right the emails should go through the trader site.

[KT4Wextra]

A couple years ago I was looking at Casitas and found one listed that was supposedly not far from where I lived. It had a price about 1/3 the going price for the model and year. I emailed the seller and it was supposedly a woman that had been given the TT in a divorce settlement and she just wanted to get rid of it. I asked when I could look at it and (she) said that was at a shippers location as she was going to ship it directly to the buyer. I asked where she was and she said she was getting ready to travel out of state and wasn't available. I did the "search all craigs lists" and found that the same TT was listed in a number of locations throughout the US. It was one of those too good to be true items. Naturally the internet does not identify who you are dealing with and photos can be of anything or anybody real or fake.


If a check is involved then do the transaction at the bank the check is drawn on to verify it is a good account. Don't give a title until the check clears.

There is also the danger of the sale. Always meet a seller or buyer in a public location where there are other people around. The elderly couple from Marietta, GA were found lying in a ditch not far from their SUV that had been driven into a lake in south GA. It was supposedly to buy the elderly mans dream old Mustang.

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by jfran304

Latest I've heard is that they found the couples vehicle submerged in a shallow pond. They have arrested one suspect.

Jon

They've now found two bodies in the same pond.