10 Tips to Protect Yourself from Craigslist Thieves

Craigslist is a great place to find great deals and for sale items. It's also a great place to find and provide services. However, as it continues to grow there are bad seeds who are ruining the experience. Craigslist has done everything it can to protect the identity of it's users, but the growing problem is out of their hands. There has been numerous stories of trickery, theivery, and even murder which all stemmed from posted listings.

• Here's a story where a man and his girlfriend met another man to buy a luxury car for $7,000 in cash. Instead of the deal going as planned the couple was robbed for their money and left hanging dry. Luckily, they escaped with their life.
• Another story where a man in Boston went on a killing spree murdering women escorts that he met on Craigslsit. He would answer escort ads and met them at the hotels then once behind locked doors he would attack with a gun or knife.
• In this story a man sprayed pepper spray in the face of a 51-year old man who had $14,500 worth of jewelery for sale. The man tricked the seller into driving him to another location where he said the money was at and instead got a face full of pepper spray and his jewels snatched, without any exchange of money.

There are dozens more stories similar to those and all have one thing in common, an ad from Craigslist is what connected the victims with the assailants.

Craigslist is much more than a cesspool for crooks. You can find a lot of pleasure in Craigslist and make plenty of sales through its use, but you should rightfully be cautious. Here are some tips which might help you have a legitimate Craigslist transaction.

1. Meet at the Police Department. What will be more discouraging to the plans of a thief than suggesting to meet at your local PD.
2. Never bring cash. Bringing cash for large sales items (such as buying a vehicle) is like wearing a "rob me" sign. I don't believe in running scared or think you should treat everyone as a bad person, but be cautious when a person only wants cash. Why can't they take a cashier check or stand in line at a bank with you? What is their motive?
3. Get a callback number. Make sure you have a phone number to contact the seller/buyer. Having a phone number doesn't mean someone is not trying to con you, but it does give you a starting point in case something does go wrong.
4. Too good to be true. If it really is too good to be true then it usually is. You should shop for a bargain, but watch out for those steals! Those deals where you'll never be able to find anywhere else, so you need to react impulsively.
5. Travel in pairs. This will not always deter an assailant from attacking you or robbing you blind, but it does give you an edge and can potentially discourage a robbery. Bring a friend along for the ride. It's better if you had a large, monstrous friend or a police officer.
6. Ask personal questions. Over the phone you should strike up a conversation. Ask their first and last name? Ask what school they graduated from? Ask them what street they grew up on? Ask about their husband, wife, or kids? Be personal and chatty. Write down all the information you have.
7. Tell someone. Always let a friend, family member, or co-worker know about your plans to visit a craigslist buyer/seller. Make sure they have all the information you wrote down including phone numbers, location, date and time.
8. Gut Feeling. If you don't feel right about something then pass it up. Cancel the appointment or just miss it altogether if your nerves got the best of you. You don't owe anything to anyone. Safety first.
9. Never make quick judgment calls. Stick to the plan, never go outside the plan. Don't go to another location at the last minute, don't get into the car with anyone, don't change plans, etc.
10. Carry a cell phone. Make sure you have a cell phone in hand just in case you need to make an emergency phone call. Make certain the battery is fully charged before setting out to meet your Craigslister.

Most people you encounter on Craigslist will be on the up and up wanting nothing more than to do professional business, but for those times when someone is out to con you the tips above may save you. Be safe and make the best of your Craigslist experience.

Anthony Onaf is a Raleigh SEO consultant specializing in search engine optimization, search engine marketing, and pay per click management. He offers highly skilled and experienced SEO services. for those needing to drive targeted traffic to their websites and increase search engine rankings.