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How does this craigslist "scam" work?

12,060 2,046 March 16, 2012 at 08:39 AM
I post things on craigslist every once in a while. While browsing for something recently, I noticed in the person's description that he won't respond to the "is this still available" *scam*. I get those e-mails/texts often about my products but never considered them to be a scam. Hoping someone could explain why this would be a scam.
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Joined Dec 2005
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dealgate
03-16-2012 at 11:29 AM.
03-16-2012 at 11:29 AM.
Quote from Scampsters :
no never you are the only one in all of SD that has any experience with CL
No not actually my point. I really wanted to know if you ever have listed anything. Because just about every single ad gets this response. Every single one. The OPs wariness/question is well-founded. There is no tin-foilness about it.
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Joined Jul 2004
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Scampsters
03-16-2012 at 11:41 AM.
03-16-2012 at 11:41 AM.
Quote from dealgate :
No not actually my point. I really wanted to know if you ever have listed anything. Because just about every single ad gets this response. Every single one. The OPs wariness/question is well-founded. There is no tin-foilness about it.
I currently have 20 items i sell on a regular basis on craigslist and another 30 or so that i might only have 1-2 of that item - I probably make an average of around 40 posts a week and maybe 20 % get a bot like response or hit the cl filters and get autoflagged. Id say alot of the botlike responses are really just lazy people that cant be bothered to read the full ad and have dumb questions or simply say 'do you still have this item'.

As i already said i reply to them. Keep their original response and if it is infact a script i then click on that nice little link craiglist puts on the bottom of all communications where you flag them as spam and i never get that person responding again.

Alot of them dont even realise they have had their emails hacked/virused and infact they are not really the ones sending the mail from their email address.
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Joined Sep 2006
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teetee1
03-16-2012 at 02:08 PM.
03-16-2012 at 02:08 PM.
I don't remember how craigslist's email thing works but could it be that if you reply the email you reveal your real email address? Then whoever sent out the email can collect many email address that they know active.
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Joined Oct 2005
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decolores9
03-17-2012 at 05:10 PM.
03-17-2012 at 05:10 PM.
Quote from dealgate :
Because just about every single ad gets this response. Every single one.
Actually, most don't get that response. I've never gotten one like that.

Maybe you live in an area with more scammers or something.
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decolores9
03-17-2012 at 05:14 PM.
03-17-2012 at 05:14 PM.
Quote from faheyd :
I always put in my CL: I will not respond to any email request without your phone number.
Yeah, most of us ignore those posts because we assume they are by scammers trying to harvest phone numbers. I'm sure not giving my phone number to some random person on CL.

Quote :
Scammer do not put their phone numbers in there.
A lot of them do.

Quote :
It's just to get your email so they can SPAM you.
FWIW, if they are real SPAMmers it's not worth their time and effort to gather emails this way. Far easier to just grab the SMTP traffic off the net.

Quote :
Also, I never put my phone number in plain text for bots to harvest, do this instead:
Please call 513-223-zero one four four .
Hate to tell you, but bots can read that, too.
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Last edited by decolores9 March 18, 2012 at 03:50 AM.
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Original Poster
RUsum1
03-17-2012 at 06:42 PM.
03-17-2012 at 06:42 PM.
Quote from Scampsters :
I currently have 20 items i sell on a regular basis on craigslist and another 30 or so that i might only have 1-2 of that item - I probably make an average of around 40 posts a week and maybe 20 % get a bot like response or hit the cl filters and get autoflagged. Id say alot of the botlike responses are really just lazy people that cant be bothered to read the full ad and have dumb questions or simply say 'do you still have this item'.

As i already said i reply to them. Keep their original response and if it is infact a script i then click on that nice little link craiglist puts on the bottom of all communications where you flag them as spam and i never get that person responding again.

Alot of them dont even realise they have had their emails hacked/virused and infact they are not really the ones sending the mail from their email address.
Well my two most recent posts have both gotten them. The first post got three and the second has gotten four so far. I had one real person (or so it seemed) that actually gave a hint at what the item was and gave his name to me. But after his second response he hasn't responded back to me.
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GunMan
03-17-2012 at 06:59 PM.
03-17-2012 at 06:59 PM.
To those who claim that they aren't getting generic responses like "is the item still available?", it depends on what you are selling. If you are selling a used toaster or those socks that no longer fit your swollen ankles, you are not likely to get many inquiries regarding "the item".
However, sell anything $300-500 & up and you will get plenty of filthy nigerians and other scammers asking about "the item".
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bubbachuck
03-17-2012 at 09:07 PM.
03-17-2012 at 09:07 PM.
Quote from GunMan :
To those who claim that they aren't getting generic responses like "is the item still available?", it depends on what you are selling. If you are selling a used toaster or those socks that no longer fit your swollen ankles, you are not likely to get many inquiries regarding "the item".
However, sell anything $300-500 & up and you will get plenty of filthy nigerians and other scammers asking about "the item".
If they're harvesting e-mail addresses as previously mentioned, then they don't care what the item is.
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Joined May 2004
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faheyd
03-18-2012 at 12:44 AM.
03-18-2012 at 12:44 AM.
Quote from decolores9 :
Yeah, most of us ignore those posts because we assume they are by scammers trying to harvest phone numbers. I'm sure not giving my phone number to some random person on CL.



A lot of them do.



FWIW, if they are real SPAMmers it's not worth their time and effort to gather emails this way. Far easier to just grab the SMPT traffic off the net.



Hate to tell, but bots can read that, too.
It's SMTP traffic. You are now on my ignore list also. They are BOT harvesters trying to get your email address. It's worth their time and effort, they 'made' the bot.
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Last edited by faheyd March 18, 2012 at 01:22 AM.
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GunMan
03-18-2012 at 01:58 AM.
03-18-2012 at 01:58 AM.
They are NOT just "harvesting emails", at least based on my experience. Every time I have answered one of the "is the item still available?" emails, they have replied with a pathetic nigerian scam attempt.
(It's possible that they could also sell/try to sell the email address, but they do try to scam.)
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decolores9
03-18-2012 at 03:42 AM.
03-18-2012 at 03:42 AM.
Quote from faheyd :
It's SMTP traffic. You are now on my ignore list also. They are BOT harvesters trying to get your email address.
Oops, thanks for catching the typo.

If you think that it's BOT harvesters, you may want to learn a bit more about the internet.

It's far simpler to simply connect to the internet as an ISP and harvest the email addresses as they flow by.
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decolores9
03-18-2012 at 03:45 AM.
03-18-2012 at 03:45 AM.
Quote from GunMan :
However, sell anything $300-500 & up and you will get plenty of filthy nigerians and other scammers asking about "the item".
Maybe that's the difference - I'm mostly selling tools, kitchen appliances, furniture, and things like that are under $100. In my experience, CL is more like a garage sale - people are looking for bargains. If I want to sell something with real value that I don't want to "give" away, I sell it using other markets.
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decolores9
03-18-2012 at 03:52 AM.
03-18-2012 at 03:52 AM.
Quote from RUsum1 :
Well my two most recent posts have both gotten them.
I assume you know this, but just in case, if the email is posted as a reply through the CL system (to hide the real email address), the reply will have a standard form, and one of the options is "is the item still available"? The subject on the email should be the listing reference, though.
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dealgate
03-18-2012 at 06:22 AM.
03-18-2012 at 06:22 AM.
I think decolores9 hit the mark. It is more expensive items. All of mine were over $300. On the stuff under that, yeah I doubt they are interested in scamming you. And NO, they could not care less about your address. They want to do the Nigerian scams on you. The email harvesting is truly laughable. Post something expensive, even if the ad is totally fake and see what responses you get!

This is one response I got for advertising Banjo lessons (I didn't respond OBVIOUSLY a scam!):

"How is weather over there, I just want to know if the tutor lesson
still available for my son for a month he is 15 years old, He will
come down to you and i want you to calculate the cost of 2 hour per
day for two days in week for the whole a Month making 16 hours and
email me the total cost..waiting

Regard"
******************
This is another one for a Jenn-Air cooktop I was selling:

First Email:

"Hello, do you still have it for sale?"

Second Email:

"Thanks for the prompt response to my mail.I will be buying from you so
please kindly withdraw the advert from C.LIST. Please be informed that
i will be paying with a certified check from my Bank .I will need the
following details to mail the payment as soon as possible.
1.Name to be on the payment _________2.Home address__________
City_________State _________ Zip Code___________3.Cell phone
#__________I will make arrangements for the pick up as soon as you
have your money .I am completely satisfied with the advert and the
payment will be delivered within 2-3 working days.** I use a hearing
impaired phone # and will receive your calls via email **
Thanks"

My last email (he already had my email address):

"fark off asshole"
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Joined Mar 2007
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handyguy
03-18-2012 at 09:49 AM.
03-18-2012 at 09:49 AM.
If my item is free, everyone comes to get them.
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