Five Money Scams to Watch Out For on Craigslist East Idaho
The popular Craigslist website in East Idaho is a great place to post ads for things you have for sale. Advertisements for boats, motorhomes, cars, trucks, and homes for rent or sale are common. In most cases, two parties are able to negotiate a deal on an item that everyone is happy with. Most of the people who use Craigslist to buy, sell or offer employment opportunities are honest and the ads are legitimate, and this makes it difficult when scammers steal real ads and use them to commit fraud. They’ve learned how to use the site to defraud people out of their money, so it pays to be careful. Here are 5 examples of the scams that you have to watch out for on Craigslist East Idaho.
1. New Buyer Scam in East Idaho
A woman posted five textbooks for sale on Craigslist East Idaho. She was contacted by someone who acted interested in the books. They agreed on the price of $200 and the potential buyer sent her a check. She was surprised when she opened the correspondence up and the check was made out for $1,800. When she contacted the buyer he told her to cash the check and return the extra money to him via Western Union funds transfer. This was a blatant scam that is becoming more common. The check was fake but the banks go ahead and process them and give you the money. When the check bounces you are responsible for the entire amount plus the fees for the bounced check. Wired funds are hard to trace so in most cases, you’re just out the cash and the scammer disappears.
2. Craigslist Rental Scams in East Idaho
A scammer has been posting ads for rental properties in the Spokane, Washington and East Idaho Craigslist offering a home on the upper South Hill of Spokane. The ad includes a photo of the home and detailed information that appears legitimate. When this ad was investigated further, it was discovered that the house at the address is a different home altogether and it is not really for rent. The owner did not post it on Craigslist and this is a lousy scam that is intended to bilk innocent people out of hundreds of dollars.
3. New Gate City Craigslist rental scam in Pocatello
Donna Barker is a realtor with Pocatello Property Specialists and she warns of a new housing scam that’s active in the area. Scammers steal photos of properties which have been posted by the real estate company and they change the contact and rental terms information. They’re offering the homes at extremely low prices and telling applicants to rent the homes that they must pay an application fee so they can tour the interior of the house. Barker said that there were ten different potential renters who showed up to view the home and told her of the attempted scam. Luckily none of them had paid the fee.
4. Craigslist Fraud Suspect Arrested in CdA
An elaborate Craigslist scheme was discovered that ran from Spokane to Miami. Joshua Mulvey was arrested in Coeur d’Alene for his part in the scam. He and his cronies would post fraudulent advertisements on Craigslist for car parts for racing vehicles. He would sell the car parts, collect the money, then disappear without sending the parts in the nationwide scam. He was caught and arrested for the crimes.
5. Craigslist East Idaho auto buyer scam
An East Idaho man posted items for sale on Craigslist. A potential buyer contacted him and made a strange request. He asked him for his email address and then requested a car report for the auto he was considering buying. The seller him his email address and then proceeded to go to the website to check it out. It charged a fee of $24 and it would supposedly give a full report on any vehicle. He checked out the website to discover that it was a fake site based out of Panama and it turned out to be a phishing scheme to get seller personal and financial information for a scam operation. He didn’t fall for the scam but he did go on a local news station to warn everyone to beware.