Five Money Scams to Watch Out for on Craigslist Fairbanks

Fairbanks, Alaska residents post a lot of items that they have for sale on the convenient online selling platform offered by Craigslist. It's a great place to find a used item in good condition for a reasonable price. Sellers have enjoyed making mutually agreeable transactions on the site for decades. They buy and sell cars, trucks, furniture, electronics, equipment and there are even real estate postings on the site for homes for rent or for sale. Recently, there has been an influx of scammers, swooping in to take advantage of innocent Craigslist users in the area. Here are five of these money scams that you need to be on guard for when using Craigslist Fairbanks.

1. Craigslist car selling scam

A scammer is trying to sell non-existent cars on the Fairbanks Craigslist site. The con artist posted a vague photo of a vehicle for sale. She listed the price far below what the car was worth and then claimed to be living in the UK, helping to improve British and US relations. The car was being offered to sellers who were willing to purchase it through eBay. The seller offered to have the vehicle shipped which would incur additional costs. While eBay is a safer bet than most third party sellers, the problem with this situation is that they use a site that looks like eBay but it's actually a sophisticated scam operation. you send the money through the fake link and it generates receipts, but it's totally fraudulent. Be careful about buying a vehicle that needs to be shipped, in fact, you shouldn't do it because most of them are lousy scams.

2. Another car scam in Alaska

A Kodiak man was recently arrested for selling a car on Craigslist and then failing to deliver it. The vehicle was a 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse, offered on Craigslist for $1,000. A buyer made arrangements to pick up the car which was supposed to be sent on the Ferry after he paid for it online. There was no vehicle at the Ferry as promised. The man went to law authorities and filed a report against Loren Delacruz. He claimed that he didn't list the car for sale on the site but officials found evidence on his phone that he had in fact listed the vehicle and he had received trow transactions of $500 each showing that the payment had been put into his account.

3. Real estate scam on Craigslist

Craigslist used to be a great place to find Alaska real estate. While you can still find some good deals on land, you have to be more careful than ever. When looking for real estate in Kodiak or Fairbanks you'll find that there are several fake rentals popping up. One scammer posted a 3 bedroom home for rent and claimed to live in Spain. He said that he's send the keys after the deposit and rent payment were sent vial wire transfer. Be warned that the keys never arrive and the scammer disappears with your money and you're just out whatever you've sent. It's a hard lesson to learn and it's best to avoid dealing with anyone claiming to be out of the area because 9 out of 10 of them are scams.

4. Craigslist used car scam

Here's yet another used car scam which seems to be the new rage for con artists on Craigslist Fairbanks. The ad offers a 2003 Toyota Tacoma Double Cab SR5 for $2,740. The advertiser claims to be recently divorced without a drivers licence. The English grammar is sketchy on the ad which is the first red flag. The next kicker is reference to the eBay protection program which is an established scam on Craigslist. Buyers are told to wire the funds through this "secure" site, and while eBay certainly is secure, this is a fake version of eBay. It looks legit but it really isn't. If you attempt to purchase the vehicle, you'll lose your money and the car will never be shipped as promised.

5. Fake Seattle Seahawk tickets for sale

Watch out for a scammer who is advertising Seattle Seahawks on Craigslist in the Fairbanks area. The ads were placed by Shondrea Dre Sims. He asked for $3,600 as a down payment for the season tickets and even went to great lengths to prove ownership of them. It was all a scam though. The scammer had also sold a pair of fake Seahawk tickets in August for the amount of $1,300.