Five Money Scams to Watch Out for on Craigslist Gulfport

Craigslist is a national website that is widely used for individuals and businesses to advertise items that they have for sale, business opportunities, event tickets, public service announcements and a range of classified ads. Realtors and individual homeowners also list available homes for rent and sale on the site. Vehicles and RVs are also popular listing items. Most people who use the site enjoy mutually satisfying transactions but some have not been as fortunate as others. Scammers have figured out that it’s also a place for them to find victims to rip off. Here are five money scams that you need to watch out for on Craigslist Gulfport.

1. Fraudulent check scam

A couple has been arrested for a scam that they were running on the Biloxi and Gulfport Craigslist site. The man and woman in their early 20s ran an ad on Craigslist asking people to cash checks for them under the guise of working for a business. The two had acquired bank account numbers from unsuspecting strangers and then set up an elaborate scam that would trick innocent victims into thinking they were performing legitimate business transactions with the illegally obtained bank information.

2. Craigslist Automobile Scam

A Gulfport man was arrested for running an automobile scam in Lamar as well as other counties in the state. The scammer would find ads for expensive vehicles for sale on Craigslist, then contact the sellers. He would meet with them and show them a fake contract document that was stolen from a legitimate company and offer to pay off the lien on the vehicle and promise that the money for the payment to them would be wired to their bank accounts in a week or less. Several victims fell for the scam, gave him their personal information, the keys and the vehicle. He committed this crime several times before being caught by local law enforcement.

3. Vintage Scope for Sale Scam

Here is a scam that offers a vintage telescope for sale for $16,000. It’s a common scam in which the supposed seller posts the ad and then when someone shows interest, they send a reply that states it’s still available but they moved to Italy and left it at a WalMart Storage Warehouse in New York City. They tell the potential buyer to send the money to WalMart and that the telescope will be sent to them. When WalMart was contacted about the ad, they confirmed that it was yet another money scam. Although payment was supposed to be made to WalMart, it would go to an account that only the scammer could access and even though it sounded semi-legit, it wasn’t. This type of scam is becoming all too common. Scammers use legitimate businesses to conduct elaborate illegal scams to steal money for innocent victims who often wait for their shipments to arrive and never receive them. By the time they realize they’ve been scammed, the crook is long gone and in most cases, it’s almost impossible to track them down.

4. Craigslist Check Scam

Police reported that a local resident filed a report about a Craigslist scam and told about how they became a victim. The victim was selling pool table equipment. The scammer contacted them and made arrangements to send a check to purchase the equipment if they would hold it for the movers to pick it up. A check was sent and extra money for shipping was included to pay a moving company which would pick up the equipment later. The check cleared the bank account but was later rejected by the bank and the seller was responsible for paying for the entire amount plus the bounced check fees.

5. Truck Rental/lease scam on Craigslist

There is a scammer advertising trucks for rent or lease on Craigslist. It’s important that you check into the company before giving them any money or your personal/financial information because there are scammers using this ploy to rip people off. They offer a deal on a truck lease with no credit check necessary. These fraudulent companies change their business name after ripping off so many people so the Better Business Bureau has no record of them so beware because people are losing money to these thieves on Craigslist.

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