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Five Money Scams to Watch Out for on Craigslist Harrisburg

There are thousands of people who live in the Harrisburg who take advantage of the services that Craigslist has to offer. They frequently use Craigslist to post a variety of things that they have for sale. They post boats, motorhomes, cars, trucks, furniture, tools, books and more. Some private homeowners and real estate agents post homes for rent and for sale on the site. It's also a place where pets are advertised as well as job opportunities. It's a good site for finding both buyers and sellers. While most transactions go off without any trouble, there is an increasing number of scams being posted on the site as well. Here are five money scams to watch out for on Craigslist Harrisburg.

1. Scammers try to rent house already for sale on Craigslist

The attorney general is investigating the report placed by a woman who was told by an interested renter that her home listed for rent on Craigslist. The renter corresponded with the scammer who said that the man would only communicate through email goes by the name of Steve. He told her she could walk around the house and look through the windows. She did and liked the place, then sent him $1,700 in deposit and rent money via wire. He promised to overnight the keys. Hey said to ignore the realty sign because he wasn't dealing with the realtor any longer. When learning about the scam, the owner reported it to authorities who are investigating.

2. Scammer poses as the real homeowner

A scammer stole an ad for a home for sale and posted his own phony ad to rent the house. The realtor in charge of managing the property saw the ad and contacted the scammer who is using the name of the actual owner of the home. He claims that he must live in Georgia for three years and cannot meet with renters to show the property, but they can look on the outside and peek in the windows. He instructs them to wire the rent and deposit money and says that he will mail the keys. The realtor was appalled at the scam that uses information and photos from the actual ad. He reported the scam to authorities and is warning everyone about it.

3. Phony job scams on Craigslist

A 21-year old was looking for a summer job and saw an ad posted on Craigslist. When at the interview the person was instantly hired for the job and thought that this was suspicious. They had everyone who showed up come back for further training. It went on for a week and consisted of 5 boring classes. At the very end of the classes, they told them they would be selling knives and that they had to find their own clients. They didn't disclose the hard facts of this until the very end, which in itself is a scam. Vector Marketing promised people they would make 50 thousand a year, which isn't always the case. In order to start selling you had to buy your own set of knives which are very expensive. It's a legal scam that people get suckered into all the time. The cost of the knife set is $300. The promises that they make initially and through the classes are very much a scam but they know how to word it so they can't be arrested, but it's still unethical.

4. Multistate Craigslist scam in Harrisburg

A scam victim informed the Springfield police about a scam in which concert tickets are posted for $400 on Craigslist by a legitimate seller. He was contacted by a man who agreed to purchase the tickets and he sent a cashier's check, but the check was for $2,750 instead of $400. He was instructed to keep the cost of the ticket plus an extra $250 and return the rest after depositing it in his bank account. He sent the money from a local Walmart store and shortly afterward was informed that the check didn't clear the bank and that he would need to pay the cost of the check plus associated fees.

5. Puppy scam on Craigslist

Now scammers are using cute and innocent puppies to lure victims into their money scams. An online ad for a dog for sale complete with pictures from a person that is far away is never a safe bet. We're being warned about it by victims to fell for the ruse. We're seeing more of these from con artist offering puppies for sale for a reasonable cost of around $300. In some cases the dog is free but they want you to pay shipping charges. After you wire the money, they try to string it out and get more money out of you claiming that they need more for vet bills, inspection costs, shipping or crating but even after victims comply, they never get the dog. These are phantom pets that they never really owned, to begin with. They just find photos to post and the eager would be pet owner loses all the money that they wire to the scammers.

Dana Hanson

Written by Dana Hanson

Dana has extensive professional writing experience including technical and report writing, informational articles, persuasive articles, contrast and comparison, grant applications, and advertisement. She also enjoys creative writing, content writing on nearly any topic (particularly business and lifestyle), because as a lifelong learner, she loves to do research and possess a high skill level in this area. Her academic degrees include AA social Sci/BA English/MEd Adult Ed & Community & Human Resource Development and ABD in PhD studies in Indust & Org Psychology.

Read more posts by Dana Hanson

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