Five Money Scams to Watch Out for on Craigslist Omaha

Omaha

Omaha, Nebraska is a beautiful city. It’s surrounded by so many waterways that give the city such a relaxing and refreshing feel. Unfortunately, Omaha has been plagued with a certain kind of illegal activity that’s based directly from Craigslist: scamming. Much like many cities throughout the US, scammers have infiltrated Craigslist Omaha, and they have been taking advantage of many hard working residents in the area. People lose money on a daily basis, and it’s a truly unfortunate situation. It’s a good thing that Craigslist users are becoming more aware of telltale signs, and it’s the first step to combating this huge problem. Here are 10 money scams that you should watch out for if you’re using Craigslist Omaha.

1. Apartment for rent scam

If you have to ask someone whether a listing is true or not, you might have to go with your gut answer. That answer is usually going to be a “no.” The listing probably sounded too good to be true to begin with. If that’s the case, walk away as fast as you can. Craigslist is notorious for rental scams, and they’ve taken so many different forms. These days, scammers are even using real rental properties and promoting them as their own. Of course, many people end up giving personal information and a lot of money to secure these properties.

2. Fake eBay invoice scam

Scammers have figured out a way to make realistic looking eBay invoices that will fool even the most meticulous person. Craigslist users are claiming that they have posted something on eBay to be sold, and they usually have a fake invoice to back that up. Most of the time, however, the product doesn’t exist. Scammers will convince you to somehow pay for the product, but most of the time, these are things that you need to begin with. You’re more susceptible to buying them anyway. You can pay for the product; unfortunately, you probably won’t get anything in the mail if the original Craigslist ad was a scam.

3. Home rental scam

If you’re trying to sell your house, keep an eye out for Craigslist scammers that might try to rent out your place instead. Scammers go through websites to find your property, and they’ll use whatever promotional materials you’re already using to promote your home as a rental. This way, everything will look legitimate. Scammers get away with this all the time because homeowners usually post a lot of photos of the property for sale. Scammers could easily play these photos off as a way to verify that they have access to the property. But if you’ve never seen the home in person, don’t put up any money for it. Talk to someone face to face to make sure that they actually own the property you’re renting.

4. Motorcycle for sale scam

Scammers really are getting too confident. Some of them even post the same ad under two or three different usernames. Many scammers have the same process, especially ones that are selling big-ticket items such as motorcycles. These Craigslist scammers will usually say that they’re out of town, but they can still do the transaction through a third party or UPS or someone else. They’ll also say that the transaction can happen within a short amount of time, and that the transfer of the title can be done by UPS as well. Regardless of how they word it, scammers just have a way of making it all sound unreal. Don’t trust anything that sounds too consequential. There are other options out there.

5. Cash checking scam

If you’re trying to sell something on Craigslist and you received a check much larger than the selling amount, walk away. You’re likely to be in the middle of a check cashing scam. A trucker in Omaha almost became a victim of this scam when he received a cashier’s check for $10,000 when he was only trying to sell his truck for $5,000. The buyer wanted him to wire the difference back, something that you’ll commonly hear from Craigslist scammer. What you’ll find out next if you do end up depositing this check are two things. First, you’ll find out eventually that the check is fraudulent. Next, you’ll find that you’ve probably lost a few thousand by wiring money back to the seller.

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