Five Money Scams to Watch Out for on Craigslist South Jersey

You probably already know that Craigslist scams abound and they seem to be everywhere all at once. That being said, it’s always a good idea to know which specific types of scams are the most prevalent in the area in which you live. For the most part, you can find the same basic types of scams occurring nationwide but every once in a while, you’ll see something that’s rather unique to a certain region. In this particular case, you can learn more about five of the most frequently occurring scams in and around South Jersey. For those of you that don’t live in the area, that means the southern half of the state of New Jersey. Remember, Jersey likes to do things its own way, and that sometimes includes certain Craigslist scams so you’d be doing well for yourself to look through this list and make sure you don’t fall victim to one of them.

1. A Dangerous Transaction

Without a doubt, there’s always a chance that you can end up losing your shirt when you respond to or create an ad for Craigslist. Unfortunately, there’s also a chance that you can lose your life. In this particular case, an ad was placed for a used car and there was no car to be had in first place. The only reason the ad was ever designed was so that the person who created it could pull a gun on people and rob them. Think about that next time you decide to buy or sell something on Craigslist. If you’re looking at the business end of a gun, you may not have many options available to you in the moment.

2. Getting Creative

At least the people involved in this scam were creative instead of reproducing one of the same old, tired scams that you hear about all the time. It involves an ad placed on the site telling people that select individuals may have, without their knowledge, been awarded a grant from a local telephone company that would help them upgrade all of their equipment. You’d be surprised how many people responded. When they did, they were told that they needed to make a deposit of $200, which would be handled through Green Dot Moneypak, in order to get the grant rolling. You would think most people would realize it’s a scam at this point but the individuals responsible for the ad actually made a great deal of money by scamming people out of theirs, $200 at a time.

3. Apartment Scams, New Jersey Style

You hear about apartment scams all the time when it comes to Craigslist and it happens in New Jersey just like it does everywhere else. Housing is notoriously expensive in New Jersey so when people see something they think is a bargain, everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon. The problem is, it’s usually not legitimate, just as this particular story involves nothing more than a scam. Whether you’re in New Jersey or somewhere else, it can’t be said enough- if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is so don’t fall for it.

4. The Job Listing, Etc

In the state of New Jersey, there are plenty of job listings that are posted on Craigslist but the overwhelming majority of them are just as fake as can be. You can bet that every single one of those will require you to cough up not only money, but your own personal information. It’s gotten so bad that law enforcement has partnered with the media in the area, trying to get the word out so people won’t keep falling for these scams. If you click on this link, you can read more about the job ad scams as well as other issues that are currently going on in New Jersey as a direct result of Craigslist scams.

5. More Housing Woes

This is yet another housing scam that occurred in the area, this time involving houses that are both for sale and for rent. The moral of the story is that if you find housing on Craigslist, you had better do some heavy-duty investigative work before you contact anybody and you certainly shouldn’t be handing over money or providing your personal information until you’ve talked to the Better Business Bureau, local law enforcement, and everyone else you can think of.