Five Money Scams to Watch Out for on Craigslist Tulsa

It’s an unfortunate thing, but there are no places in the nation safe from Craigslist scams. This includes the city of Tulsa in Oklahoma, which has been plagued with Craigslist money scams much like many cities. Craigslist is notorious for these scams, which is sad considering that the website can be a truly great resource for many individuals and organizations. The lesson learned here is for everyone to just be careful when using the website and to be vigilant when it comes to signs that point to a scam. Here are five money scams that you need to be aware of and watch out for whenever you have to use Craigslist in Tulsa.

1. Vacant homes scam

This is a popular Craigslist scam that has been happening in the area for the past few years now. Individuals or groups claiming to have homes for sale at great prices have victimized many people in Tulsa. The targets are always the same—people who are desperate for cheaper housing or rentals. Scammers will usually advertise vacant homes that don’t belong to them. Scammers will then let potential victims see the place just through the outside of the home, and you’d be surprised how many people are willing to make an offer just from seeing a home on the outside. That’s because the price is unbeatable. Scammers usually get their money after a fake contract and key is made. Once that check is made out, there’s no going back.

2. Amazon product scam

Some people are using the name of giant seller Amazon to scam people on Craigslist. The scam is in the detail of the transaction itself. Many people are led to believe that they’re not getting scammed because of transaction numbers, product numbers, and emails. But keep in mind that those can be faked as well. This couple was scammed into buying jet skis from a seller that claims he has some type of connection with Amazon. Just know that you can only buy Amazon products if you’re shopping on Amazon—not on Craigslist. To make matters worse, this couple didn’t even get their money back from their bank.

3. Car sales scam

Many legitimate car sales transactions happen on Craigslist everyday, but there’s also a lot of scamming that’s happening everywhere. There are different ways that people are getting scammed when it comes to buying or selling cars, but the end result is always the same: money lost. The most common scam is when people pay for cars that are not worth what they paid. Some even manage to sell vehicles that don’t work at all. In this situation, a family was basically ripped off by a Craigslist car salesman after paying over $2,000 on a vehicle that stopped working shortly after it was purchased.

4. Movers scam

Moving itself cost a lot of money. It’ll cost you even more when the movers you hire run off with all your furniture. That’s exactly what’s happening on Craiglist Tulsa. There’s a moving company that’s running off with people’s furniture while on an actual move. One family has lost roughly $75,000 when the two guys they hired to move their furniture made the wrong turn on the highway. These two guys were driving the U-Haul that contained all of the family’s furniture and other belongings. The family did find a box of some of their important documents on the side of the road a couple of days later, but the rest of their things were gone.

5. Scalping scam

Many people try to get a good deal on tickets before they make a purchase for a show or a concert. That’s natural. And one of the first places that people go to is Craigslist because it’s a great market for bargains such as that. Unfortunately, there are many scammers that scam people out of their money, and they target people who are looking for bargain tickets to all sorts of shows. They’ll usually offer extremely cheap prices, but the tickets they give actually don’t work. There’s no way to tell whether your tickets work or not until you get to the gate; so by the time you figured out that you’ve been scammed, it’s already too late.