Thousands of legitimate transactions have occurred thanks to the Craigslist Fort Collins site. Craigslist is a wonderful resource for people who have homes to list for rent or for sale, extra event tickets to sell at a reasonable price, automobiles or RVs for sale and anything else that you can imagine. While most people are honest in their dealings, scammers have learned that Craigslist can be a profitable source for their nefarious activities and they’re always on the prowl for a new victim. There are more scams showing up daily and it’s getting tougher for inexperienced Craigslist users to tell the difference. You must beware when using this site and here are 5 money scams to watch out for on Craigslist Fort Collins.
1. Craigslist rental scam
Dave Leebrick is a homeowner in Fort Collins, CO. He was surprised when a knock on his door turned out to be people who were interested in renting his home. His Sedgwick Drive home had been listed for rent on Craigslist but he had no idea that this had been done. He looked into the matter and discovered that the ad listed photographs of his home along with a description and the address. There were several inquiries made about renting the home until the ad was flagged and removed from the site. The house had previously been listed on Zillow and scammers stole the information and attempted to get nearly $2,000 from innocent would-be victims in a fake rental scam.
2. A new twist on Craigslist rental scam
Scammers are taking a new approach to swindle people out of their money on Craigslist. They find legitimate ads for rental homes. They make an inquiry saying that they want to rent your place, but they’re really trying to access your bank account. A scammer recently responded with an inquiry and made herself sound like the ideal renter. She claims to be working on a research ship in Antarctica with limited phone service but good email. She will be in the area to accept a job with an international company. She claims to be French-American and offers to pay the rent from her family trust. She guarantees a full year’s rent in advance and requests bank account information to make a transfer. One Fort Collins woman was approached by this scammer. When she checked it out with roommates.com she discovered that they had flagged this person as a scammer who is just trying to gain access to bank accounts.
3. Craigslist Fort Collins auto sale scam
When you see a good deal on an automobile that catches your eye, it’s difficult not to check it out further. Scammers are becoming more wily about tricking people out of their money in this new Craigslist scam. The con artists post a picture of a vehicle with low miles in great condition and offer it at a price that beats all comparable autos for sale on the site. After emailing the contact person there is a response that comes in broken English with multiple typing mistakes. They give a sob story about being in the armed forces and claim that the car has been left in a shipping depot and that they will authorize you to take possession of the car after they receive your payment that is made via wire or PayPal to an overseas address. This is a slightly new twist on an old scam and it’s recirculating, so beware of this type of scam.
4. Mystery shopper scam on Craigslist Fort Collins
A Fort Collins woman became the victim of a mystery shopper scam. She learned through the site that she could earn money as a mystery shopper. She was contacted by Professional Survey and Research Group. She was instructed to purchase five Walmart Gift cards to test these products. She was to write a report about her experience. She was told that the company would pay her for the work and would reimburse her for the cards which she was to send back to them. She followed their instructions and hey mailed her a check. She deposited it into her bank account, then sent back a $30 cashiers check as instructed. It wasn’t long until the bank notified her that thee check that the phony company had written to her was a fake and she was responsible for the entire amount of $2,850.
5. Car sales scam on Craigslist Fort Collins
This concerned citizen is warning everyone in the area to beware when trying to purchase a used car from a private party. He encountered seven ads for cars for sale that turned out to be dealers doing what is known as “car jumping.” What they are doing is selling cars that have not been properly registered and the buyer is getting stuck with a real headache. It’s important to be careful when trying to buy a car from a private party on Craigslist.
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