BANGOR, Maine — A woman searching for apartments on Craigslist was nearly scammed last week, and police are warning the public to use caution while scanning the site.
Officer Jason Stuart reported last week that the woman received a phone call from a number appearing to be from Nigeria when she responded to the ad, Sgt. Paul Edwards said Wednesday.
When the woman spoke to the man, the apartment’s price went from first and last month’s rent needed to just one month and then to $200 “as quickly as she could,” according to Edwards.
The woman subsequently called a Realtor friend, who told her he owns the house she was seeking to rent and it was listed through a real estate company, and that she was nearly scammed.
Edwards said police frequently get reports similar to this.
“Please do not ever make transactions for apartments on the phone unless you are absolutely certain you know who you are dealing with,” he said.
The sergeant noted the woman did the right thing by not wiring or charging any money to a credit card after observing several red flags while speaking to the man.
There is also a scam going around where someone from India calls claiming to be from the “Windows Monitoring Center” claiming that your computer is infected and attacking their system and they want you to let them fix your computer remotely for a fee.
They then install spyware and steal your credit card numbers etc.
No P.C. should ever have their remote turn on. It should be disabled. Don’t even trust a friend trying to trouble shoot a problem from across the city remotely, because their P.C. may be infected without even their knowledge, and then it get’s pass onto you, and one day the State Police knock on your door and discover you have child pornography stored on your computer.
That is currently the most vicious crime concerning computers going on, pervs. storing their stash on unsuspecting computers to retrieve later.
And last but not least don’t ever buy a damn thing off Craigslist. 90% fraud, with a capital F. The other 10% is reserved for prostitutes and drug dealers.
You can actually find some good deals on Craigslist but as always, it’s buyer beware.
I’m sure there is, but it’s not worth the hassle, the risk of trying to filter through what is legitimate. In all honesty I am really surprised they haven’t been shut down. How many people have been set up and murdered even using Craigslist.
It’s just not worth it, there are other ways to find what you are looking for. And a heck of a lot safer.
i love craigslist.
People need to realize that craigslist is a LISTING service…its not ebay. If you want protections you can pay ebay for it when you list an item, then pay again when you sell the item. Then paypal (who is owned by ebay) will take some of the money from the transaction when the person pays you.
Yes, you can have someone else do the common-sense thinking for you….but you will pay the person 3 times for that safety net.
Maybe people can learn how to use craigslist responsibly and not get all super excited when that nice man from Africa wants to send them $5000 for a $300 bicycle.
But only after he sends a check to cash and give his uncle half up-front. =)
Okay, tell us how many people have been MURDERED, dude. C’mon with it now? Jumped on a boat to Nigeria to grab up that 50 million dollar inheritance from an unknown uncle and were croaked for the travelers checks and Timex watch, right? C’mon, will ya? =)
This sounds remarkably like you got taken for some money and rather than tell yourself “wow I could have done that better, I think I’ll learn from this” you’ve decided to take the “its not my fault its craigslist lets burn craigslist” stance.
You and Bill the “cat” sound like twins. I have been around for many years, but I find myself actually living life for real rather than feeling holier than thou. You both should try it. I bet you gave each other Tshirts for Christmas that read “Sarcasm is just one of the many services I offer”.
Yeah, some think comedians fair any better under a recession. While some actually think their smart. (good catch)
Have never used it..
I’ve just heard of all the horror stories.
But, it is what it is. Everyone is looking to get something for nothing. One of the oldest traits of mankind. Here’s the other one if it sounds to good to be true it usually is.
Is there no end to the nastiness on craigslist? Between the pervs and the scam artists, I feel dirty just browsing the site.
It isn’t just Craigslist. These scam artists scan the web for anything they can pervert. I have listed with The Maine Marketplace, and had e-mail reply’s from people want to send their “agent” to pick up merchandise with a check. When told cash only, I don’t hear from them again.
Then don’t browse the site?
A headline with the words “craigslist” and “scam” in it is about like a headline that reads “The sun came up in the morning” or “People breathe air”
I love Craigslist. Its no different than the Newspapers’ classified section, plenty of scammers ran ads in those, too.
We sold an entire apartment full of stuff in two days, no problems. I’ve gotten tons of clients from CL, bought a bike, sold a bike…bought snow shoes, a treadmill, whatever! love it!
Sure scammers are out there on all sites, but the BDN has a team that reviews their ads and limits those types of situations.
To some degree, but the papers are not absolutely guaranteeing the validity of their ads, and before the internet, classifieds were a source for predators.
We are in an age of “peer provided content”; we just need to put on our big boy (and girl) pants and realize that predators are going to use whatever medium is available to them.
I got taken by a scammer from Nigeria some years back, not long after I bought my first computer. Didn’t have much knowledge of computers but posted my home for sale on a website (not craigslist). Well, a few days after I got a reply from a guy from nigeria who wanted to move his family to the US. Not being any wiser, He offered to send the full amount of the selling price of the house plus an extra $8,000.00 which was to be “forwarded” to his attorney, also in Nigeria. Well guess what, I fell for it. He sent me a counterfeit cashier’s check, which the bank DID cash, $8000.00 of that was sent to his “attorney”. Once the bank realized the check was phony, I got a call and had to pay back the $8000.00 It cleaned out my life’s savings. Since then I’ve done a lot of studying about online scams and it’s unbelievable what scams people come up with. But at least since then I’ve come to recognize them and know not to fall for them. Speaking of Craigslist, yes there are some great deals on there but let the buyer beware as far as some of the people that wheel and deal on there.
Whatever happened to speak to the building manager or landlord and just meet him there? Rented quite a few places in my life and there’s no need for variations on that theme. Look, here’s the apartment – Cool, does it come with heat? — Yep — Okay, I’ll move in on the 1st. Wire somebody money, pay extra? Git outta here. =)
Craigslist is full of scammers, but it pales in comparison to Washington D.C..
I likes that one. Oooh!
WOW! I got scammed by the SAME GUY around October.
One day when I was younger helping my grandfather turn Peavey handles at his mfg plant he said…”you know Mike, if something appears to be to good to be true, it probably is!!!”
Best scam protection I ever got!!
Exactly!
Apartments in Bangor are a scam anyways
We toured 3 apartment listings, ALL found on craigslist, when we moved here. NONE of them were scams, although one was essentially a closet! And I love our apartment now. Nice landlady and neighbors too (surprisingly). I would never rent a place without seeing it with my own eyes, hard to arrange that if you’re a scammer.
I have always found apartments on CL, but yeah if it sounds too good to be true…
I guess but by the looks on the outside a lot of apartments in Bangor look awful
Some are nice like low income, but some just look like the building is about ready to fall apart
Come on, this is ridiculous. So I’m supposed to believe this means I shouldn’t have wired that $1,000 last week to that nice retired diplomat in Lagos. He swore on his mother’s grave he just needed it to free up a million dollars from a bank in London and he sincerely promised me he would send me a $10,000 share for helping him out. I figure I’m going to make $9,000 on the deal. People are too suspicious these days.