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gunny146

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Ok fellas, I'm sure that most of you know I a LEO in Ga. I just wanted to pass on a few things about craigslist, mostly because a close freind of mine got hosed. I would have never imagined he would let this happen to him.
1. Talk to the seller via telephone. Emails are ok to begin with but talk to them on the phone before any money goes anywhere
2. Inspect the item and get any serial number it may have. You should be able to contact your local law enforcement agency and have them check the serial number, who knows you may solve a crime.
3. Never, never, never send anyone a deposit on anything. I have seen this too many times. The seller wants you to send a deposit on something that doesn't exsist. You send the money and the item, your money, and the seller disappear.
Craigslist is an excellent place to find great deals on on all manner of things. I myself frequent craigslist and have made several purchases as a result of craigslist. I just hate to see when someone thinks they are getting the deal of a lifetime only to end up loosing alot of money.
 
Thanks for the heads up, and sorry about your buddy. Craigslist is a great place to buy & sell...unfortunately, it's a great place for scammers to do their evil deeds.
 
Craigslist can be good like you said, but it's really attracted thieves and scammers. Don't pay for anything, until you have it in your hands.

Always meet at a public place, and don't forget to put your safety first. Take someone with you if you can; a little effort in protecting yourself goes a long way.

Good post.
 
The thing about Graigslist is that it is local to your area, so its better then Ebay in that "local" sense, however it is self regulating , so thivery is alive and well. I always wonder about Graiglist people casing your home when they check things out, I had a few guys checking a boat a few years ago, they really did not look much at the boat.... got worried, kept the lisence plate ##. I am very wage about exact location, like 5 miles from..... etc. I purchase a lot, so far, so good, always wonder if the good deals are actually stolen items....
 
Froggy, I understand your sentiments. If peeps are coming out the house, I have the camcorder on point. If I'm meeting up with buyers/sellers, I always have my camcorder on a tripod in my truck (tinted windows) pointing at the bed taping the transaction in case the buyer/seller gets feisty or sheisty. Sometimes, I have a wingman taking their pics with a cell ph# while they're checking out the item. Taking down their plate # is also a good one. One time I was selling my car subwoofer. Met up at Cabela's lot, and here comes four dudes to check it out. They didn't buy, nothing happened, but I learned real quick what not to do. Sounds stupid, but from then on I always ask how many peeps they got coming to the dance....so I know how many rounds to pack :LOL2:
 
zerofivenismo said:
Froggy, I understand your sentiments. If peeps are coming out the house, I have the camcorder on point. If I'm meeting up with buyers/sellers, I always have my camcorder on a tripod in my truck (tinted windows) pointing at the bed taping the transaction in case the buyer/seller gets feisty or sheisty. Sometimes, I have a wingman taking their pics with a cell ph# while they're checking out the item. Taking down their plate # is also a good one. One time I was selling my car subwoofer. Met up at Cabela's lot, and here comes four dudes to check it out. They didn't buy, nothing happened, but I learned real quick what not to do. Sounds stupid, but from then on I always ask how many peeps they got coming to the dance....so I know how many rounds to pack :LOL2:

That's why I use our 2nd amen.
 
A lot of scams on craigslist. I did request a deposit on a boat before dragging it 80 miles one way for the guy. But the deposit was only $20 to cover my gas if he decided he just wanted to kick the tires a bit - plus his directions were to somewhere WAY out in the country - I wanted some way for them to track the money if my body was never discovered :shock:

Had a guy lie right to my face before on a car sale. He promised some body work on my newer car for a $800 discount on a van for his son-in-law. After I signed title over he gave me a crap phone number and wouldn't make plans for the van to get done. Basically ran to the van and drove off. Then he had a stupid fit and called me 2 days later wanting to 'undo' the sale. LOL! Actually I might have done it for him if he hadn't lied to me in the beginning. Oh, and he claimed to be a police officer and kept telling me how honest he was... yeah, right.
 
I have always had good exp with Craigslist. I have bought and sold 8 motorcycles or so, paintball gear, fishing stuff, home brew kits. I have bought just as much, just use common sense and watch your back and your good to go.
 
Froggy said:
The thing about Graigslist is that it is local to your area, so its better then Ebay in that "local" sense, however it is self regulating , so thivery is alive and well. I always wonder about Graiglist people casing your home when they check things out, I had a few guys checking a boat a few years ago, they really did not look much at the boat.... got worried, kept the lisence plate ##. I am very wage about exact location, like 5 miles from..... etc. I purchase a lot, so far, so good, always wonder if the good deals are actually stolen items....


Yup, so if someone in the Northern Illinois area sees a mid 80's Honda BF75 (7.5 HP) outboard for sale, PM me and I'll give you a serial number to check it for... Might be one that some bastage stole from me. My motor was listed on Craigslist, but never listed my address or phone number (reverse look-up).
 
I've run into a few scammers, but most are legit. One guy "accidentally" sent me 2 grand through western union, because he was deaf or some BS. The item was 200, so he wanted me to wire the 1800 back to him. I look forward to meeting that guy in hell, cause he's getting his *** beat. :twisted:
 
dyeguy1212 said:
I've run into a few scammers, but most are legit. One guy "accidentally" sent me 2 grand through western union, because he was deaf or some BS. The item was 200, so he wanted me to wire the 1800 back to him. I look forward to meeting that guy in hell, cause he's getting his *** beat. :twisted:

You gotta be careful of those as well. I have worked a few cases where there was a legit sale and too much money was sent. The "buyer" will contact the seller and make them aware of their mistake and ask the surplus funds be refunded. A good many times, the instrument used for the transaction is forged or stolen. Usually this is done with bad money orders or stolen checks. This I why I exclusively deal in cash with strangers.
 
I started making transactions at a neutral base,( truck stop at the highway exit) if possible, I had a couple of guys standing in my garage a couple of years ago looking at my snowblower, they looked like from Delivrance or something, I remember wondering if it was a good idea using GL, there was another one in the truck, motor running outside, these guys had about 6 teeth between the 3 of them! Camouflage out of season.... but they promply produced 200 in cash and scooted off! If I can move it, I am in a parking lot somewhere.
 
I have sold hundreds of things on craigslist. I have had good sales and bad sales. I once had a older gentelman buy a woodstove from me. I gave him a hell of a deal only $200.00 becuase it needed 2 fire brick replaced. He got to my house and I showed him that the blower I icluded for free worked, and also gave him about $300.00 worth of triple wall pipe to boot. I then load it for him, (he didn't have to lift a finger). The next day this guy calls me and says that he wants his money back!!! I ask why??? He says becuase every brick in it is broke!!!! lol I just got done showing it to him the previous day, only needed 2 bricks!!! I politley remind him and tell him no. He goes on to threaten me with saying that he knows where I live and he is sending his three big sons to take care of me. I say bring back everything and your **** sons!!!
He says I'll be there with them in about an hour. This guy shows up and it is aparent that it was dropped off the back of a truck!!! I gave him $100.00 back and let him know that the other $100.00 dollars is to repair all the bricks and to repaint the thing. Then I turn to his so called big three sons and say "if anyone has a problem with that it can be settled now, I would suggest you three keep a better eye on your senile pop's before letting him unload such a heavy item by himself next time." I fixed it and sold it for $300.00 2 weeks later. Never heard from the idiots again. I am a fair guy, most woud of just told him to take a hike.
 
I only meet at netural locations. No one I don't know comes to my house for any reason. If they ring the bell or knock on the door, they better have girl scout cookies, or a big check for a million bucks and camera crew. Otherwise, they may get a lesson in Austrian.
 
perchin said:
zerofivenismo said:
Froggy, I understand your sentiments. If peeps are coming out the house, I have the camcorder on point. If I'm meeting up with buyers/sellers, I always have my camcorder on a tripod in my truck (tinted windows) pointing at the bed taping the transaction in case the buyer/seller gets feisty or sheisty. Sometimes, I have a wingman taking their pics with a cell ph# while they're checking out the item. Taking down their plate # is also a good one. One time I was selling my car subwoofer. Met up at Cabela's lot, and here comes four dudes to check it out. They didn't buy, nothing happened, but I learned real quick what not to do. Sounds stupid, but from then on I always ask how many peeps they got coming to the dance....so I know how many rounds to pack :LOL2:

That's why I use our 2nd amen.

Great thread, sorry to hear the horror stories. A lot of this stuff you might think sounds obvious. I never even considered anything like checks, money transfers, etc. Because of the associated risks, and never pay for anything unless its hooked up to your truck, and don't trust anyone, not even your mother.

To me, some of these precautions seem a little extreme, like a lot of work, and kinda defeat the purpose of craigslist to me at least. With that said, trust no one, I was taken for $800 a little over a year ago by a guy I had known for over four years, went to school with and worked with. Not craigslist related really, however. But nothing seemed out of the ordinary, it was a deal I doubt hardly anyone would have questioned. I wanted to buy something of him that he had put for sale, I knew it, I knew the history of it, I had been out in it with him numerous times, so I paid him and was going to pick it up later. Haven't heard from him and no one we know has seen or heard from him since. He picked up and left.

But undoubtedly some good advice, I have to admit that in my multiple craigslist transactions some of these things just seem to defeat the main benefit of craigslist, convenience. So I have to admit that I have gone way out into no where, by myself, carrying cash, to make craigslist transactions. Things have worked out alright for me but I do take certain precautions. Tell someone where you are going or leave a note of all the details at least. When I pull up and step out of my truck, you better believe the cash is not in my back pocket, rather somewhere it would take them a couple hours to find in my truck. I carry full coverage insurance on the truck with state farm and full coverage life insurance through smith and wesson. If I don't have anyone to go with me, or meeting in the middle is still two hours away from a populated area, then those are some minimum precautions I take.

Even though I have a CCDW in situations like going alone into nowhere to buy something off craigslist I think the sight of me stepping out of the truck wearing my .40 in a holster is better protection than anything else. I'd rather scare them out of pulling their gun if they had one and were even thinking about it than actually having to discharge my weapon. I know some people may hold issue with this, but personally, I would rather do cash business with a pistol on my hip with with another guy with a pistol on his hip than do business with another guy not knowing if he had a weapon or not, who didn't know if I had a weapon or not.

If you don't want to look at it from the wild west perspective, look at it from the same perspective modern political theory looks at nukes, and why we haven't obliterated the Earth yet. Basically all the major power players in world politics are nuclear now, and thus everyone knows that if they try and destroy someone the probability that they will set off a chain reaction destroying themselves and the rest of the earth is high. Of course we have fears that a rogue will get a hold of it and set off the reaction no matter what. It is the same thing really, and choosing to not have a nuke out of your own ideals still won't prevent a rogue from trying to get ahold of one, and using it once he has it in his hands. No matter how you analyze it your better off having one than not.

Maybe not the best way, but it is certainly one way. Just how I think about it, but then again I don't even own a camera so my pistol will have to work for now! :lol: Even if I did have one I guess I'd rather leave behind a video of a sweet gunfight than a video of me just getting shot :beer:
 
perchin said:
zerofivenismo said:
Froggy, I understand your sentiments. If peeps are coming out the house, I have the camcorder on point. If I'm meeting up with buyers/sellers, I always have my camcorder on a tripod in my truck (tinted windows) pointing at the bed taping the transaction in case the buyer/seller gets feisty or sheisty. Sometimes, I have a wingman taking their pics with a cell ph# while they're checking out the item. Taking down their plate # is also a good one. One time I was selling my car subwoofer. Met up at Cabela's lot, and here comes four dudes to check it out. They didn't buy, nothing happened, but I learned real quick what not to do. Sounds stupid, but from then on I always ask how many peeps they got coming to the dance....so I know how many rounds to pack :LOL2:

Note to self: Drive around Kansas City, not through it.
 

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