Lionheart Assurance Solutions

The immensely popular online classified ad site Craigslist is known in much of the world as a great place to look for a job, an apartment, to meet people and of course, to buy, sell or give away all manner of things. By and large, users appreciate the site’s no-frills approach and the ease with which Craigslist facilitates small to medium sized business transactions between individuals and for the most part, people feel positive about their experiences with the site (full disclosure: I’m writing this while sitting at a desk I found on Craigslist, in a chair which was also found through the site).

However, there are always a few bad apples somewhere in the barrel, especially when you have a barrel as large as one represented by the enormous user base of this site. Lionheart Assurance Solutions recommends that users need to keep an eye out for scams, but thankfully, there are a few easy ways to spot all but the most sophisticated Craigslist scams.

1) As the site itself suggests, try to avoid making non-local transactions via the site. You may run across ads posted by people from (or purporting to be from) other countries or on the other side of your own country. These are best avoided – there are plenty of other people in your own city who you can deal with face to face.

2) Remember the old saw that if it sounds too good to be true, it is. If you see a posting offering far more than seems to make sense given the price they’re asking, you’re very likely looking at some sort of a scam.

3) Watch out for poorly written posts, especially those claiming to be for a business. While not everyone is a skilled writer, you can generally assume that if someone’s trying to sell something, they’ll take the time to proofread their post. Be very suspicious of posts which are rife with spelling or grammatical errors.

4) This is such an elementary rule that it seems hardly worth mentioning, but you should never (never!) give out any personal information when dealing with people over Craigslist such as bank or credit card account numbers or your social security number. Divulging this kind of sensitive information is practically asking to become a victim of identity theft.

Craigslist is a great place to buy or sell just about anything you could want or to advertise your business; but when you do business through this popular classified ad site, always be careful and keep the safety of your personal information in mind.

No related posts.