Investor · Madison, AL · Member since 2012 · 19 posts · 0 votes
I have some ads running on craigslist and it seems like everyday I get a response from someone that seems unrelated to my ad (i.e. out of context). It seems like the responses are some sort of scam. I am just curious, if it is a fake response/scam, what is the scammer trying to get from me? For example, one of my ads basically just asks if people would like to be on my buyers list to respond with their email and phone number. The faker usually responds by asking me if my house is still for sale. It doesn't make any sense in relation to my ad. Has anyone else seen this on craigslist? Does anyone know what the faker/scammer is doing or what he is trying to get? Thanks.
Real Estate Investor · Audubon, PA · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 8k+ votes
14y
Originally posted by Katie DeLorme:
I too use craigslist for renting out my property and have had mixed responses. Some ARE indeed scams such as Uwe S. was saying. I had responded to one person and the next day my email had been hacked and my credit card number had been compromised. ...
I receive the CL inquiry in my normal email, but I will then copy and paste it with a response from a "throw away" email account created at gmail. So my normal email address is never disclosed to the CL prospect.
Property Manager · Dublin, OH · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 291 votes
14y
Hello Tony,
this is an all-time phenomenon on craigslist. Even if you do nothing with craigslist from now but your actual used email address is still active you will receive these emails in next years. Thats endless I guess.
They will get your real data from you for identity theft and others.
Lender · Tyngsboro, MA · Member since 2009 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
14y
Interesting. I just ran two CL ads, both of which had my 800 number but no email listed. The ads were created in Postlets and the code pasted into CL. I prefer email replies, normally, but did not post my email. Of course, anyone could reply by email to the posting as per normal CL procedures, and a few did. None of them were spam, all were real replies, and when I showed the apartments in "open house" type showings, received 8 applications, 6 of them people with high credit scores.
Awesome response.
Did you make sure you deselected the box that said allow others to contact me?
Investor · Madison, AL · Member since 2012 · 19 posts · 0 votes
14y
I'm not saying I don't get good credible responses. I'm just saying that I get a lot of non-credible responses as well and I was just wondering what these scammers/fakers are phishing for. The only thing they ever get from me is, at most, my email if I respond to them. I don't give out any of my information.
Yes, I did deselect the check box about others contacting me.
Washington, DC · Member since 2012 · 5 posts · 0 votes
14y
I too use craigslist for renting out my property and have had mixed responses. Some ARE indeed scams such as Uwe S. was saying. I had responded to one person and the next day my email had been hacked and my credit card number had been compromised. Not a big deal but simply annoying!
My rule of thumb is to not respond to any that have blatant spelling mistakes, improper grammar, or are just not responses that pertain to the context of the ad.
Real Estate Investor · Squaw Valley, CA · Member since 2012 · 101 posts · 17 votes
14y
I use CL, beacuse it is free, and everyone knows about it. However, I just go through and delete all the spam that comes along with it. So as long as you are willing to deal with that stuff, and don't respond to it, you will be fine...Best of luck!
Investor · Nottingham, NH · Member since 2011 · 35 posts · 12 votes
14y
I use Craigslist as a starting point. Sometimes I get great response, sometimes it takes more marketing. (ie. newspapers, flyers, etc.). It's also useful for "test ad's". Just to see what's moving and for how much.
It gets easier to spot the fakes and flakes as you go along.
They all have I-pads now, and free wi-fi.
Rent on...
Real Estate Investor · Audubon, PA · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 8k+ votes
14y
Originally posted by Katie DeLorme:
I too use craigslist for renting out my property and have had mixed responses. Some ARE indeed scams such as Uwe S. was saying. I had responded to one person and the next day my email had been hacked and my credit card number had been compromised. ...
I receive the CL inquiry in my normal email, but I will then copy and paste it with a response from a "throw away" email account created at gmail. So my normal email address is never disclosed to the CL prospect.
Investor · Southeast, MI · Member since 2012 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
13y
83% of the people on CL are weirdos. (78% of all statistics are made up on the spot) I get vague emails from CL ads all the time. I delete them. What these clowns are doing is getting your email address when you respond to their stupid question. They then bombard you with spam for dating sites, viagra ads, etc.
I notice it a lot when I'm selling general merchandise or giving away free stuff. I like to have people send me an email with their phone number and I call them back. I can then profile them based on their grammar and decide who I will call back to deal with.
As far as real estate ads on CL, I get less spam when I use an ad link from Postlets or Rentlinx to CL. It also makes a more professional looking ad than just a regular CL ad.
Bird-dogger · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2011 · 17 posts · 9 votes
13y
While each phishing scam is different, sometimes it isn't necessarily that they want your information, so much as they want you to respond. Think about our own efforts when marketing to lists. The more info we have, the tighter, more focused our marketing materials are. Also, many isp's make it more and more difficult for spammers. If they can show correspondence, or a record of correspondence to/from your email address, it makes it easier to get by a lot of security measures meant to thwart spam at the server level.
In any case. Your best bet with craigslist, is to build as many qualifiers into your ad as possible. Craigslist is a notorious tire-kicker farm, however, we generate a majority of our rental leads from CL. So much so, that there is now a friendly competition in our office to see if CL is more effective than bandit signs.
Investor · Corvallis, OR · Member since 2013 · 40 posts · 26 votes
12y
One tip I use and have seen others use. Is put something in the ad that spammers won't read. Have them include the word bannana in the subject or something different. Then filter all replies that don't have that word.
Real Estate Investor · Sebastian, FL · Member since 2014 · 812 posts · 432 votes
12y
Use a disposable email, as @Steve Babiak suggested, and also require them to manually put a specific phrase in the subject line. Most of the scammers are foreigners doing mass responses and won't be able or won't take the time to read instructions. That eliminates a fair amount of the scam responses, but not all.