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The pleasures and perils of Craigslist
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Using Craigslist to search for jobs is not only tempting but almost impossible to avoid. There are so many listings, and all of them are broken up into specific categories ranging from hyper-specific ("Food/Beverage/Hospitality") to enticingly vague ("Etcetera").
And you can rifle through the options using keywords. Want to walk dogs for a living? Craigslist presents dozens of opportunities. Be a personal assistant? Help someone with their resume? Take off your shoes for money? You got it.
The trouble, of course, is that Craigslist is a self-governed world, which is to say an ungoverned one -- a two-dimensional New York City with three-dimensional tricksters hiding behind the ads. The warning at the top of the page about fraud isn't just there for decoration, and for proof I offer a story.
It began with me answering an ad for a tutor for a six-year-old girl in Manhattan. It ended like this:
[RINGING]
VOICE: Hello, FBI.
ME: Hi, um, I seem to have gotten involved in an international money laundering scheme ...
VOICE: Please hold.
[HOLD MUSIC]
VOICE #2: Hello, FBI.
ME: Hi -- I seem to have gotten involved in an international money laundering scheme ...
VOICE #2: Please hold.
[HOLD MUSIC]
VOICE #3: Hello, FBI.
ME: Hi -- I seem to have gotten involved in an international money laundering scheme ...
VOICE #3: Ah yes. Email or Craigslist?
ME: Craigslist. I answered an ad requesting a tutor for a six-year-old girl and the next thing I knew I was getting a check via Fed Ex for $3,200.00.
VOICE #3: And you're supposed to wire that money to a third party?
ME: Yes, sir.
VOICE #3: Yup, this is an international money laundering scheme run by Nigerians.
ME: I knew it! Or I hoped it was Somali pirates.
VOICE #3: Yeah, they're still mostly boat-focused.
ME: That makes sense.
On the FBI agent's advice, I had to inform all the credit bureaus to flag my account in case someone overseas tries to steal my identity, and I had to put the whole story in writing on an internet fraud website. When I was done, it offered me a link to the helpful site Lookstoogoodtobetrue.com.
Any time you suspect something you see on Craigslist, use the tools at your disposal to check it out. Google the name of the company to see if they're legit, or google their name and the word "scam" to see if other victims have written about their experiences. Be wary before giving out any personal information, especially your social security number; even your birthday in combination with your address can open you up to identify theft.
It's not as though nothing came out of my brush with the Feds. I have a $3,200 check sitting on my desk -- how many people can say that in these dark times? Maybe I'll get it framed.
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