Craigslist Might Be Too Danergous
May 2, 2011 | Home
Like anything used on the Internet it can be dangerous if you are not careful. Nothing less can be said of the electronic classified ads known as Craigslist.
There are recent reports that link the popular mostly free service to 300 crimes and 12 deaths in the U.S. over the course of a year. Twenty death total since the site began some 16 years ago.
The site boast 50 million U.S. users and handle hundreds of millions of transactions. Of course when that many people are using a service to buy, sell or even worse you are bound to get some not so honest people. Although many rules of thumb have been comprised with Craigslist transactions not all of them are completely effective every time.
Considering 330 crimes a year would make this happen once a day and if you are doing several transactions a week then chances are you might be a victim very soon. Especially if you are female and live in a high crime area. Craigslist has removed the adult services section after much pressure from several state attorneys general.
Some rules to live by with Craigslist:
- Meet in public if possible and at a busy location
- Always let someone know where you are going
- If you are handling a large transaction of money call someone from your sell while on a blue tooth head piece so they can hear everything that is going on
- Know who you are dealing with – phone number, email, address
- If they must come to your home – keep them in garage or one room in the house, let them know you have a dog
This article was written by: Ted Yapp
