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StumbleShoppers go online for a deal, end up victim of robbery
Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011 | 2 a.m.
While bargain shoppers troll Craigslist for deals, criminals are increasingly prowling the site to lure them into traps, police say.
The setup goes something like this: A “seller” posts an ad for an item such as an iPad or an expensive watch — often at an incredibly low price. He lures in a prospective buyer then arranges a meeting, perhaps in a remote parking lot in the evening.
When the buyer shows up with the cash, instead of getting a great deal, he gets a gun pointed in his face and is robbed.
In recent weeks, police have seen a string of robberies — some armed — related to Craigslist transactions, said Metro Police Sgt. Eric Kerns, whose problem-solving unit in northwest Las Vegas frequently investigates Craigslist-related crimes.
“There’s a lot of it right now because people are getting ready for Christmas and buying gifts,” Kerns said.
Police urge those engaging in transactions that originate online to be careful. Don’t invite strangers to your home. Meet in a public place with witnesses, and don’t go alone.
“You just have to use common sense,” Kerns said. “For the most part, things go as they’re supposed to.”
Metro doesn’t track the number of Craigslist-related crimes because they fall into other categories, such as robberies, but police say they’re seeing more scams as the online classified-ad giant has grown.
Craigslist registers more than 20 billion pages views per month, and 50 million people in the United States alone use the site, according to a company fact sheet.
Recent Craigslist victims in Southern Nevada have not been harmed, but police point to violent crimes elsewhere as a reminder of the potential dangers.
In Ohio, police are investigating the slayings of three men they say were lured to their deaths by a bogus job advertisement on the site.
Craigslist officials could not be reached for comment.
Henderson Police detective Wayne Nichols, who has been studying Craigslist crimes for several years, led a training session last week for officers from Henderson, North Las Vegas and Metro.
The goal was to gather officers from various disciplines, including robbery, narcotics and vice, and give them a primer about how such crimes are hatched through Craigslist and similar sites, such as Backpage.com.
“Usually drugs are somehow part of the equation,” said Nichols, who has trained officers nationwide and in Canada. “Property and drug crimes — they go hand in hand.”
Five years ago, this type of training wasn’t on the map. But as Craigslist has become a household name, monitoring the online marketplace could be a full-time job if resources allowed it, police say.
“Today, it’s definitely a staple of our society,” said Nichols, who works in the department’s computer crimes unit. “It’s not uncommon to deal with an older person who browses for the best deals on Craigslist, nor is it uncommon now for even a teenager to sell some old electronics on Craigslist.”
Police also commonly see criminals selling stolen goods to unsuspecting customers on Craigslist, said Walt Denison, a sergeant in the Henderson Police property crimes bureau.
“We see a lot of people doing auto burglaries and trying to off the property quick,” he said. “They get an iPhone from a car and turn around and try to sell the phone as quickly as possible.”
In some cases, the crook’s scheme crumbles when the real owner spots his or her possessions on the site. That’s how Henderson Police recently arrested two men suspected of peddling stolen items.
A Henderson man found his guitar, which had been stolen from a storage unit, on a Craigslist posting, police said. The advertisement featured a picture of the guitar, which had an identifiable engraving of the word “failure” on it, an arrest report stated.
Police set up a fake transaction to buy the guitar and arrested two men who showed up — Marlon Haggard Jr., 20, and Timothy Simmons, 30 — on counts of possession of stolen property and conspiracy to commit a crime, according to the arrest report.
Haggard allegedly told police he received the guitar and its accessories from another man and assumed they were stolen, the report states.
“We’re seeing an unbelievable amount of people who go (online) and say, ‘Wow, this is my stolen property,’” Nichols said.
In those instances, people should not try to reclaim the items themselves but call police, Nichols said.
Discussion: 5 comments so far…
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Never allow someone responding to a Craigslist ad to come to your home while you're all alone - this is dangerous - and beware of those who come bearing $100 bills - I knew someone who sold something that way and the buyer paid in $100 bills - all counterfeit!
Common sense indeed! This is another example of why police budgets need a visit from the budget ax -- cops with whose jobs depend on crimes that *might* happen. As personal experience with Metro has shown me they're looking for any excuse to stop you, search you and arrest you.
All together now say "fishing expedition"!
"Fear is the foundation of most governments." - John Adams "Thoughts on Government" (1776)
theres a sucker born every minute------ PT Barnum
"troll Craigslist for deals?"
People don't troll for deals. Trolling is about making incendiary comments out of the blue to garner attention.
If you are going to meet someone for a transaction - just meet them at a very public place - NOT in a parking lot.
And of COURSE NEVER invite someone to your home.
This is a slippery slope.. The Sun would love to see Craiglist shut down.. they have lost millions from loss of classified want ad dollars..
Remember the days when we had to fill out the forms with a three line letter limit- then fork over about $40.00 average per listing?
They would love to bring that back..
So, go ahead Sun.. do a scare campaign.. front page.. great graphics and all.
Myself.. Craiglist has been so great.. Ive rented my condo out- in a mater of minutes of posting the ad. Ive sold my weights and many other items. Ive bought my car, and most everything else that I am looking for.. Craiglist is efficient- and FREE.
Of course the thieves are out there- they are everywhere.. and you must take caution.. but for the most part these folks selling on Craigslist are just like you and me..
So, when can we expect the next front page campaign attacking Craigslist?
My neighbor got his new job from a craigslist posting. Ive given away free stuff left behind by renters.. heavy TV's- dressers- just took pictures, posted them on the "Free stuff" section of craigslist, and withing five minutes had three calls, and stuff hauled away soon after..
Craigslist is a super highway for common folks commerce.. It makes it easy for people to get on with there lives and needs without getting ripped off from big corporations who own more than one newspaper and have shown in the past that they would love to squeeze the public for all they can get. So, if your scared to drive on a normal street, stay off the highway..
stick to paying $50.00 for 5 days, three lines and no pictures.. and your ad will start in two days "not two minutes".
"The setup goes something like this: A "seller" posts an ad for an item such as an iPad or an expensive watch -- often at an incredibly low price. He lures in a prospective buyer then arranges a meeting, perhaps in a remote parking lot in the evening."
If you are dumb enough to fall into this scenario...there isn't much to say. You will probably be a victim to scams for the rest of your life. Remote parking lot in the evening? Any numbskull should hear bells ringing "danger, danger" when this is presented to them. Common sense people, common sense.
The solution is fairly simple: Websites can require verified-identity when posting online, for Criagslist, for commenting on newspaper stories, for any legitimate activity.
Who needs Best Buy?????? I always buy my LED tv's in a remote parking lot at 11:30 at night from a guy named "Basketball Jones."
If it is a meet, I would always choose a casino. Not only do you have security of a public place, you can check you have real bills.
There aren't many parts of town that don't have a casino. If buyer or seller can't be bothered walking inside a casino then that is there loss.
<<Who needs Best Buy?????? I always buy my LED tv's in a remote parking lot at 11:30 at night from a guy named "Basketball Jones.">>
LOLOLOLOLOL
In the old days, when you needed anything, "business" was done in Little Italy behind Carlucci's Bakery, in the alley so the truck (usually owned by the "Polizi Bros Bakery Supplies" - yeah sure) could discreetly park without drawing too much attention. Now it's Craigslist.
We are in Mpls and use CL alot since we are combining households and have lots of stuff. We do have people come to our house, but conduct business in our detached garage. No use starting up the car and going to a meeting place over a $10 item.
It is interesting though when I mention that we have a survillence system (linked to our comp) how a few have backed out of the deal.
James is correct. Craigslist has some responsibility to verify the poster. I've had a lot of success getting minor things fixed at my house from craigslist. I will not pay for a 100k truck and all the razzle dazzle when I need a repair. There are many qualified people in LV looking for odd jobs. Many of the large operators are charging more to make up for the losses in volume. This will not work in this new economy.
Have a sniper cover you for the transaction...
@goingbust...Funny you should write that. While I am taking care of the CL transaction in our garage, my hubby is "covering me" from a secret location in the house with his friend Glock.
Another scam that is going on: I ran an ad in a local paper for a computer printer. I got a call from a man who said he wanted to buy it and have it shipped to him, and he would mail me a money order. No money order ever arrived. About three weeks later I got a call from a music store in Omaha that said that someone was trying to buy a $10K violin in my name and have it shipped to Nigeria. He gave me the credit card numbers and none of them were mine (undoubtedly stolen). The shop owner explained that because of all the fraud (especially from Africa) that many vendors won't sell to anyone unless they have a valid US address. The thieves pretend to want to buy something you're advertising until they harvest your name and home address.
On the plus side - I hired a guy off Craigslist who moved furniture for me and took some stuff to the dump for less than half what the furniture store was going to charge for just delivering a couch. He met me at the furniture store 45 minutes after I called him to pick up the couch.
Craigslist SHOULD remove bogus/scam ads but trust me they DO NOT. I know of someone who had their home listed for rent on zillow.com - someone went to that site and copied the posting complete with pictures of the inside of the house and then posted it on CL as an 'all utilities included' rental of $800 (in a gated community). The owner contacted CL and told them this was his house and that this josevilla2@yahoo.com character was scamming people by copying the legitimate ad (which by the way the rent was really $1500 and you pay your own utilities) This jose guy was telling people he was out of the country right now and advising them to go drive past the house and if they liked it contact him at his email and he would have them send him the $800!! Believe it or not some people were actually dumb enough to do it... In any case after CL was notified the ad still remains! So much for CL taking care to remove bogus/scam ads.
Who manages Craiglist and why haven't they been brought into the light of day?