Woman Loses $1,500 In Craigslist Scam

CARTERSVILLE, GA — A Taylorsville woman lost a large amount of money a week before Christmas due to a Craigslist scam, according to a report released by the Bartow County Sheriff's Office.

The woman, who notified authorities of the scam on Dec. 20, told a deputy she found a trailer she wanted to purchase on Craigslist. She contacted the seller on Sunday, Dec. 16, and began going through the motions of buying the trailer. According to the report, the woman said she agreed to "go through the eBay cards payment system so the transaction could be legitimate."

The woman received an email containing a link to an eBay account. She clicked on the link, and said she was directed to what she thought was the right account. The woman told the sheriff's deputy she sent $1,500 in gift cards to the account provided.

She received another email requesting an additional $1,000, which made her suspicious. She went back to the original email, clicked on the link and realized the account was not real. According to the sheriff's office, the woman wanted to file charges and needed an incident report to send to eBay and Craigslist.

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According to the Better Business Bureau, here's how you can avoid scams on Craigslist and other online buying or selling services:

• Make sure you meet in a safe, secure spot.
• Go with a friend or friends and take a second vehicle if possible.
• Never deal with a person who will not talk to you on the phone.
• Never give out personal information including, credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, or your address to anyone.
• Get as much information from the seller as possible, including a name and phone number. While you cannot always trust if those are real, you can always write down the license plate number of their car when meeting for a transaction.
• If you feel uneasy at any point of the deal, back out. A good deal is not worth your safety.
• Report Craigslist scam to the local police, Craigslist directly at reportcraigslistscams.com or to the BBB’s Scam Tracker.

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