+ - Craigslist Scams Becoming More Sophisticated
Submitted
by
coasterfan
coasterfan writes "I have a hobby of hobby of baiting ebay and craigslist scammers. Typically I find an item listed for a ridiculously low amount, contact the seller to find that they've recently moved to the UK, get directed to a phony shipping web site to pay for the item which always seems to require a Western Union transaction, etc. While I lead the scammer on, I contact the ISP and have the phony web site taken down, contact the email provider to have the account suspended for abuse, and of course contact the listing agent to have the ad removed.
In the past few days I've stumbled into what appears to be a staggeringly sophisticated version of this scam that I feel is worth a Slashdot mention. For me, it started with a London, UK Craigslist listing for a musical instrument that I had seen listed months before in the US with identical pictures and text. Contacting the seller, I was directed to http://www.victorytagsales.com/ a much more elaborate web site than I have seen used previously. The site lists store locations in several major cities around the world, none of which appear to actually exist. There are links to blogs and testimonials. When you do a search on the company, you find postings in various online forums, including Yahoo Answers, that appear to have been planted to make the company look legitimate and safe.
The craigslist scam has entered an era where the non-geek doesn't stand a chance."
In the past few days I've stumbled into what appears to be a staggeringly sophisticated version of this scam that I feel is worth a Slashdot mention. For me, it started with a London, UK Craigslist listing for a musical instrument that I had seen listed months before in the US with identical pictures and text. Contacting the seller, I was directed to http://www.victorytagsales.com/ a much more elaborate web site than I have seen used previously. The site lists store locations in several major cities around the world, none of which appear to actually exist. There are links to blogs and testimonials. When you do a search on the company, you find postings in various online forums, including Yahoo Answers, that appear to have been planted to make the company look legitimate and safe.
The craigslist scam has entered an era where the non-geek doesn't stand a chance."
