We have seen our share of weird cases involving Craigslist, but nothing like these:
Ad triggered ransacking of victim’s home
APRIL 1–A week after dozens of people ransacked an Oregon home in response to a Craigslist ad offering its contents for free, police have arrested a couple for orchestrating the online hoax as part of a bid to cover up an earlier burglary at the property. Brandon and Amber Herbert were nabbed last night for allegedly posting the March 22 Craigslist ad, which claimed that the Jacksonville ranch’s owner had to leave town so suddenly that his belongings–which included a horse–were available for the taking. The Herberts, investigators charge, did this to cover up their prior theft of several saddles and other items from the garage of the rural southern Oregon house, which is owned by contractor Robert Salisbury. After learning of the Craigslist ad, Salisbury returned to his property to find about 30 people rummaging through his home and remaining belongings. After subpoenaing Craigslist records, Jackson County Sheriff’s Office investigators traced the online posting to the Herberts, according to the below probable cause affidavit. As a result, Brandon, 29, and Amber, 28, were both hit with burglary and computer crime charges.
Bank & Identity Fraud
One of my Realtor pals from Louisiana told me today that someone had commandeered one of her listings for sale and was advertising it for rent on Craig’s List.
The person advertising this bogus rental claimed to be the wife of an oil company executive that was suddenly transferred to Lagos, Nigeria.
Hmmmm, Nigeria, that should be waving some big red flags. I used to get email all the time from people claiming to be in Nigeria that needed to send their fortune out of the country and wanted to give me a 20-40% cut if they could just stick it in my bank account for a few weeks until they could escape and get over here.
This supposed ‘wife’ had an application for potential renters to fill out and she would then overnight the keys to them so they could go inspect their potential new home.
Of course the ‘application’ wanted some bank references as “proof of your financial capability” including account numbers.
And while you were busy watching for FedEx guy to show up with your keys the scammers were busy emptying your bank accounts.
Yeah, it’s that easy if someone get hold of your bank account numbers.
0 Responses to “Craigslist Crooks”