A flake report we received
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- Registered: 23.01.09
- last visit:
- Posts: 101
Posted: 13.12.2010, 20:19
This one is great. It's not really an email, but a flake report we received from one of our users. This user reported the flake with the following details:
Company Name: Craig's List
Website URL: http://www.craigslist.org
Post Title: 99% of their postings
Notes: ANY posting on craigslist.org that does not include a real phone number and/or a real outside email address (and even some of those are scams/flakes) is nearly always bogus! I flagged several repeatedly, but the posting was never removed. I emailed Craigs List about the scammers but never got a response. I wrote a rant and tried to post it letting everyone know what a joke Craigs List is, and guess what???? It was NEVER posted by Craigs List. So, I rewrote it referring to it as just "this website." THAT did get posted, but I got flagged within an hour and some of the nastiest responses you can imagine!
I can't say everything on Craigs List is fake because I found a great house for rent in Chino Valley, but I did learn not to bother with any ad that did not include a real phone number with the area code I was expecting for the area (or, in this instance, the physical address). Jobs, stuff for sale, etc like that, I won't even waste my time looking for anymore.
Craigs List claims to be concerned for the user's safety, but when it comes right down to it, I think it's being run by the scammers, spammers, and thieves of the internet.
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Even though we didn't approve this flake report, we love the enthusiasm behind it and can appreciate the idea that someone would consider Craig's List themselves as a flake due to all of the horrible things happening there (and the failure of Craig's List to do anything about it).
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- Registered: 25.01.09
- last visit:
- Posts: 213
Posted: 23.01.2011, 06:35
Here's another one we received recently. He's got a good point!! ~FM
FOR ALL YOU LOOKING JOB SEEKERS LOOKING ON CRAIGSLIST FOR A JOB. PLEASE DO NOT APPLY TO ANYTHING THAT DOES NOT GIVE YOU A COMPANY NAME. AND TO MAKE SURE ITS LEGIT, LOOK UP THE COMPANY WEBSITE. THAT'S THE ONLY WAY TO KNOW IF THEY ARE HIRING, THEN GO THROUGH THE COMPANY CAREER WEBSITE. NOTE THAT IF ITS REALLY A LEGIT COMPANY THEY WILL PUT THEIR NAME ON THERE. THINK ABOUT IT...IF IT SAYS MAKE 20 AN HOUR WITH NO EXPERIENCE. DON'T YOU THINK THAT SOUNDS LIKE SOME KIND OF SCAM? ALSO WHEN YOU RECEIVE AN EMAIL, READ IT VERY CAREFULLY!!! DO NOT SEND ANYTHING WITH YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION ON IT..ANY LEGIT COMPANY WILL NOT ASK YOU FOR YOUR CREDIT REPORT, OR SS# UNTIL YOU ARE ACTUALLY HIRED. SO LETS START FLAGGING ALL THESE SO CALLED JOBS THAT DON'T GIVE A COMPANY NAME. ALSO BE AWARE OF EMAILS WITH GMAIL ON THE END OF IT..THEY ARE SCAMS TO. HOPE THIS HELPS.
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Frosted Flakes Are Filling!
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- Registered: 05.01.11
- last visit:
- Posts: 2
Posted: 28.01.2011, 21:18
Craigslist is free with no ads, which is why they aren't quick to act. They set it up to be moderated by the users, which can be frustrating, but it is what it is. I have sold items, bought items, hired employees and found jobs that were all legitimate on Craigslist.
When I searched for employees I didnt put my company name, because I dont have time to answer 50 phone calls a day for anyone who wants to google our site. I anonymize so that I get to control who I spend my time on and who I choose to ignore. I have used email addresses from my company server with Craigslist and email addresses from Gmail on craigslist, so there is no hard fast rule about what is a scam and what isnt. That is why I use Flakelist, because it offers everyone the opportunity to experience/verify a scam and then post the info. If you assume that someone is a scam and post their info without actually knowing if it is a scam for sure, then this site is as useless as you claim Craigslist is. -
- Registered: 23.01.09
- last visit:
- Posts: 101
Posted: 28.01.2011, 22:09
FlakeList is merely a place to post those who you have found to be flakes and/or scammers. It is the submitting user's responsibility to ensure the information is correct and they are taking full responsibility for what they post and/or submit. The only checking we do is for simple formatting errors.
For more information about this type of policy, please read Section 230 of the U. S. Communications Decency Act which, in summary, says:
No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.
Craig's List does charge for job postings in many areas. To me, it is a disservice to those paying for ads that are mixed in with such a huge percentage of scams.
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- Registered: 05.01.11
- last visit:
- Posts: 2
Posted: 29.01.2011, 02:40
I wasn't aware that Craigslist charged for job postings sometimes, that does change my opinion of Craigslist quite of a bit, as a transaction of funds represents a binding contract, thereby a certain guarantee of the quality of services provided. I do enjoy the free services though, as the alternative newpapers and websites are quite expensive and ineffective.
Flakelist.org is a fantastic idea and I'm glad its around. It has saved me time a few times, and that is well worth the investment of my own time into verifying scams and posting them. As someone who deals with scammers regularly I find that they are constantly morphing their techniques as they fail again and again. It has become difficult to verify that someone is a scammer in just one or two emails sometimes, so I have changed my approach when a potential scammer comes across my email. For example; one scammer told me to that he was very concerned about the reliability and security of anyone he would consider for a job application , so he needed me to fill out a lengthy application of personal information and a credit report. Seemed like a scam but I hate to turn down potential work, so I wrote back:
"Thank you for your reply to my resume. I look forward to filling out this application, but I have a few simple requests to verify a few things. Do you have a website or realtor listings that I can reference? As a trustworthy candidate for this position, I like to double check on where I send sensitive or personal information, before I do so. Also what is your fax number or phone number? I would like to fax a few letters of recommendation to you to go along with my application. Please get back to me soon, as I would love to send these things along today. Thank you."
I never heard a response back, which to me verifies that it was a scam. I find that if I can challenge a scammer with a few well posed questions, they don't reply. For some reason asking for a fax number seems to help in this approach.
Thanks to Flakelist.org for providing a forum to share our experiences, so that others dont have to go through the same thing. And to anyone who attempts to use Craigslist or has their email on a publicly accessible website, Good luck! -
- Registered: 25.01.09
- last visit:
- Posts: 213
Posted: 29.01.2011, 17:11
I think it's funny when the scammers are worried about getting scammed themselves!!! ☺
We're glad you're here and that Flakelist.org is working for you. The more that we can help prevent people from getting scammed and help those that were already scammed, the better!
~FM
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Frosted Flakes Are Filling!
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- Registered: 05.02.11
- last visit:
- Posts: 2
Posted: 05.02.2011, 19:42
"Craigs List claims to be concerned for the user's safety, but when it comes right down to it, I think it's being run by the scammers, spammers, and thieves of the internet." Completely agree, no phone number or at the very least name of company hiring, just consider it a scam! Fight back everybody and don't reply to these things. Craigs list doesn't have anything close to a good reputation, it is up to all of us to either help clean it up by not posting to stupid stuff or allow it to continue
"Craigs List claims to be concerned for the user's safety, but when it comes right down to it, I think it's being run by the scammers, spammers, and thieves of the internet." I couldn't agree more.... -
- Registered: 12.02.11
- last visit:
- Posts: 6
Posted: 13.02.2011, 12:44
vb said:
"Craigs List claims to be concerned for the user's safety, but when it comes right down to it, I think it's being run by the scammers, spammers, and thieves of the internet." Completely agree, no phone number or at the very least name of company hiring, just consider it a scam! Fight back everybody and don't reply to these things. Craigs list doesn't have anything close to a good reputation, it is up to all of us to either help clean it up by not posting to stupid stuff or allow it to continue
"Craigs List claims to be concerned for the user's safety, but when it comes right down to it, I think it's being run by the scammers, spammers, and thieves of the internet." I couldn't agree more....
I agree- Get everyone involved in exposing these s**t-bags, and maybe we'll drive them off this board! -
- Registered: 16.02.11
- last visit:
- Posts: 2
Posted: 16.02.2011, 15:32
I completely agree with your statements regarding Craigslist! We do need to get them off so the serious companies who are truly offering jobs can be trusted. As of this moment, screw Craigslist and their job postings! Stay away. Nothing good can come of it. -
- Registered: 11.02.11
- last visit:
- Posts: 8
Posted: 21.02.2011, 17:22
I want to thank you for this great site, I have to laugh when I get a email for a job and it asks for: credit report or take a IQ test or personal info: name, address,etc. When I email them back and ask where they are located, they never response. I sometimes play with them with email responses, no personal info giving out. After a few emails back and forth my last, is "Are you kidding me, think NOT!" It is so sad that there are people out there that try to scam people especially today, when so many need a job.
Thanks again for all you info.
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- Registered: 21.02.11
- last visit:
- Posts: 1
Posted: 21.02.2011, 18:20
I have to agree with you about crags list site. I think for looking for a job that it really is not far to us unemployed people looking for a job and get scammed instead... I was taken for over $2500 and I thought I was smart about this,,, NOT. And now I was looking for a job "Data Analyst" and I get some joke in my email... Job seekers beware of Craigslist... Thank you for this site I have learned even more.
Thank you
Karisam99
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Have a great day
Karisam99 -
- Registered: 11.02.11
- last visit:
- Posts: 8
Posted: 21.02.2011, 19:00
karisam99 said:
I have to agree with you about crags list site. I think for looking for a job that it really is not far to us unemployed people looking for a job and get scammed instead... I was taken for over $2500 and I thought I was smart about this,,, NOT. And now I was looking for a job "Data Analyst" and I get some joke in my email... Job seekers beware of Craigslist... Thank you for this site I have learned even more.
Thank you
Karisam99
Sorry, to hear you got taken. I have been looking for some time for a job, any type of office work. A few legit jobs have responded back from Craigslist but compared to the tons of emails it sent out legit jobs seem far and few in between. Good luck with your search..we all need.
edited by: bmday78, datetimebrief -
- Registered: 20.05.11
- last visit:
- Posts: 4
Posted: 20.05.2011, 20:19
The phishers are getting smarter. Two of the three CL job ads posted today so far that seemed legit turned out to be fake. The first listed a name and phone number. Googling the phone number yielded lots of job ads with postings linking a name to the number for the same two positions, but no actual companies. I called the number just to see, and got no answer. Just kept ringing.
The second one listed a company name. Googling resulted in absolutely no hits for the company name. (And the grammar in the ad was plain crazy bad to begin with).
So just be sure you Google any information you are given and proceed with caution! One good give away I've noticed is that the 'fake' ones almost always just go with the generic city for the CL area. Most legit jobs usually list a smaller suburban area. -
- Registered: 23.02.11
- last visit:
- Posts: 105
Posted: 20.05.2011, 22:11
I was never a big fan of CL, especially when looking for a job. Even back in the day when there wasn't so many scammers, I could never just use to applying to an anonymous link to a company that gave little/no information in a vague ad.
Who really wants to use a site where you spend most of your time googling to try to find out if a company is legit or not.
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