Craigslist scam? What is going on? What do you think?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’ve done all kind of stuff on Craigslist and never had a problem, but today, something fishy happened.

I responded to an ad for a free item asking some details. I got a reply telling me to email another address. Looks legit, right? Then, got *another *reply (same craigslist email address) telling me to reply to another, second email. :confused: Both email addresses look a little funky (lots of repeating numbers and I think both gmail).

Scam? What are they looking for? Do they want my “real” email address? (I use a “fake” email for craigslist stuff, by the way) And what can they do with it? Sell it to a list and flood me with spam? Not too worried. I would just delete the account and sign up a new one. Or if I respond with my email, can they hack me mercilessly? I wouldn’t want to click on any attachments, huh? But what if it was a picture of the free item?

I haven’t got back to them. I don’t think I’m going to, either.

So, what do you think is going on?

2

They want you to reply to a different email so they can continue talking to you even after their ad is flagged and removed. I’m assuming you first contacted them through the craigslist email in the ad? That only works as long as the ad is active.

The thought that they might want to send you a virus could be true as well. Email going through the CL mail relay may remove those attachments.

I’m assuming they will tell you that the “free item” has been taken already, but you can get one just like it at some shady website like www-buymystuff-com for a really great price.

3

Just for yuks Google both email addresses in quote tags (“suspiciousaddy123-at-gmail.com”). Might not turn up anything but it’s worth a try.