Craigslist Scammers May Steal Your Home Out From Under You

Craigslist is a great way to find cheap stuff. Unfortunately, you have to use caution when taking advantage of the deals. There are three scams circulating now that can cost you a lot of money if you fall victim. In this article, we will discuss hiring people to help you move your belongings.

In this scam, a family in Georgia found a bargain moving company on Craigslist that consisted of two “guys” and one of those do-it-yourself moving trucks. The family was somewhat suspect and tried to be cautious. They were planning to follow the truck to their new house. Unfortunately, once they hit the freeway the “movers” were gone and took all their belongings with them, plus the cash the family paid.

When hunting on websites such as Craigslist, eBay, or other such sites, use extra caution. Don’t provide personal information and don’t pay for a service until the service has been completed to your satisfaction. If the person on the other end of the phone won’t take a check or credit card, perhaps you want to go to the next one. And if they ask for payment in the form of wire transfer or gift cards, they could be trying to scam you.

Always do some extra research on companies before hiring them or providing information and try to stick with reputable and well-known companies. Ask them a lot of questions and if you don’t get satisfactory answers, skip them.

Look for reviews on reputable websites and make sure there are more than a few of them and that they are not all glowing. No matter how good services or products are there are usually a few negative points people make in their reviews, even if they rate them highly. Check to see if they have a Better Business Bureau rating or other rating from a similar agency. Sometimes a simple search in the browser will come up with information for you to consider before hiring any service provider.

If there is any hint of something suspicious, it is probably your sixth sense telling you something. Listen to it.

For this family, there is some good news. It appears the thieves only wanted valuable physical goods they could sell. A box that had important documents in it was found and the documents were still there. Unfortunately, the iPads and mobile phones packed inside with them were not. The estimated loss for these poor people was $75,000.

© Copyright 2016 Stickley on Security