unofficial craigslist blog

Who’s to Blame for Craigslist Prostitution?

Mashable does a nice job discussing the issue of who’s to blame for the rampant prostitution activity on Craigslist.  CNN did a detailed story on the topic and raised some interesting issues.

In response, CEO Jim Buckmaster stated, ““It would be a bigger problem if we removed that category and had those ads spread throughout the site,”

I know I initially thought it was a lame answer and still do.  Sure, we know it’s a problem but we’re not going to do much about it. Thank goodness we can isolate all the ho ads in one place.  Yeah right, Jim.  LOL

I feel Craigslist should do more about the problem.  Other than in Nevada, prostitution is illegal and Craigslist is knowingly allowing these ads to be placed on their site. Craigslist is getting increasingly negative feedback but don’t appear to be doing much about it.  Read more…

Posted in Jim Buckmaster, Prostitution, Sex | 1 Comment »

Spam Fighters

We have all dealt with the constant bombardment of email spam.  Buy insurance, sign-up for a new credit card, cheap airfare deals, find a hot chick, etc…. Heck, if my penis grew 2″ every time I got one of those “enlargement” emails, it would be about 732 miles long by now.

Tracey Mooney, who lives in Chicago and has three children responded to a Craigslist ad looking for spam volunteers.

She got a free Dell computer from MacAfee to be a guinea pig.  In a nutshell, all Tracey had to do was surf the Web an hour a day, click on popups ads, fill out forms and see what happens.

To her amazement, the emails started rolling in almost immediately.  By the end of a month, she estimates getting about 500 per day.  Read more…

Posted in How To Use, News | No Comments »

Craig Newmark Interview on GigaOm Show

Craigslist killed the newspaper classified ad. Wondering what Craig Newmark might kill next?

Om and Joyce from the GigaOm Show, chat up the philanthropist on how he’s fighting terrorism, then chime in on Facebook’s ‘privacy issues’.

Posted in Craig Newmark, Videos | No Comments »

Minnesota Man Admits to Wire Fraud and Identity Theft

Zachary W. Mann is a 21 year-old male from Maple Grove, Minnesota.

He admitted in federal court Friday to hacking into the credit card information of thousands of people and then using some of the information to add value to gift cards that he purchased and then eventually sold on Craigslist.

After hacking into an Internet-based order-processing serve, Mann pumped up the value of the gift cards. He then placed ads for the cards on Craigslist and resold them.  Read more…

Posted in Fraud, Scams, Theft | No Comments »

Alert Boat Seller Avoids Scam

A Plattsburgh businessman trying to sell a boat was almost taken by a Craigslist check scam. Luckily I smelled trouble and did some research, preventinh him from being another victim of an Internet scam.

Posted in Merchandise, Scams, Videos | No Comments »

Idaho Arrest for Underage Prostitution

Three people from Treasure Valley, Idaho are accused of taking sexually exploitative pictures of a 15-year-old girl and advertise her on Craigslist for prostitution.

Arrested were: Douglas A. Winberry, 50, of Meridian; Colby R. Watson, 36; and Lindsey J. McKeehan, 23, of Boise. They are all charged with lewd conduct with a minor under the age of 16, sexual exploitation of a child, possession of sexually exploitative material, and inducing a person under the age of 18 into prostitution.

After receiving a tip, police searched Winberry’s home and found evidence that he was engaging in sexual acts with the girl and that he advertised her for prostitution on Craigslist.  Read more…

Posted in Prostitution, Sex | No Comments »

Making Money on Craigslist

The author of his blog entry writes - People ask the question all of the time “can you make money on Craigslist.org”? The answer is you can. All it takes is some time and ad management and you can make money just like anyone else.

There are many ways to make money on Craigslist.  We’ll leave out the seedy prostitution and lowlife scam ads for now.  Let’s just say there are many legitimate ways to make money on Craigslist.

The blog writer details several helpful tips such as including pictures in you rads, promptly responding to any inquiries, etc….  Read more…

Posted in How To Use, Merchandise | No Comments »

Anybody See Their Own Couch?

Here’s a video compilation of couches, sofas and love seats offered up for free on Craigslist.

Posted in Merchandise, Videos | No Comments »

Buy My House ….. And Me!

A real estate agent and single parent from Palm Beach Gardens in Florida is taking marketing to a whole new level.

Dee Traboscia is trying to sell her home and find a new husband.  She’s been divorced for eight years, and thought she’d be re-married by now.

Her ad reads, “If you want to live the never ending dream and experience the real love, life and the romance you have always felt was a fairytale then this is the vibrant outstanding woman of your dreams! To sweep this European Loving Lady off her feet send in your application right now.”

Any takers? You better hurry because a man from Italy is arranging a trip to South Florida to visit her.  Read more…

Posted in Merchandise, Relationships | No Comments »

Man Arrested for Advertising Sex Services

A 50-year-old man from Cohoes, New York has been arrested on charges of sex abuse and prostitution.

The Albany County sheriff’s department conducted an undercover investigation and found Keith Comire was advertising sex services on Craigslist.

Sheriff’s investigators say Comire ran ads for massages under the name of “Erik” to men, women and couples. He charged clients between $60 to $75 per session.

Undercover investigators posed as actual customers and set up an appointment at Comire’s home, where they later received an illegal massage from Comire, who is not licensed to perform massages in New York.

Comire “inappropriately touched” the investigator during the massage, at which point Comire was arrested.  Read more…

Posted in Police Stings, Prostitution, Sex | No Comments »

Used Car Scams

Norma Vasquez is dealing with skyrocketing gasoline costs the best she can.  She decided to look for a used car with better gas mileage.

Norma started to search for a used car over the Internet using Craigslist.org, AutoTrader.com and others. She found plenty of ads that fit her requirements.

Maybe the deals were too good to be true.  “Wow, why is this so cheap?” said Norma.

AutoTrader and Craigslist do monitor their ads regularly and we found several that were eliminated by the sites for not being legitimate.  Read more…

Posted in Scams | No Comments »

Goodwill Cat Rescue

Denver resident Matt Slaby posted an ad on Craigslist after he noticed a strat cat had got stuck up in a 60-foot tall tree for five days. 

Slaby had tried to call various local authorities such as the fire department, animal control and tree cutting services. Apparently, it wasn’t a priority for any of them. The organizations either refused or wanted to charge a fee for the rescue.

But good news was on the way. The ad generated a news story in The Denver Post.

The owner of a nearby tree-trimming service responded and drove 30 miles with his bucket truck to rescue the feline.  One of the neighborhood kids will now adopt the cat.

Posted in Miscellaneous Crimes | No Comments »

CNN: Teen Sex for Sale Online

CNN’s Veronica De La Cruz reports on a story of Sacramento, CA teens selling sex on Craigslist under “Erotic Services.”

Posted in Prostitution, Sex | No Comments »

Used iPhones Still Selling At a Premium

There were many stories of people who were the first to buy the new 1G iPhone, and proudly showing them off like the parent of a newborn baby.

But those tears of happiness turned into tears of sadness when Apple quickly cut the prices, and left many loyal, early adopters holding a large credit card balance.

Charlie Sorrel writes that the older 16G iPhones are still selling for a premium, as high as $585 on eBay and Craigslist. 

If you’re dying to buy the new 3G iPhone next month, you may want to consider unloading your older model, while the demand is still strong.   Read more…

Posted in Merchandise | No Comments »

Song About A Man Who Met A Girl

Kevin Downing sings a humorous “Missed Connection” song about a guy who met a girl at a baseball game.

Posted in Videos | No Comments »