Success with Craigslist?

[pfreeman]

Just wanted to get a feel from members, has Craigslist posts generated successful leads, not bottom feeders?

[willshome]

Lawn care business tips

c-list is mixed bag but that is true with any time your dealing with people. It is free and it gets your name out there. So far for me its ok, out of 5 calls 1 will understand I'm trying to make a living

[WeedTerminatorTom]

Look at this phishing scam I just got from c-list...

Respondent to my listing on craigslist:

I m looking for a reliable and honest person to help in taking care of my orchard..I will soon be moving to my new apartment.I am willing to retain some flowers but will want to plant new flowers, so i have already made arrangement of buying new set flowers different from the ones in my orchard which i feel will be enough to beautify my new standard three bedroom condo.

Me:

Hi George, Thanks for contacting me. Do you need a full scale gardener for your orchard, or do you need weeds/ brush cut down? Congratulations on your new condo and flowers.
Tom

Respondent:

Hello Tom,
Thanks for your respond toward the Gardner position,my name is George Smith and i work with United States Environmental Protection Agency on a private research work.i am in need of some one who can help me take care of the house by doing some house work while am off to work,i have a three bed room condo and i have no time to do the cleaning

I will be offering you $300 weekly and i will be needing your services Mon,Wed and Fri and i believe you are fit for this position,my company accountant will mail you the check so he will be the one that will be taking care of your payment, I will instruct him to pay for the first two weeks before my arrival so as to secure your service, actually i should have paid for more weeks but i will extend the payment if am satisfied with your service after the first two weeks.
My company accountant will be mailing out a check to you before my arrival, you will be receiving a check of $2950 from which you will deduct your pay for the first two weeks and you will be using the remaining to buy food stuffs and other list that will be giving to you and other things needed in the house. I will instruct my landlord to mail the keys of the apartment to you so that you can do all other necessary preparations before i arrive to the states because am presently in United Kingdom on a private research work since last month
You have to do all this shopping before my arrival so that i won't have to start running around when i arrive, So my company accountant would be needing the following Information to make out the check to you

full Name:
Address:
City:
State:
Zip code:
Age:
Phone number:
Email:

All i need from you is total honesty and sincerity and i know you will be committed to the work,I will be waiting to read from you
Thanks

[Steve]

Tom,

For those unaware of such scams, can you talk us through this on what to look out for and how to know a phishing scam. Can you also tell us what a phishing scam is?

[willshome]

I find the spam funny. My ad was for mowing & plowing not house cleaning they most email everyone in the service area of c-list

"I am in need of a good cleaner to help me clean my flat,i have a three bed room flat and i work full time and do not have the time to clean.i need a cleaner to come clean my place Mon,Wed and Fri,anybody interested should apply"

Who calls there place a "FLAT" in the usa

"Hello,
How are you doing today? We are in need of a reliable cleaner to help us clean our apartment. My wife is 5 months pregnant which is why we would be needing someone to help us clean our three bed room apartment plus few house chores. I need the cleaning done thrice a week and it can be Tuesday, Friday & Saturday/Sunday or any suitable days."

[Hedgemaster]

I've done OK using Craigslist and have no doubt I'll be posting my ad again this spring.

I don't include any contact info in the text of my ad and have been able to remain spam-free. My ad is an image.

I've had calls from all sorts of people and have landed more good clients than bad. I think that results vary wildly depending on many factors including your location, and your ad content.

[willshome]

Originally Posted by Hedgemaster

I've done OK using Craigslist and have no doubt I'll be posting my ad again this spring.
.

Why do you take it down? I have an ad running all year. I just renew it every week takes one min. I change it for the season

[Hedgemaster]

Originally Posted by willshome

Why do you take it down? I have an ad running all year. I just renew it every week takes one min. I change it for the season

Too many calls.
I kept it going until my schedule was pretty much filled.

[WeedTerminatorTom]

I did get my first lead from craigslist, and have had some success selling and buying things from there, but what I shared in this thread was obviously a phishing scam.

A phishing scam is an attempt by someone to get your contact info: name, address, phone number, etc. For what purposes, I'm not sure, but it's usually not good. Could be advertising, could be crime.

In my experience, the scammer usually tries to gain confidence, and doesn't directly answer any screening questions I ask. I've had phishing scams from the email above, the common Nigerian-need-your-help-transferring-a-million-dollars just give me your bank account info, and even a Russian dating scam, where the "girl" (probably some dude) spoke right away about how we would be a great match, talked with her father and got permission, etc. That kind of thing usually leads to them asking for thousands of dollars toward their immigration.

Here are some links about phishing scams:

http://blog.vantagecard.com/post/Ema...Practices.aspx

http://www.surfnetkids.com/go/safety...phishing-scam/

I'm going to keep renewing my post on CL, but just wanted to share this, which I thought was funny too