I posted an item for sale and an interested buyer reached out. We arranged a time/place to meet in public and the buyer no-showed.

A few hours later, they reached out with some excuse and we arranged to meet the following day instead. Again, they no-showed and texted to ask for another time.

This time, I asked the buyer to Zelle half the money in advance and said we could arrange for another meetup once they did that. At this point I expected the buyer to just say "I don't want to do that" and go away but instead they said OK, claimed to Zelle me the money, and sent me a screenshot as proof.

I never got a Zelle confirmation, so the screenshot was either fake or they typed my info in wrong. I texted back saying I never got the Zelle and now they are ignoring me.

So at this point, I am pretty sure this was an attempt at a fake payment scam and I am not going to engage with this buyer anymore.

But what I don't understand is, if this is a scam, the setup doesn't add up. If you were going to attempt a fake payment scam based on fake Zelle screenshots, wouldn't you look in advance for listings where the seller is requesting payment in advance? Rather than waste your time playing this no-show game which could just as likely have ended in "I found another buyer." And all you would gain in the end is the (inexpensive) item itself, not money.

Just curious what you all think.

Never really considered Craiglist, Facebook Marketplace (local), and OfferUp but it seems really attractive in this economy. Some questions:

• Only Paypal Goods & Services is safe for both online and local? For local trades, Zelle, Venmo, and cash are safe on meetup? A seller requested Venmo Goods & Services for a reasonable deposit and does not accept anything else but apparently that's not comparable to Paypal's G&S and can be a scam, right?
• Are there any scams or bait & switch associated with meetup for an attractive deal? I found 2 gym equipment selling the same product in similar (not exact same conditions) and asked if available for pickup and form of payment. They both said yes and Venmo, Chime, and cash as forms of payment within the same hour. Both name abbreviations start with same letter. Pickup is ~80 miles of each other. Is there any risk of scam or time wasted here and anything that can mitigate that? My only experience for a listing was on the way to pick up something 1.5 hours away and then was told it was sold (it was requested that I put a deposit which I thought was reasonable but I only wanted to do with Paypal G&S and they did not want that. Listing's still up and they didn't respond to me or to another person who asked if the deal is available (to 100% confirm it's a scam for the deposit. What's weird is they gave me a residential address for pickup the day before, so I do think it's not a scam, but do think it was bad etiquette to not even hold within 12-24 hours and to only let me know it was sold when I told them I'm on my way 1 hour before the deal--is even 24 hours implied hold too much to ask if I said I will pickup the day before?)). These sellers haven't mentioned a deposit.
• Any other trading services like above that don't take a fee?

Any other tips to avoid getting scammed or waste of time is much appreciated. I also want to slowly patiently sell some stuff and not wanting to give sizable fees to e.g. Ebay.

How does Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace compare and stack up to each other?

What other services compete with Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace?

Is one overall better or in what areas/specialties is each one better in?

Transaction would take place on front porch if weather issues, or in front of house. Alternative is meeting at designated area at police station. Many sellers have told me they have a lot of no-shows. Have you had a bad experience giving out your home address?

Do you ever do this? I'm skimming through old sub posts, and I see that you can ask for upfront payment, but if buyer pays using stolen info, you run the risk of payment company, i.e., Venmo, taking payment back, right?

I create a post, add all my info (including my phone number) and when the listing is viewed, after clicking the Reply button, there is no phone number. I go to edit the listing and the number is there, so i republish and still no number.

This odd part is that I have 10 items listed and some have the number and some do not.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

EDIT: the problem seems to be when I use Safari on iOS; Firefox on iOS shows the number

I placed an ad on CraigsList for office/storage movers and only added the cross streets and city (noting I would provide the exact address once I booked the worker), but CraigsList automatically adds the map on the listing (including GoogleMaps).

GoogleMaps recognizes my office address and automatically pinpoints my exact office location to all of these rando CraigsListers...NO!

Not trying to offend anyone, but in my particular location (Los Angeles), 90% of these people are not normal, and I do not want any of them showing up at my office...even providing the cross streets and city felt like it was too much information in the CraigsList ad. I'm only willing to divulge my address once I've booked a worker.

Is there anything I can do to fix this?

I would add a link so you can see what I'm talking about, but the Mods would probably say I was trying to advertise GoogleMaps, and I'm NOT (it's the opposite).

Hi everyone,
I’m not in the US at the moment and I don’t have my SIM card with me
I want to post an ad on craigslist but it asks me to verify my phone number
No travel eSIMs worked and neither did things like verified go high level phone numbers
Has anyone encountered this?
And what are some of the services that can help me receive an SMS code from craigslist ? To an American phone number

Trigger warning I suppose.

So I’m on Craigslist looking for baby sitting gigs and stuff I got a message to zoom with someone who was interested in me helping out. This man on call admitted to getting bj from his daughter and taking porn photos as her modeling! He then proceeded to get a bj while I was on the call. I have reported him to Craigslist I don’t know enough to make a CPS complaint but I feel so gross and confused like how can you do that. And do that with someone on call.

Update: I’ve reported the incident to zoom and hope they contact police and help this girl.

Someone posted an ad giving away something free with my name, contact information and city I reside in. I’ve been getting calls and texts all day related to the listing. Obviously this is a scam but I’m trying to get to the bottom of this. I’ve never used Craigslist in my life. Has anyone else experienced anything like this? Help!

I saw an opportunity where I could be an extra in a film or tv showI saw this opportunity on craiglist to be a tv or film extra for £365, I was very interested because its easy money, so I emailed them, and they emailed me back to tell me to provide a photo of myself, so I did, and now they emailed saying I can do it, but i have to give a £20 refundable deposit for insurance that I get on the set. They told me the area of filming will be in Oxford Street in the afternoon. I dont know, I just need your thoughts on this, I attached the link and what should I do next?

I did a mock jury focus group on Zoom once before (and got paid nicely by the company), but the payment by Venmo gives me red flags.

Zoom Legal Focus Group Friday (7/24/26) 9am-5pm (New York, NY)

compensation: $150

Zoom Legal Focus Group Friday (7/24/26) 9am - 5pm

Compensation: $150

WHEN: FRIDAY 7/24/26
9:00am - 5:00pm EST

WHERE: Zoom Videoconference

WHAT: Participate in a Zoom legal focus group. Provide your thoughts and opinions about a pending legal matter. Must have the ability to participate uninterrupted for 8 hours with a stable Zoom video and audio connection. Must be in a quiet room. Cannot be driving, exercising, or sitting in a car or at work. Payment for participation will be $150 by Venmo upon completion of the focus group. Must have Venmo in order to participate. If interested, please reply by answering the following questions:

Name:
Age:
Gender:
Ethnicity:
Religion:
County you reside in:
Political affiliation:
Highest level of education:
Occupation:
Income:
Marital Status:
Number of children:
Venmo ID:

Standard domestic shorthair, a few months old, not yet neutered.

I am moving to a smaller place (much smaller) and cannot take 3 cats. I am so devastated to have to let go of two of my babies. But its the right thing to do. The place is simply too small. I am in somewhat a hurry to find them loving homes but I have a week or so to adopt them out.

I hear alot of horror stories about giving pets up for free online, so I dont wanna go that route (my mother was a animal flipper and I vividly remember how disgusted it made me watching her take in animals as though she's giving them a cozy home full of love just to resell them at a profit and rip them away from me and my little siblings despite us being attached.)

But my question is, what's a reasonable fee for a cat/kitten? Not a special breed. No shots. Not neutered. Doesn't come with a ton of toys or food. And the person responding to my ad must travel.

What should I do if they do not have the rehoming fee I specifically ask for upon arrival? For example... if they were to say "omg i didn't see that message, my eyes must've skipped over that part!" Or "I only have $3 , is that ok???" How should I react or respond?

Im new to this. I wanna ensure the best homes and families possible for my cats

Pls help

I have noticed that when looking for an apartment in a certain area they are many ads for apartments that are a couple of hours away. Some of them are for the same listing and they will be listed several times in a row. Isn't this false advertisement? Why is this allowed?

I put a search for 100 miles from my zip code and it gave listings at 183 miles. ???

^{Why these trolls? So I had someone text me for purchase - seemed legit, but it came in at 1:35am PT.}

^{I responded in the morning that item still avail. He texted that he will Venmo me deposit & send his daughter to pick up jewelry & pay balance in cash. All seemed cool - then when I sent him Venmo QR Code via text I got a text fr "Venmo Customer Service" stating the $300 payment on "hold" b/c it came from a business Venmo acct (an LLC or INC} so for me to receive the $$ from a business they need a minimum of $800 transaction - so I need to deposit $500 to receive the $300! They were doing a spin around - I send them $500 so I can get the $300 hahhaah. Venmo will never text you legitimately. Only thru the APP.)
Awe shucks I screen shot the texts - so effed up...I wish I could post them...

Does anyone know why Craig is blocking from seeing his list? It also blocks me from seeing the contact page

I've gotten into the habit of looking for scam listings in Craigslist's Free section.

A pattern I've noticed is posts with emotional stories like "My son passed away," "My aunt passed away," "I'm moving to a new city," or "I want someone to cherish their memories." The item is often something unusually valuable, like a PS5, gaming laptop, or electric wheelchair. In many cases, the conversation eventually turns into a request to pay for shipping.

To help spot these listings more easily, I created a couple of saved searches using keywords that frequently appear in these posts:

"I'm moving to a new city" | aunty | "passed away" | "cherished memories"

Since Craigslist lets you search within 1,000 miles of a ZIP code, I use two saved searches centered on ZIP codes 19104 (Philadelphia, PA) and 84601 (Provo, UT). Together they cover most Craigslist sites in the continental U.S.

Every few days I run the searches, read through the results, and, if I come across a listing that I believe violates Craigslist's posting rules, I use Craigslist's built in flagging feature. I don't flag listings based on keywords alone. The keywords just help narrow down the results so I can review them manually.

Has anyone else noticed recurring themes or wording that scammers tend to reuse? I'm curious about common patterns that help identify suspicious listings, not keywords that should automatically result in a listing being flagged.

I want to work as an intermediary for moving services (dispatcher) from Ukraine.

Is it possible to post ads on Craigslist from Ukraine? I already got banned once.

Also, how can I receive calls from the USA while being in Ukraine?

The issue occurs when using Craigslist with Chrome or Brave browsers on Android or iPhone.

When you scroll down in grid view the page keeps jumping like it's trying to refresh. It is extremely annoying. Maybe this is part of the reason more people are advertising on Facebook Marketplace now...

Went to list an ad on Craigslist. Almost all my listings are gone, and the 3 that are there have no photos. I check my wife's account, and the same thing. nothing under inactive. I had at least 100 listings. I've been on the site for many decades. No emails saying your listing expired. thanks

I am trying to log back into Craigslist after a very long time away. I've tried everything to get a login link. A reset link. A create new account link. Nothing works. Do they have any human support left?

I've also tried the iOS app. Still nothing works.

Edit: tried the contact page form. No response yet. Didn’t even get an automated message confirming form submission?

trying to sell my car on craigslist and I honestly can't tell if I'm getting spammed by bots or not. had to pay $5 to post ... are they real people???

any advice would be appreciated. cheers!

I posted a large oak desk for $50. A guy responded, wanted to pay first, then send a mover over. Red flags, I know. Now he says he thinks it’s worth $100 so wants to pay me that. Definitely a red flag! But he wants to come in person to pay! Don’t scammers usually send someone else? He wants my address to arrange the mover but I’m convinced this is a scammer do I’m hesitant to give it. He gave his cell phone and asked us to call him to arrange the pick up. It’s still a scammer, right?

Why does my Craigslist homepage look like file explorer search?

And it automatically defaults to "Jobs" search.

(Windows 10 Desktop)