Scams and fraudulent postings, you hear about it from time to time and every once in a while we see/hear about the increased activity. The bad behavior seems to be ramping up again, here is how you can protect yourself and your customers/clients.
Set up a google alert for your listings. What's a google alert you ask? A google alert will monitor the web for what you specify the "alert" to be. In theory, this is what will happen: you enter the address of your listing as a google alert, that listing is in the MLS and most likely gets disseminated to third-party sites, you will be notified once that listings address matches your alert. What's great about setting up these alerts is that should that listing appear on a site like Craigslist you will be notified and then you can take proper action to have it removed.
Click here to learn how to set up a google alert. Which brings us to step two, reporting a fraudulent post on Craigslist. If you notice a fraudulent post on Craigslist, such as a property you have listed but is not supposed to be on Craigslist, you cannot delete it yourself. You can however report it to the site's administrators. Here is how you do that:
Step 1 - Navigate to the Craigslist website and click, "help, FAQ, abuse, legal" from the left panel.
Step 2 - Click "contact us" under the general help section.
Step 3 - Select the type of issue you are reporting to the Craigslist administrators. If you've come across a fraudulent post, select "scams, spam, flagging" or "personal harassment."
Step 4 - A drop-down list will appear. Select the issue you are experiencing.
Step 5 - If you need additional help you can click the "contact us" to further describe the situation. Fill out the fields and type a subject such as "reporting a scam" or "reporting fraud." In the description box, provide as much detail about the posting/case as you can, including identification numbers, user names, phone numbers, and any other fraudulent information in the post. Be sure to add the "post ID."
Step 6 - Press "send message" when you're finished describing the case.
We also suggest notifying the local police department via their non emergency number to make them aware of the fraudulent post related to the listing.
Related reading:
How Can I File a Complaint About a Craigslist Posting?