TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Category: Classifieds Crime

  • People in glass houses

    Craigslist exec strives to keep the Internet neutral:

    Jim Buckmaster is the CEO of craigslist. He’s concerned about Net Neutrality. Basically, proponents of Net Neutrality want the government to step in and prevent ISP’s from creating tiered levels of service with the premium-priced tier providing faster service to highly trafficked websites. Personally, I’d prefer the government to stay out of the internet but that’s neither here nor there.

    Mr. Buckmaster would like the government to get involved.

    I guess I would say I’m cautiously optimistic that lawmakers will do the right thing, although it seems in a lot of cases that these things get decided according to who puts forward the most lobbying and the most campaign contributions, he said. Since the phone companies have played this game for decades, they certainly have an advantage there.

    Mr. Buckmaster should be careful in invoking the name of our government and should be more concerned with cleaning up his own house. MySpace has already felt the wrath of state and federal governments due to the controversy that surrounds it. With craigslist’s reputation for drug dealing, prostitution, robberies, and assaults it’s only a matter of time before someone in the government decides to regulate craigslist.

  • craigslist babysiter was a level 3 sex offender

    Neighbor catches sex offender seeking babysitting job on Craigslist:

    Gather ’round and listen to the tale of John Gilbert Gray. A level 3 Washington State sex offender who thought he was pretty slick. His original crime was for the sexual assault of a 21-year-old woman. When he got out he told authorities he was homeless. In actuality, he was living with his wife in an apartment. The reason was that if he reported as homeless a sex offender notification would not be distributed around the neighborhood.

    And he would have gotten away with it too if it wasn’t for those meddling housewives. And the fact that he took an ad out on craigslist for BABYSITTING!!!

    But a young mother in Gray’s neighborhood, who fears retaliation and wants to remain anonymous, says she was checking Craigslist, and found an ad for babysitting that made her suspicious.

    “We decided out of the blue to check it up on Washington State sex offender’s list and lo and behold there was his face,” the mother said.

    In the neighborhood, the woman says Gray went by the name “Logan”. She says she and other mothers were alarmed to realize Gray is a level three-sex offender — the highest risk to re-offend — and that he and his wife were advertising to babysit.

    So she reported him.

    For his efforts, Gray is looking at a year in the pokey.

    I really wonder what made him think that babysitter was the logical career choice for a sex offender trying to hide from authorities. Did he think that no parent would do any kind of background check on him? Not to mention the fact that hiring a babysitter from craigslist is not the most logical choice for a parent.

  • ‘Tis the season to get robbed on craigslist

    CRAIGSLIST SHOPPER MACED AND ROBBED OF $2,000:

    Is anyone else besides me starting to notice a pattern here?

    Fremont police hope to take a pair of would-be entrepreneurs into custody for using the popular classifieds Web site Craigslist for a robbery ruse, police reported today.

    An unidentified victim answered an ad on the Web site for a 46-inch television on Wednesday. The sellers brought the television over to his house on Grimmer Blvd. and immediately set it up to prove that it worked, according to Fremont police.

    The victim told police he went straight to the bank to take out $2,000 to purchase the television. When he came back, however, the suspects attacked him with mace and took the money and the television.

    Yet you never hear of any proposed legislation for the safety of craigslist users. I wonder why that is.

  • One media outlet picks up on craigslist crime spree

    Craigslist Criminals: The Site’s New Danger:

    Finally, someone in the media recognizes the dangers of craigslist.

    PORTLAND- Craigslist, the fee-free website based out of San Francisco, allows users to post items they wish to buy and sell without providing identification, a policy that is beginning to cause problems.

    Portland Police say thieves are using the site to sell stolen goods. They warn: if the price is too good to be true, it probably is.

    Myles Wright has been searching for the thief who stole his $4,000 handmade trailer. Someone took it from his yard several months ago. Wright had been checking Craigslist to see if anyone was trying to sell his trailer and networking with others selling trailers to see if they had any information.

    His research paid off. Police arrested Forrest Green in connection with the theft. Green has allegedly been stealing trailers and using Craigslist to sell them. Wright’s trailer has not yet been recovered.

    Except they’re only scratching the surface. Stolen goods are only the tip of the iceberg. Let’s not leave out prostitution, rape, child molestation, robbery, and drug pushers.

  • Oakland craigslist rape

    Police: Oakland Student Raped, Attacker Met Online:

    You know while all the soccer moms and do-gooders are ranting and raving about MySpace, craigslist keeps sneaking in under the radar…

    (AP) OAKLAND An Alameda man is under arrest for allegedly raping a graduate student who answered a classified ad on a popular Web site.

    Police say a 31-year-old student at Mills College in Oakland was raped Thursday night after answering an ad on Craigslist offering modelling jobs.

    49-year-old Gregory Hayes was picked up by police Friday morning after the woman spotted him at a gas station near campus.

    Police say the woman sent her alleged attacker e-mails and talked to him on the phone before he arrived at her on-campus residence claiming he had a gun and raped her in his van.

    Hayes asked for a lawyer after his arrest and refused to talk to investigators. Police are investigating whether he met other women on Craigslist.

    At least MySpace is making attempts to keep their userbase safe. Craigslist doesn’t do anything.

  • 100 craigslist johns busted…ah ah ah!

    Prostitution sting leads to nearly 100 arrests:

    Rented furnishings and hidden cameras were among the props Seattle police vice detectives used to arrest nearly 100 men who showed up at a ritzy downtown condo in the past two weeks expecting to pay for sex.

    Nearly three-fourths of the men who were arrested on suspicion of patronizing a prostitute responded to postings in the “erotic services” category on craigslist, the free online community where people can search for apartments, jobs, used cars, friends and dates. The rest answered escort ads found in the back pages of The Stranger and Seattle Weekly.

    Vice detectives then turned their attention to men who, instead of cruising the streets for prostitutes, respond to online and newspaper ads looking for sex, he said. To make their ads believable, Sano said, female detectives were photographed in flirty poses, phone lines were established and appointments were set up.

    When a man arrived at the rented condo, he was greeted at the door and ushered inside, Sano said. As other detectives hid in a bedroom watching live footage from hidden cameras, the female detective, posing as “a provider,” would engage in a conversation about sex and collect her fee, he said.

    Once money had changed hands, Sano said, other officers would then walk out and arrest the man.

    All but five of the men were interviewed, cited and released: One man, a registered sex offender, was booked into the King County Jail for violating conditions of his release, three others were booked on drug violations and another on a weapons charge, Sano said.

    Arrestees have included “bank presidents, state employees, business owners, construction workers, physicians and surgeons,” Sano said.

    And here’s what Craig himself had to say…

    Craig Newmark, who founded craigslist in San Francisco in 1995, said he has heard that “prostitution is a significant problem” on the Web site and noted that craigslist has built a “top-notch” reputation for responding to complaints of illegal activity.
    advertising

    As for the local craigslist review board where men discuss the sexual exploits they paid for, Newmark said those who operate the site are improperly using the craigslist name and that legal action is being discussed by the Seattle-based law firm representing his site.

    Craigslist, which is now available in some 300 cities worldwide, doesn’t monitor what people post.

    “We are a democracy … and we find we can trust our community,” he said. “I don’t know what the situation is like in Seattle, but we would prefer that [police] go after violent criminals or crooked congressmen.”

    I’d prefer that my local police would go after all of them. This is not a debate on whether or not prostitution should be legal. Right now it’s illegal in most of the country. When prostitution moves into a neighborhood it’s not long before the drugs move in, then the violent criminals. Cracking down on prostitution is stopping the flood of crime before it even starts.

  • Suburban craigslist pimp on the run

    I-TEAM: Police search for suspect in Craigslist prostitution ring:

    BOULDER – Jeffrey Bagnall had a plan, detectives say: to run the most successful prostitution ring in the country.

    It’s always nice to have goals.

    Toward that end, the 35-year-old Bagnall carefully logged expenses such as cell phones and room rentals, brainstormed marketing ideas on how to lure older male clients and consulted industry advice from books, such as, “Pimp Game, The Instructional Guide.”

    For more than a year, Bagnall was on his way, police said, advertising for free on Craigslist and pocketing about $2,000 a month from his 30 percent cut from the prostitutes who worked for him.

    According to police, that’s when Bagnall moved his base of operations into a quiet, close-knit East Boulder cul-de-sac – and his plan collapsed.

    Now, Boulder police have issued a warrant for Bagnall’s arrest on charges that include pimping and keeping a place of prostitution.

    While authorities search for Bagnall, who has apparently skipped town, they are quick to credit the townhome’s residents for their part in bringing down his business.

    On Aug. 24, undercover detectives obtained a search warrant for Bagnall’s home, finding cash, empty condom boxes, child pornography,, notes documenting his business plan and ledgers of his clients’ names and phone numbers, police said.

    This week, a judge issued a warrant for Bagnall’s arrest. His former neighbors said they couldn’t be happier.

    Anyone with information on Jeffrey Bagnall is encouraged to call the Boulder Police Department at 303-441-3333.

    Don’t ever try bringing that stuff into suburbia. Short of pitchforks and torches, the neighbors will run you out.

     

  • San Antonio victim met attacker on craigslist

    Assault Victim Met Attacker Through CraigsList:

    This is the most disturbing craigslist story I’ve posted so far…

    In an arrest warrant obtained by KXAN NBC Austin, a 23-year-old man told police that he was raped after answering an ad on CraigsList — the popular Internet community.

    The victim says he answered an ad offering “partying and hanging out with other men and women.”

    He says after talking through e-mail and by phone with a man identified as Ernest Lamey, the pair made arrangements to meet in person.

    The most disturbing part is police say he could have more victims.

    Details found in the warrant show that Lamey gave the victim some sort of alcoholic beverage. Police believe it was laced with sleeping pills.

    After falling asleep, the victim woke up to Lamey sexually assaulting him and called 911. A search on Lamey’s home uncovered the sleeping pill Ambien, a pill crusher and powder in a kitchen cabinet.

    If you think you may be a victim, contact Austin police.

    Is anyone else having flashbacks of Pulp Fiction and ‘The Gimp’?

    Anyway if you’re looking for friends, with benefits or otherwise, you may want to look somewhere else besides craigslist.

  • Craigslist prank outs Seattle perverts

    Craigslist sex prankster outs men:

    This is way too funny and it makes me wonder why I didn’t think of something like this…

    Craigslist, the hugely successful internet classified ad site, has long been known for the rather, um, honest nature of its personal ads. From fetishists seeking out others with the same kink, to office workers looking for quick, anonymous hookups during their lunch break, Craigslist has revolutionised the way people around the world get their sexing.

    But the seemingly anonymous freedom it allows appears to have lulled many into a false sense of security, and in Seattle, over a hundred and fifty of them have just found their personal details published on the web for the whole world to see.

    A ‘prankster’ named Jason Fortuny; a web developer in Seattle – posted an explicit advert (copied from a different city’s personal ads) on the Seattle Craigslist site, posing as a submissive female seeking an aggressive, dominant man for sex. He wanted to see how many responses he could get in 24 hours.

    He received a grand total of 178 responses via email, many including sexually explicit photos of the men  which he then proceeded to post, in their entirety, on the web.

    Many of the men used their real names to contact the ’27 yo sexy str8 woman’. Many used their work email addresses. Some sent phone numbers, or instant messenger screen names. Out of the 178, 145 of them sent pictures  some just of their faces, many others of ruder, less public parts of their anatomy. A good number of them admitted they were married.

    ‘I was a logger, but now I’m in finance. I’m 35 years old, 6’2″ tall, muscular, strong, pushy, and don’t have time to f*** around wasting our time,’ wrote one.

    Another said: ‘Im 22 and i will make you scream in pain but in a good way.’

    And the Microsoft employee, who also provided his cellphone number, sent a message saying: ‘I’m married and looking to fill the needs not being done at home. So if you’re still reading, look at my picture, and think about it…’

    Fortuny published them all in full, and then set his readers the goal of tracking down and outing the real life identities of as many of them as possible.

    At least one man who used a work email address was identified by a colleague; working at Microsoft. Some readers, horrified by the invasion of privacy, emailed many of the men to let them know they’d been had. Fortuny; whose own personal details, including his home address, are readily available online; has already received one threat of violence.

    I’m going to try something like this but with a slightly different twist. Stay tuned.

  • Child prostitution booming on craigslist

    Online Child Prostitution, An Alarming Trend:

    This is an article from a Sacramento, CA news station about how child prostitution is proliferating due to the internet…

    (CBS 13) SACRAMENTO FBI agents say child prostitution is moving off the streets and onto the information superhighway. Sacramento Special Agent James Harris said sex peddlers have gotten tech savvy.

    “They figure if pedophiles can entice online, that’s their business, that’s what they do, said Harris.

    Harris says they set up profiles on MySpace or Yahoo to recruit and entice underage girls. Then they advertise them on the internet–through addresses like redbook.com, a bay area erotic services site, or legitimate places like Craigslist, where you can find a car, rent an apartment or an “erotic service.”

    “They’re advertised as of age when you look closer they’re not, said Harris.

    The face is usually cut out or covered in a way so the age is hard to tell and so that law enforcement can’t track them down. Agent Harris says most turn out to be reported missing and runaways.

    The only way to make money is to prostitute. A lot are beginning to see this is a safe way to do it than on the streets, said Harris.

    Hundreds pop up on Craigslist every day in Sacramento. Why the capital city? Harris says it’s a crossroads between Seattle, L.A., San Francisco and Reno, where I-5 and I-80 meets.

    Agent Harris admits these cases are tough to prosecute. Those who post the listings are hard to track down, in some cases out of the country. But the FBI says as their crime scenes shift, they’re investigating child sex for sale with more mouse than muscle.