TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Tag: craigslist

  • Mr. Do arrested in craigslist sting

    Police nab Reston man in online child sex sting:

    Police in Fairfax, Virginia have arrested Bao Duc Do of Reston, Va. for responding to a craigslist ad that was placed by Fairfax police. The problem with that is that the advertisement was an ad Fairfax police were using in a sting to flush out sexual predators.

    The phony ad hinted that a man was willing to rent out his juvenile daughters for sex. When Mr. Do responded to the ad he discussed prices and terms with the ‘father’ of the girls. He negotiated a price of $150/hr. for an 11-year-old girl. When he was arrested at the pre-arranged meeting place he had $800 on him so he was planning on at least 5 hours with the girl.

    What I’d like to know is how did the police department’s ad even make it on to craigslist. I thought craigslist users are supposed to flag any ad that may be for illegal activity. Again I ask how’s that working out?

  • How to stop craigslist harassment

    How Do I Stop a Cyberstalking Ex:

    I get this question a lot actually. Someone sends me an e-mail saying that their ex or some other unscrupulous person is posting ads about them in craigslist’s erotic services section along with the victim’s personal information. Then they start getting all sorts of harassing phone calls and e-mails.

    This article from PCMag lays out the steps you need to take to get the harassment to stop.

  • Ex-Marine arrested in craigslist death

    Murder Shocks Neighbors:

    As you all know you can find just about anything on craigslist. Hacked iPhones, stolen stereos, a human being. Wait, what?

    That’s what 35-year-old Willie Donaldson of Arlington, VA got. He responded to the ad of 32-year-old Matthew Hicks of Sterling, VA. Donaldson hired Hicks and his girlfriend but it was unknown for what but not surprisingly Hicks’ ad was in the erotic services section of craigslist.

    At sometime during the night Hicks and Donaldson got into some kind of argument. Shortly before 4am the ex-marine Donaldson put an end to the argument by allegedly shooting and killing Hicks. Donaldson then called the police and when they arrived at the scene Donaldson turned himself in quietly.

    According to the article, Donaldson looked brutal in his mugshot sporting some blood, a black eye, and a sling. So technically Donaldson could have acted in self-defense. That remains to be seen.

    What you won’t hear the media say is that this is the third murder that was somehow connected to craigslist. The first was Katherine Ann Olson of Minneapolis who was shot and killed when she responded to a fake employment add. The second was Charles Parrish Murphy of Fresno, California. He was found dead after he went to meet someone he was selling a car to on craigslist. That doesn’t even count 19-year-old Donna Jou who disappeared after having a date with a sex offender that she met through craigslist.

    This highlights a big problem with craigslist and its erotic services section. Even after its much-lauded new security measures, it seems that the erotic services section of craigslist is still alive and thriving. If you haven’t figured it out by now I would say that 99% of all erotic services ads are not so thinly veiled ads for prostitution. And prostitution is not a victimless crime as so many would have you believe. Even if prostitution was legal you’d still have the problems of drugs and violence that are associated with it now.

    Even though craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster said that any amount of crime on craigslist is unacceptable he still allows the largest source of crime on its site to continue.

  • Buckmaster: No amount of criminal activity is acceptable

    Craigslist gets strict on erotic listings:

    This is another article about the alleged craigslist crackdown on prostitution.

    One of the problems with craigslist that it shows that the people who are flagging the ads in the erotic services section are competing ‘escorts’. How’s that user policing working out?

    The other thing is yet another quote from craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster and his alleged disdain for criminal activity…

    Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster said preventing site misuse and improving public safety is the company’s highest priority.

    “The incidence of crime on Craigslist is actually exceedingly low, considering the tens of millions of legitimate ads posted each month by well-intentioned users,” Buckmaster said. “But no amount of criminal activity is acceptable, and as Craigslist has grown, we have become aware of instances where our free services were being misused to facilitate illegal activities.”

    You’ve become aware? That sounds like you’ve just found out about it. I know someone who has been following the criminal activity on your site for almost 3 years. And if the crime on craigslist is so unacceptable why haven’t you taken any real measures to curb it?

    Just more lip service.

  • Reader sends in PayPal scam

    I received the following e-mail from reader Caleb about the amount and frequency of scams he encountered on craigslist.

    I have a Laptop that I am selling on craigslist, And I read this site everyday, so needless to say, i’m not new to scams. I received 3 scams in a matter of hours, and they just made me laugh. I actually got two identical scams from 2 different people. But thanks to your site, as soon as I read that I needed to send money overseas, I knew it was a scam. Thank You…

    This One was sent from Nick and Nate about 30 minutes apart.

    Thanks for your response. I will not be able to pay cash right now, as I am not here in town at this moment. I would like to get your item as a gift for someone and would appreciate it you will allow me to pay for it thru Paypal. I will add $100 to cover your costs of shipping it. If you send me your paypal email address, I will make the payment.If you don’t have paypal just log on to www.paypal.com and set up one. Is free and secure,IT GUARANTEES TRANSACTION SAFETY.

    Please get back to me ASAP so I can know for sure if I will be getting your item.

    And finally this one, they wanted me to send the product to Michigan, without looking, negotiating or even talking about the product. They were willing to give me extra money for my trouble = SCAM.

    Hello am still interested in the item i will want you to get to me with your paypal so i could make your payment and i want you to ship it to Michigan for my distance friend for a xmas gift and i will pay you $70 for the shipping i guess that is ok…Hope to read from you soon

    Hello am still interested? Apparently Cookie Monster has become a Nigerian scammer.

    You’d think that since the scammer was using PayPal that it wasn’t a scam, however this article from the Inquirer shows that scammers could end up with both their money and the item.

    Thanks, Caleb for bringing this to my attention.

  • Craig to Obama: Crack the Whip

    Craigslist Founder: Next Tech Czar Must ‘Crack The Whip’:

    Here’s a quote from Craig himself about his suggestions for the country’s CTO under Barack Obama.

    Craig Newmark, the founder of classifieds giant craigslist, has some advice for President-elect Barack Obama as he searches for a chief technology officer: Find someone who can foster public-private sector partnerships and “crack the whip” to bring about necessary reforms in tech policy.

    First off isn’t it politically incorrect to use the phrase ‘crack the whip’ when speaking about President-elect Obama. For shame Mr. Newmark.

    Secondly, when you talk about bringing about reforms does that include sites where crime is abundant and do nothing to stop it? Just curious.

     

  • Woman who hired accused baby sitter speaks out

    St. Paul woman says she unknowingly hired pornographer to babysit:

    This is an article about a woman who hired craigslist baby sitter/child pornographer Aaron Lemon. Luckily it appears that her child was unharmed but I want to discuss some quotes from the article.

    She said she interviewed him at length and watched him care for her children twice in her home before hiring him.

    “I really never saw any red flags at all,” Bang said.

    That’s the problem. You won’t.

    It seems obvious that Lemon had his ‘skill’ finely honed.

    The woman said that she was desperate for a baby sitter so she turned to craigslist. I wouldn’t personally trust someone from craigslist to babysit a slug. They’d probably molest the slug.

  • The craigslist baby sitter who made child porn

    Craigslist baby sitter pleads guilty to child pornography:

    23-year-old Aaron Jay Lemon of Little Canada, MN has pleaded guilty to child pornography charges. He answered a craigslist ad for a baby sitter in 2007 but in reality, he was nothing more than a filthy pedophile who likes to make child porn.

    While babysitting for a family in St. Paul he persuaded the child into sexual activity and recorded it. Police say the victim was a 2-year-old girl.

    He’s looking at 30-years behind bars.

    Thanks to Bonnie, Greg and Soobs.

  • Reader sends in another tutor scam

    I received the following e-mail from reader Krysta who encountered the old tutor scam…

    This guy’s emails were extremely fishy with some odd details. I looked up reports on tutor scams on craigslist and found them very similar to the ones already reported. Then I asked myself what is a UN peacekeeper doing in Eastern Oregon? Here is the scam:

    “I am pleased with whatever arrangement you could have made now concerning the hours to be having him the tutorial.Is name is Mike and he speaks danish and alil bit english language but not fluently.Okay according to the distances i think i will inform the nanny about it and she can be bringing him to you for the lesson wherever you have been choosing to be comfortable for you ,and this will bring him closer to your family and emulate a good morales from them.I would like to you get prepared starting with him by the middle of the month and i think that will be sometimes next two week.But as a teen tutor you should realize a better time table and housr to be taking kids and will be welcome with me.Nevermind,i will be making a payment of a month for this calaculated three hours every week,i guess it would be a cost fee of $720 by my own calaculation here and would like to make this payment out to you in a check,such that i will not finish with the money cos we have just been paid our royalties.i worked under the united nation as a peace keeping force. while i have lil time to visit home this time around while mike has been staying with his grandma before i finally take him to a nanny.Furthermore,i may required you not to recommend Fridays though, because all children have the concept of “Its friday, no more school!” and tend to have a hard time concentrating on fridays. And i would want you to give me a weekly reports and send me copies of your lesson plans for each lesson before or after the time of the lesson through the nanny.Nevertheless, I have also attached a picture of my son Mike with the nanny so that you will know how she and mike looks when you set to meet.I wish i have make myself cleared to you now and hoping you will take up this offer , Because i have made contacts with my son concerning the arrangement of the tutoring which he told me is ok by him because i always want the best for my son in life.i will be looking forward to hearing from you again.i would await the your information, so i can proceed on the payment asap.

    kindest regard,

    Mike Snr.”

    I guess Eastern Oregon has a problem with Somali pirates or something. ‘Is name is Mike’? Wow. This guy wasn’t even trying.

    Good morales? Pedro Morales? The first triple crown WWF title holder?

    I’m curious to know if he actually included a picture of Mike Jnr. and what the picture looked like.

    I guess he was waiting for the response before setting up his proposed victim for the fake check scam. Luckily Krysta was smart enough to do her research.

  • Has craigslist cleaned up?

    Cleaning up Craigslist:

    TV station WTNH from New Haven, Conn. thought it would see if craigslist new measures to limit erotic services ads has had any effect. Basically, it hasn’t.

    They also talked to Ray Bechard, the founder of Ahava Kids which help rescues Connecticut kids from prostitution. He had something familiar to say.

    “Well, here’s what I don’t understand — Craigslist has on its website, under services, a category called ‘erotic’ — if they just removed that, the problem would be mostly solved,” Bechard said.

    What a novel concept. I wonder why no one has said this before. Oh wait, they have, it was me.

    craigslist won’t do it because of all the traffic it brings to their site.