You Can Do What on Craigslist?

 I found something extremely disturbing tonight on Craigslist. I sometimes browse Craigslist out of boredom. I saw that they had forums that I had never seen before. I clicked on the parenting forum and I was totally horrified. It makes me sick writing about it, but I felt like I had to share. I went to the parenting forum because I am a single mom and I don’t have a lot of friends that live in my area. All of my friends are amazing, they just live in other parts of the country or the world. I guess that’s part of being a blogger. First I want to say, that I don’t really like Craigslist. I don’t buy or sell things on it. I don’t do much on it but browse. Noah is asleep because he is sick. I am not sure why I crawled in the bowels of Craigslist. I thought I would see normal parenting problems and people looking for advice. I thought maybe I could lend an ear, I mean I am a moderator on a parenting website and all. I am pretty good at giving advice when someone is looking for it.  I knew there were people advertising getting women pregnant on Craigslist but this is a whole kind of disgusting....

So, I click on it and start browsing. I keep seeing posts about people who are looking for babies to adopt. Maybe they are looking for a good agency or some guidance from others who have been through the process. Then I see it, I am pretty tired, so I thought I saw what I did, I rubbed my eyes and looked again. My heart sank. There are PEOPLE OFFERING CHILDREN UP FOR ADOPTION ON CRAIGSLIST. There’s a lot of them too. It’s so sad and sick that people would do this kind of thing. I am all for adoption when it is done the right way. I am sure adoption is expensive with all the legal fees and lawyers but still Craigslist? That’s really dangerous. You have no idea who these people are. They could pretend to be a loving and happy family and they really aren’t. They could do horrible things and be horrible people. I don’t understand it. Why would you just give your child to someone who answers an online ad? This cannot be legal. It surely isn’t sane. As I am reading these ads… cause let’s face it, that’s what they are ADS, for these unwanted children, I am crying. I am thinking about all those children who are victims of child trafficking. These little kids who did nothing wrong, and here they are being given away like a piece of furniture on Craigslist. I also wonder if this is some kind of scam that people are running. What is the whole process? Does money change hands? Are these kids safe? Are they being abused? Are they hungry? 

This person posts a lot!

What is Craigslist thinking by allowing this to be on there? Don’t they moderate it? Apparently not because there’s posts from 2011, so I guess the forums have been around a lot longer. It’s a horrible thing what is going on. Come on Craigslist, didn’t you learn anything from The Craigslist Killer? I would rather see people hooking up than kids being dropped off at God knows where with God knows who. It’s deplorable.  It’s disgusting. It’s WRONG.  I also think of Silvia Likens, a 16 year old who was brutally murdered 50 years ago.  She was staying with a family with her sister and she was murdered and tortured. How can this happen? We live in a society where we have options, but Craigslist should not be one of them. 

Then I saw this ad…. I threw up in my mouth. This poor 12 year old boy has behavior problems and possibly some form of Autism. I am not qualified to say either way, but his mom or maybe his mom’s boyfriend wanted to get rid of him on Craigslist. We have children, we love them, we take care of them, we nurture them, and it’s our job. We shouldn’t just give them up to anyone who wants them. Then there’s a follow up post.

 19 days after the person posted, someone else posted the boy has a good home. NINETEEN DAYS! What the hell is wrong with people? I am not going to say I know what it’s like to be in their shoes, because I don’t, but there’s help out there. If you decide it’s too much, please get help. Go through the proper channels and at least protect your child and watch out for them.

Where are these children ending up? Why is Craigslist allowing this? Are these children slipping through the cracks? Why has no one noticed?

This has to STOP right now! We need to take a stand for these children.

I Need a Used Car

I am going to be in the market for a new car soon. Buying a car is a very serious deal. It is usually a large purchase and requires a lot of thought and shopping around. You have to be smart about it. You don’t want to be swindled or land on The People’s Court. When you are making a big purchase or any purchase for that matter I know to grab the nearest roll of toilet paper and crayon and get a receipt. I know that cash does not leave this hand without a receipt going in other hand. It is crucial to protect yourself and avoid sites like Craigslist, which you know I don’t use to buy anything. It is pretty risky in my opinion. I will definitely check out dealerships when I am ready to make my purchase. It will take me some time to figure out what exactly I want. Since I am a mom safety is something I think about a lot. I want to keep my precious son safe while we are running errands and traveling. I have some concerns about the safety of the cars on Craigslist because it’s not regulated by anyone. You are also opening yourself up for being a victim of a scam or someone could take advantage of you. Cars are supposed to last a long time so it is vital to not to be careless. It’s not like picking out an outfit. I love to travel so traveling will be done in this new car. I have family all over and I would like to spend more time in 2015 with my loved ones who are only an hour or two away. We have such busy lives, we don’t spend as much time together anymore. Since I have had my health problems, it makes me really think about them. We live in an area where there is pretty much anything you could want within twenty miles away, but traveling in a car is a must. I want Noah to have memories of car travel when he is young.

Be sure to see what you need to consider when buying a used car, it could save you from a lot of stress and grief.

High School Students using Craigslist for Fraud?

I occasionally browse Craigslist for writing jobs. I have never done one but I like to look and see what is potentially out there. I also look for social media jobs that would be interesting. I was browsing Craigslist as I normally do and I saw that a couple people were looking for someone to do school work for them. One person wanted to pay someone to do his online work and another one wanted someone to finish all of his friends high school course work.  This is so wrong! It is totally dishonest and bad. It reminds me of when tv shows would talk about people buying someone's old reports or even a kid doing a bully's homework. I didn't realize this was going on. If Noah ever tried that he would be in so much trouble. Is this a new trend? Why isn't Craigslist doing anything? This brings cheating to a whole new level. Who knows if the person who did online school or online college is really the person holding the degrees? Man, this is so sad.

This is a real Craigslist posting. I took the screenshot myself.

They are looking for someone smart. No way! You have to complete a really long and I mean really long list of things which all have a final exam. There are probably about 40 things on the list. You have to do it in five days but if you complete it in less than five then you get a $100 bonus. The best part of this ad... You have to keep it a secret. My dear sweet Craigslist user. You don't know about IP addresses do you? They know where you are. They can find out who you are. You want to scam some school and you publicly post about it on Craigslist.  You are not only breaking moral laws but I am sure there are some kind of fraud laws that you, your friend, and the person hired are breaking.   You are also defrauding the Florida Department of Education. Obviously  your friend has slacked off for who knows how long but then all the sudden has the urge to amount to something and gets everything done in five days or less. He will get a B average too.  That is not at suspicious, not one tiny bit.  

So, if you work for the online high school in Florida and someone gets all his work done in five days or less with a b average it might be worth taking a look at it.  My dear sweet Craigslist poster don't worry your friend can still get their high school diploma in prison. Don't give up hope.

Craigslist Scams

I decided to make a scam series, this time I wanted to talk to you about Craigslist scams. I have never used Craigslist for buying or selling. Heck I won’t even use Freecycle even though I get emails for FOUR different locations. Call me cautious. I don’t really like the idea of contacting strangers and going to their home to pick up something. I know many people who have used craigslist for different things, but I have heard too many horror stories, including the craigslist rapist. I like to read craigslist when I am bored. It is kind of like how I used to read the Bargain ads in the paper. I just like to see what’s out there. I would probably never contact someone to actually buy something but I like to look. It’s just not for me and my family.
There are a lot of scams on craigslist especially with cars and even rental homes. If you do end up being a victim you can use  streamline refinance rates to refinance your home to find the lowest prices in your area .

Rule of thumb: If you have to ship a car from somewhere else rather or not you have to pay for shipping it is a scam.

Second Rule of thumb: If you can’t meet with the person in person and get the item or car or keys when you exchange money, it is a scam.

Third rule of thumb: Beware of Western Union, Money Orders, Moneygrams l etc. Heck if I were selling I wouldn’t take a check. I am a cash only type of gal.

I am sure craigslist is a great tool for those who use it, but please be careful in all transactions. If it sounds too good to be true, than it probably is.
Here are some more tips from Craigslist that is a must read if you want to use it. Protect yourself

Craigslist Scams