Another Craigslist scam costs one guy everything but his horse

Wed Mar 26, 2008 5:50PM EDT

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It's deja vu all over again. Once again, a scammer has used Craigslist either as a prank or with truly malicious intent to entice scavengers into taking away just about everything from one homeowner's property. All it took were a couple of "Everything must go and it's all free!" ads on the site and, poof!, it was pretty much gone in no time flat.

Robert Salisbury was a bit luckier than Laurie Raye. Salisbury caught wind of what was going on when he encountered people driving away from his property, loaded down with his stuff. He stopped them in the road and questioned them, demanding hisĀ  not-really-free goods back, but they took off with his property nonetheless. By the time he reached his house he was greeted by nearly 30 people going through his things, many of whom refused to leave empty-handed and others who fled with the gear they'd managed to load into their cars before the cops showed up.

One good Samaritan gave Salisbury a call and tipped him off to what was going on. She was preparing to ride off with the man's horse when she figured out something wasn't right, considering that the horse was still in good shape and didn't look abandoned as the ad claimed.

The question now falls to lawyers and police to determine who placed the ad and who's legally responsible for Salisbury's losses. Police say it's unlikely anyone who took his stuff will be prosecuted. And while the person who placed the ad is clearly at fault, the question now falls to whether Craigslist is liable for the fraudulent listing... but he'll have to take 'em to court if he wants to find out.

Comments on Another Craigslist scam costs one guy everything but his horse

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  • 2 Posted by junkerval on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:44PM EDT Report Abuse

    was his house locked..did they break in?!

  • 3 Posted by angeladst16 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:54PM EDT Report Abuse

    They should take Craiglist to court. Since this was Craiglist's web-site they are responsible for reimbursing those that were wronged.

  • 5 Posted by hilllilly2 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:19PM EDT Report Abuse

    As PT. Barnum once said" there's a sucker born every minute"some people are just too nieve to know that something is not legitamet..go with your gut feelings when you feel something smells..

  • 6 Posted by vbb1964 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:32PM EDT Report Abuse

    Craigslist work but with every idea with good intentions the laws of nature and good and evil take over. Craigslist is just as reponsible for this as Ytube is for posting copy protected content. The end result will be the loss of the free and give away section. This will then force these scams on the other areas. I just got 2 nice routers and a digital camera free on Craigslist. I would hate to see it change. thinkingbiggar.com - high tech on a budget (yes mostly free) - no really its free

  • 7 Posted by surfwiththewaves485 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:49PM EDT Report Abuse

    People that went and did this to this man, are bad people, they are thiefs, tacking his things when clearly he did not want theme to. These people should be ashamed of theme-selves and return his things!

  • 8 Posted by royale_18 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:53PM EDT Report Abuse

    Craigslist can't possibly verify the veracity of every ad on the site. One can hardly put the blame on them. This could have just as easily happened via newpaper or other medium. Obviously a lot of blame falls on the shoulders of the person that placed the ad. However, the folks that were confronted and still ran off with this guy's stuff should be prosecuted to. They were told that they were committing theft and chose to prey on an innocent victim anyway. Those people are essentially complicit to the crime. The man was being victimized and instead of doing the right thing and returning the property, they chose to aid in the victimizing. Terrible stuff. I still have the question of how all these people managed to get their hands on this guy's property? Did he leave his house open?

  • 9 Posted by thatdamngood04 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:02PM EDT Report Abuse

    #5 tell me why this is CL fault?If it was posted in a newspaper classified would you say the same thing.People shouldnt be so stupid as to rely on a post on a website to just go and loot someones property.I have seen similar postings and have always checked them out.

  • 10 Posted by subxia on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:46PM EDT Report Abuse

    #1 reason to maintain privacy. So Unreal it's Real.

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