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  Greg Collier 9:09 am on May 3, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Backpage ( 71 ), craigslist, Digital Sin City, Human trafficking ( 101 ), New York University ( 2 ), study ( 2 ), university of minnesota   

  Study: Craigslist caused a surge in human trafficking 

  

  Ever since craigslist stopped hosting adult ads, and even more since the seizure of Backpage, a number of people have said without these sites it will be more difficult for law enforcement to find and rescue the victims of human trafficking. However, because of sites like craigslist and Backpage human trafficking increased in whatever market these sites entered. That is according to a new joint study published by both the University of Minnesota and New York University.

  According to the study entitled “The Digital Sin City: An Empirical Study of Craigslist’s Impact on Prostitution Trends”, researchers found that in a period between 1999 to 2008, anytime craigslist entered a community, prostitution and human trafficking activity would increase. While the study said this included ‘consensual’ sex workers it also noted that craigslist led to a greater criminal exploitation of human trafficking victims. The study even mentions that the outdated section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1999 is what kept this exploitation going.

  Sites like craigslist and Backpage cannot be both the cause of and solution to human trafficking simultaneously. At some point, the line has to be drawn to keep future victims from being bought and sold into sexual slavery. While some traffickers may be forced underground laws like FOSTA will cause a massive drop in online trafficking since women and children will no longer be able to be peddled in such a blatant manner.

   

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  Greg Collier 9:48 am on May 1, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: bitcoin ( 35 ), Colorado ( 8 ), craigslist, job scam ( 95 ), money laundering ( 13 )   

  Couple falls for Bitcoin laundering scam 

  

  An anonymous couple in Colorado have had their identities stolen and assets seized after they applied to what they thought was a work at home job. The couple started working for a company called Golden Potatoes that was said to be headquartered in Portland, Oregon. The couple was told to open bank accounts so they could receive payments from supposed customers who were buying potatoes from the company. The couple would deposit the payments in the new bank accounts then purchase Bitcoin to send to their bosses. The couple was told they could keep 5% of all deposits. This wasn’t your typical wire fraud or fake check scam either as the couple were making actual money from the transactions.

  It all fell apart when someone was using their identity to allegedly scam people on craigslist. You just knew craigslist had to be involved somewhere didn’t you? Anyway, the scammers were using the couple’s identities to place ads on craigslist claiming to be selling high-end items like cars and ATVs. That’s when the banks got involved believing the couple may have been committing fraud and shut down the accounts. As you can probably expect, not only did Golden Potatoes not exist as a legitimate company, but they also don’t even have a physical location at their purported Portland address. It was all just a scheme to allegedly launder money into Bitcoin.

  Many work at home positions have been the work of scammers for years even before the internet. Not to beat a dead horse, but if it seems to be too good to be true it usually is. Any type of job where your asked to open a separate bank account or deposit money into your own account is not legitimate. No legitimate company would ask employees to do such things unless they were trying to hide money illegally. If you were to fall for one of these scams, you could not only be held liable for any losses your bank my incur but you could potentially be looking at criminal charges while the scammers get away with their now laundered money.

   
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  Greg Collier 9:00 am on April 19, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: abduction ( 2 ), Alize Smith ( 2 ), craigslist, guns ( 14 ), Jarron Moreland ( 2 ), Johnny Barker, Kevin Garcia-Boettler, kidnapping ( 10 ), murder ( 9 ), Oklahoma ( 4 ), shooting ( 6 )   

  Arrests made in the craigslist disappearance of Okla. men 

  

  There’s been an update to yesterday’s story about the disappearance of two men from Moore, Oklahoma, who went missing after an alleged craigslist transaction. Sadly, the bodies of 21-year-olds Alize Smith and Jarron Moreland were found in a pond with both men having been shot to death. Three suspects have been arrested and charged in their murders, and they are 22-year-old Kevin Garcia-Boettler, 43-year-old Johnny Barker, and the 16-year-old brother of Garcia-Boettler.

  According to police, Moreland and Smith were said to be selling a gun on craigslist and the trio of suspects were meeting with the two men to purchase the gun. Once Moreland and Smith approached the suspects’ van, one of the suspects claims they heard a gun being cocked by one of the victims. This resulted in one of the suspects firing on the two men, killing them both. Tragically, this could have all been prevented.

  Craigslist’s terms of service forbids firearms from being sold or traded on their site, yet it happens all the time. The problem with craigslist is the usual one as they hardly ever do any kind of moderation on their site for any kind of illegal items or sales. Instead, they rely on their users to flag any kind of inappropriate ad, the same users who are posting the illegal ads to begin with. This is akin to the inmates running the asylum. Craigslist has the ability to screen for ads like this as they have done so in the past with unlocked iPhones when that was still illegal. Yet they allow guns to change hands without even batting an eye.

   
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  Greg Collier 9:01 am on April 18, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: abduction ( 2 ), Alize Smith ( 2 ), craigslist, Jarron Moreland ( 2 ), kidnapping ( 10 ), Oklahoma ( 4 )   

  Two men missing after possible craigslist abduction 

  

  Over this past weekend, two Oklahoma families are experiencing their worst nightmares after members of their families disappeared during what was believed to be a craigslist transaction. 21-year-olds Alize Smith and Jarron Moreland were reportedly abducted from a supermarket parking lot in Moore, Oklahoma, by two men in a white van. Shots were also said to have been fired during the abduction and a bloody gun was found at the scene.

  This was no midnight meeting either as the two men met their purported abductors at 6:00 PM on a Saturday in a busy parking lot. This is the definition of a well-lit public place during the day. Sadly, these precautions weren’t enough as their captors committed a brazen daylight attack against the two victims. Police are looking to the public for help in finding the two victims.

  Anyone who knows the whereabouts of Smith and Moreland is asked to call the Moore Police Department at (405)793-5171.

  As we have stated in the past, we believe the safest place to conduct any kind of classifieds transaction is at your local police department as many stations across the country are now encouraging citizens to use their locations to conduct business safely. I understand there are segments of the population who don’t trust police and many have good reason to be fearful. However, it may be worth putting those fears aside in order to be able to go home to your family.

  Our thoughts go out to the families of Mr. Smith and Mr. Moreland, and we are hoping for their safe return.

  Arrests made in the craigslist disappearance of Okla. men | Greg's Corner is discussing. Toggle Comments

   
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  Greg Collier 9:49 am on April 11, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Backpage ( 71 ), craigslist, geebo ( 24 ), greg collier ( 3 ), Human trafficking ( 101 ), Online Classifieds ( 14 )   

  Geebo: Stemming the tide of human trafficking at home 

  

  An example of many of the trafficking ads we’ve been receiving lately.

  As I’m sure you’ve read, Backpage.com was seized this past Friday by the Federal government. Two of its founders were not only indicted, but are currently sitting in jail. From the beginning, Backpage’s business model was based on the sexual slave trade, collecting as much as 99% of their revenue from the ads placed by pimps and traffickers. While making hundreds of millions of dollars in such an illicit way, the seizure of Backpage was the only logical way this could have ended.

  Since Backpage’s closure, Geebo has been receiving a torrent of ‘adult’ ad submissions for review. The keyword in that sentence is ‘review’ as Geebo has always reviewed ads for objectionable content. Thanks to the great software used under the hood at Geebo and the human curation done by our moderation staff, we have never allowed and never will allow Geebo to become a haven for those who would sell women and children into sexual servitude. Since day one and with little fanfare, Geebo has committed itself to keep its ads free from the likes posted on Backpage while maintaining a profitable business. Toward that end, Geebo was an industry trend setter when CEO Greg Collier made the decision to remove personal ads from the site in 2010 in order to prevent the ads from being abused by traffickers, where on other sites many victims are tricked into being trafficked through their personal ads.

  Another great thing about Geebo is that these decisions weren’t made due to public pressure or pending legislation. These decisions were made out of something that appears to be rare in the industry these days, and that is common human decency. Craigslist shut down there adult services section only after massive public pressure from the media, and closed their personals after the passage of FOSTA/SESTA, which is almost an admission that trafficking was still taking place on their personals. When the credit card companies cut off Backpage, they became so desperate to stay in business they started accepting payment for prostitution ads in cash, Bitcoin and gift cards. If they hadn’t been raided by Federal authorities there’s no doubt that Backpage would still be collecting money for these ads. Geebo shows that a classifieds site can be run ethically without having to resort to questionable ads designed to make money off of the suffering of others.

   
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  Greg Collier 9:18 am on April 5, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: craigslist, Fallon Blackwood, horses ( 2 ), pet adoption ( 9 ), pets ( 17 ), scam ( 22 )   

  Craigslist scam may have led horses to slaughter 

  

  A somewhat disturbing story has come out of the Southeastern United States about a craigslist scam involving the supposed re-homing of horses. An actual third-year veterinary student is accused of taking horses from people on craigslist who are looking for a new home for their animals, and then for all intents and purposes, the student is making the horses disappear.

  23-year-old Fallon Blackwood, of Boaz, Alabama, is accused of allegedly promising people all over the Southeast that she would re-home their horses with her own horse. At least in one incident when Fallon was pressed for information on how one horse was doing she reportedly told the horse’s former owner that both horses had been struck by lightning. Sadly, none of the horses were able to be found. A non-profit called NetPosse that tracks horse theft around the country is fearful that the horses have been sold for slaughter. As Geebo CEO Greg Collier pointed out in a 2014 blog post, it’s illegal to sell horses for slaughter in the United States, however, in neighboring Mexico the practice is still allowed. That’s only one of the many reasons why selling or giving away of animals is no longer permitted on Geebo.

  Re-homing a pet is difficult enough as too many people want puppies or kittens and not full-grown animals. Horses are a whole other matter as they are expensive to house and maintain. If you’re looking for a new home for your horse don’t just offer it to just anyone online. First, try to see if someone in your local community can take your horse for you. Then, if you find someone who can, ask them for a reference from their veterinarian to make sure their capable of taking care of such animals.

   
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  Greg Collier 9:01 am on March 29, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Airbnb ( 13 ), craigslist, rental scam ( 93 )   

  Airbnb being used in craigslist scam 

  

  Short-term rental platform Airbnb has had its own problems lately when it comes to local zoning laws and ever-increasing pressure from the hospitality industry. Now, they find themselves as unwilling participants in a rental scam that unsurprisingly takes place on craigslist, and like most craigslist scams, it’s a new twist on an old scam.

  A report out of Minneapolis is stating that a property listed on Airbnb for temporary stays is being listed on craigslist as a more permanent rental. The craigslist scammers copied the Airbnb ad almost word for word and stole all the pictures used in the original ad. The scammers then tried to get a victim to wire them $2,100 to an out-of-state bank. This isn’t the only type of Airbnb scam perpetrated through craigslist as this video shows.

  As stated before, this is a twist on an old scam where craigslist scammers would copy entire ads from the websites of realtors of homes for sale, then list the properties on craigslist as rentals in order to try to scam people out of phony deposit or background check fees depending on how ambitious the scammers are.

  As with any online transaction, never wire money anywhere. It’s too easy for the scammers to remain anonymous and make off with your money. In too many instances the money lost is all the money the victims had in trying to find a home for their families who are then left penniless and without a roof over their heads.

   
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  Greg Collier 9:06 am on March 27, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Andrew Turley, craigslist, FOSTA ( 6 ), personal ads ( 5 )   

  Why you shouldn’t mourn the craigslist personals 

  

  As we posted last week, craigslist shuttered its personals section in anticipation of FOSTA being signed into law. Many in tech circles are lamenting the loss of craigslist personals as if it was some place where wholesome couples would meet so they could attend church and ice cream socials together. What they’re conveniently forgetting is that the personals section of craigslist had a much more sinister undercurrent that not much of the public was aware of.

  For example, recently, 30-year-old Andrew Turley was sentenced to 60 years behind bars for trying to sell his 4-year-old daughter for the purposes of sex on craigslist. According to investigators, Turley would drug his daughter to make her compliant. After police responded to his craigslist ad they found his daughter in a ‘groggy state’ and appeared to be under the influence of some type of drug.

  Sadly, this is not just a one-off occurrence as the Craigslist personals have a long history of this type of activity. This wasn’t even the youngest victim to ever be sold through craigslist as an Idaho man tried selling a 3-year-old girl through craigslist. In either case, none of the ads were flagged by craigslist’s community policing. For those of you who try to say that this will drive the predators underground, that’s the whole point. Without such a platform like craigslist, predators will have one less highly trafficked platform to find their victims and reprehensible parents won’t have the marketplace to sell their kids.

   
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  Greg Collier 8:59 am on March 23, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: craigslist, FOSTA ( 6 ), personal ads ( 5 )   

  Craigslist pulls personal ads ahead of FOSTA signing 

  

  Before the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) could even be signed into law, craigslist has taken it upon themselves to remove the personal ads section from their website. Anyone clicking on any of the personal ad links on craigslist are met with the above message. As is usually the case with craigslist, they’re playing the victim over something they should have done years ago.

  To hear craigslist tell it, they sound like FOSTA is about to kill all romance on the internet. What craigslist isn’t telling you is that their personal ads, like most sections of their site, have long been the home of criminal activity. When craigslist shut down its erotic services section after public pressure, whatever human trafficking ads didn’t move to Backpage moved to craigslist’s personals section. That’s not even taking into account that craigslist’s casual encounters section was often used by child predators looking for their next victim. So while craigslist is acting like some kind of martyr, let it never be forgotten that their personals section has mostly been a cesspool of crime.

  Eight years ago, Geebo decided to remove personal ads from its site. Not because of any public pressure or impending legislation, but because it was the right thing to do. Craigslist has only itself to blame since they failed to monitor their own site for decades.

  Why you shouldn't mourn the craigslist personals | Greg's Corner and Chad Frey are discussing. Toggle Comments

   
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    Chad Frey 1:38 pm on March 23, 2018 Permalink

    Good , Something they should of done years ago. I never met anyone off of personals on craigslist. The only question is this what took them so damn long?

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  Greg Collier 9:08 am on March 12, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Colorado ( 8 ), craigslist, deadbolt, real estate ( 140 ), rental scam ( 93 )   

  Scam victim living in house illegally 

  

  A man in Colorado is living in a house illegally after falling victim to a rental scam. The man found a home for rent on craigslist and wired $3000 to the people claiming to be the landlords. In return, the ‘landlords’ were able to give the man the access code to the home’s deadbolt. This is not unlike a similar scam we posted about back in November where scammers were hacking the electronic lockboxes used by realtors

  Once the victim in this case realized he had been scammed he contacted police, but now he may find himself out on the street. He asked the rental company if there was any way he could stay there but the company wants him off the premises. Again, it appears that the weak link in the security is the electronic deadbolt used by the rental company. As shown in the video below, many of these types of locks can be hacked remotely.

  However, as I’m sure you’ve surmised by now, the first mistake made in this unfortunate story was the victim wiring the money to someone before seeing the home. When dealing with sites that are a haven for scammers like craigslist, you should never wire money to anybody you don’t know personally. Not only could that money be received anywhere in the world, but it’s almost impossible to get the money back once it’s been transferred. While we hope this man lands on his feet, let his story serve as a cautionary tale to others when using unscrupulous classified sites.