Craigslist Scam Discovered by Credit Monitoring Service

Don’t Fall For This Craigslist Scam

A leading credit monitoring service recently discovered a credit report scam being conducted on Craigslist and issued a consumer advisory to prevent Craigslist users from falling victim to the scam. NationalCreditReport.com reported a scam on Craigslist that takes advantage of users who are looking for a job or a place to live.

The credit report scam on Craigslist compels users to register for a credit report through a link that is provided in the ad or via an email which is sent to you regarding an ad you may have responded to on Craigslist. If you think you have received an email message that attempts to scam you simply forward the email to abuse@craigslist.org and they will follow up.

Here is how the scam works: The scammer posts a fake job listing or apartment listing on Craigslist and uses the name of a well known reputable company. When the Craigslist user responds to the ad the scammer sends an email to the user’s Inbox that says the user must click on the included link in the email to move forward with the apartment rental or job interview process.

The message says that the link is provided so the recipient of the email can obtain a credit report to provide to the scammer for the job interview or apartment viewing. When the email recipient clicks on the link they must provide their credit card information and other personal data to purchase the credit report. Inevitably the scammer then disappears into thin air with the email recipient’s personal information to sell it on the black market or use it for identity theft while tarnishing the company’s reputation in the process with a fake employment posting.

If you think you may have fallen victim to this scam or a similar one, there are many reputable and trustworthy credit monitoring services that are ready and willing to help you get back on your feet. More people are using credit monitoring services to detect criminal acts such as the Craigslist scam described here before too much damage has been done. In the event the damage has already occurred, a credit monitoring service will provide professional support to help you clean up your credit report and restore your financial accounts. You can research credit monitoring services online to choose a reputable and reliable service which will help you to prevent credit report scammers from accessing your information and using it illegally.

Category: Credit Report Monitoring, Identity Theft Blog, Scams