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.