Craigslist Interactions Gone Wrong

FromJaydickchest:

My friend tried buying something on Craigslist (Houston, if anyone cares).
He set up a meeting spot, agreed on a price, and so on.
Minutes later, the guy called my friend back. He said, 'Hey man, don't come. I was just going to rob you, but I heard kids in the background while we talked on the phone.'

FromCougarAries:

"Bought a Keurig on Craigslist. I used it for a couple of days. I started noticing coffee grounds in my cup. I ignored it. I saw a cockroach in my kitchen. I found out it came from the Keurig. I took a flashlight inside, and it was infested with a nest of cockroaches. It was not coffee grounds in my cup."

FromJetskier2313:

Here is a good one: My laptop got stolen from my truck one night. I filed a police report, but they did nothing. Angry, I checked Craigslist and found the thief selling it two towns over. I asked him to send me pictures to confirm it was mine.

I contacted the police. We set up a sting at the local Starbucks and caught the guy. He was a minor and had weapons and stolen items in his car. I felt proud. I never saw that laptop again. The guy did not wipe the hard drive.

Never pay before You have a Craigslist purchase in your hand. RedditorJethanRHe thought he was buying a used motorcycle. He paid half the price when the owner realized he forgot the title. The owner said he would return with the title, but he never showed up. Instead, this happened:

Two police officers showed up at my rental house. They banged on the door. I answered, stunned. 'Is that your motorcycle in the driveway, sir?' They asked. I started explaining. After I told them the guy would return with the title, they said, 'This bike was reported stolen two days ago. The person who reported it saw it and called us. Did you steal this motorcycle?' I panicked. No, I did not steal it.

The Redditor figured out he was framed for auto theft. The police showed him video of him stealing the bike. He asked to see it. They agreed if he came to the station.

I went to the precinct. A cop at the desk asked a few questions, then told me to watch the video. It was on a CD. He played it. Sure enough, I was getting on this guy's bike. But the guy was not in the frame. Then I saw how fake the whole setup was.

The guy kept the bike at the back of his house. We talked in front. I parked my car in front. The bike had the keys inside. I returned the bike to the front of his house as he asked. The video showed me getting on the bike at 10 p.m. with the keys in the ignition. I pulled it out and seemed never to bring it back. He stayed out of frame. Aside from a couple of looks toward him, I did not interact with anyone off-camera. I am in deep trouble.

After spending all day at the local police station, the guy showed up. He asked if I stole his bike. Things worsened for me until the police made the guy slip up. He could not keep his story straight. He broke down and admitted he made it up. He needed cash for bills. He could not sell his bike. So, he planned an insurance claim for a stolen motorcycle. He also planned to keep the bike and get money from a buyer, framing someone as the thief. This plan failed. I think he went to prison. I am not sure. I got my money back. I left the whole situation behind. That is my creepy Craigslist story.

FromRottenscred:

"My buddy responded to an ad for a cheap car. He test-drove it; it ran well, so they agreed on $200. After the money changed hands, the seller said he would go inside for the extra keys and bring the car out. Two minutes later, the car passed and kept driving down the street. My buddy panicked and chased the car. The car got away. He had to go back to the house to try and fix it.

The car that passed was just an innocent driver with the same car driving normally. I was lucky my buddy did not catch up. I could only picture the seller at the house, wondering why someone would give him $200 and flee.

He did get the car. It ran for two years.

FromNWBoomer:

"We sold a house on Craigslist and started getting calls saying it was for rent. There was a 'for rent' ad showing our house and a fake realtor email. I contacted the advertiser, who claimed he owned the place while doing missionary work in Africa. He wanted me to wire the deposit. I played along with emails until he got suspicious and stopped talking to me.

We reported this fraud to Craigslist. They blocked our email address in response. Now, using Craigslist requires us to use a different email when posting ads.

FromSparkitusRex:

"I bought an engagement ring that was never used because he left me for my best friend two months later. But since I bought it, not him, I kept it."

I decided I would never marry, so I tried selling the ring. I got it cheap, so I sold it for between what it was worth new and what I paid. I made a small profit.

A guy showed strong interest. He met me at the mall. We went to the jewelry store where it came from. They confirmed it was the ring, about $2000, and I sold it for about $1200. He saw he got a good deal and said he would meet me the next day at the mall to buy it. I kept it at the mall so no one would show up to rob me.

The next day, I got a text. I cannot find the screenshot now, but the message said, 'She accused me of cheating, I wasn't. She looked through my phone and found nothing. In retaliation, I looked through her phone and found messages from multiple men.'

This man had his life sorted and planned to propose. When I met him, he talked only about her and the ring, and she was running around him.

He did not buy the ring.

FromBMac1977:

"This isn't a horror story. The guy I sold a TV to a couple of years ago assumed I would murder him and his boyfriend. He thought I would scam him, so I offered to drop the TV off at his house for him to PayPal me the money. He did not want me to know his address, so I offered him to pick it up after my daughter's soccer game. He refused, saying I had too many 'people.' So, I moved the TV to the parking lot of my town's grocery store at 3:30 pm. He finally agreed to meet me in front of the town's police station with his boyfriend and two other men only after he called an officer to watch the deal. The cop told the man he probably should not buy things on Craigslist anymore. The odd part was he brought so many people the TV would not fit in his car."

When Reddit userBlinkanboxcar182Blinkanboxcar182 was selling their car on Craigslist. They met a very friendly man named James. After test driving the car, James asked if he could wait two more days to buy it. Blinkanboxcar182 agreed, but then this happened:

"Two days later, James follows up. We meet again mid-day in a normal urban neighborhood. James and I test drive the car again. He gives me a Chase Bank cashier's check; I said it was fine. I told him he must come to the bank with me to cash this check and get the title notarized for him. Then he starts acting nervous. Police pull us over on my street while James drives and I ride along. I thought if he planned to steal my car, he would have done it two days earlier. Now, I feel fairly comfortable with him. He asks me to do one more car inspection with him before we go to the bank. I agree, but I insist on handling the transaction at a bank. As we both get out to inspect the car again, he jumps back in and floors it when I try to get back in. He pulls away faster than I can react; the passenger door stays wide open."

The Redditor called the police. They put him in the back of a cruiser.

"The guy escapes. Officers drop me at the police station to file a report. I file an insurance claim too. I am furious at myself for letting this happen. I guess this is better than being in the car with that guy, but I remain angry. Of course, 'James' burner phone stops working as soon as he leaves."

I check insurance and their rules for three months to avoid fraud. The week I was due for payment, the police called. They found my car in three states.

'James' worked with a partner, Dickface. James stole the car and gave it to Dickface to sell. This kept it untraceable to James. Dickface could deny involvement if questioned. Dickface sold my car to an Average Joe who had a daughter in college needing a car. The daughter tried registering her new car at the DMV; it showed as stolen. So, the police arranged a meeting at the station for me, the Average Joe, and Dickface (whose contact information the Average Joe had because he paid him with a check and there was a paper trail).

Dickface denies any involvement with James. He agrees to return the money Average Joe paid him if he leaves without trouble. We all agree. Average Joe and I tell his daughter she can keep the car, and I will take the money from Dickface.

Eventually, I got paid for my car. But this experience was awful and very stressful. Since then, I have bought and sold cars on Craigslist again. So, no lesson was learned (except now I take a photo of everyone's driver's license at the start).

From the_woot_shoot:

I moved out of an apartment with washer and dryer hookups into one without. I sold my washer and dryer. Separate buyers bought them. The guy who bought the dryer was great. He got it for his daughter going to college. I helped him load it into his truck. He paid me, and I never heard from him again.

The buyer for the washer was different. He texted asking if it was still there. We argued the price. That was normal. We set a time, and I waited for him to arrive.

I had one week left in the apartment. I did not care much about random people visiting my home like I usually would. Most of my belongings moved to the new place, but the internet wasn't on. I slept on an air mattress in the old one for now. He arrived a few hours late. He showed up in a truck used for moving large glass panes. He had five people crammed onto the truck's front bench seat. They loaded it, leaning it at a 30-degree angle against the glass pane rack. He tried to lower the price, but I refused. He left, and I thought the deal was done.

That night, texts started coming from him about the item not working and his demand for a refund. I told him what the post said: it sold as is and worked. I figure he broke it rigging it on his truck. A day later, he called and cursed at me. He sent death threats via text. Other random numbers called me doing the same. Two nights after selling it, I woke at 3 a.m. with people banging on my door, yelling. Luckily, I lived on the second floor with no easy window access. I sat there for fifteen minutes while they yelled through the door. The next day, I moved the rest of my things into the new apartment and never returned except to turn in the keys. I received calls and texts from him on random numbers for two months over a $150 washer.

I do not sell things on Craigslist anymore.

From itooaminarcadia:

My parents gave an old couch for free to a woman on the fourth floor. She took it with one condition: she would not carry it up the stairs. So, she told my parents she would pay them to bring it up. They agreed because they were both short on money and generally nice people.

They brought the couch up while the woman watched. When they asked for payment, she asked them, "Do you like roosters?"

She gave them the creepiest carved wooden rooster I ever saw instead of money. This thing looks like the abyss staring back. Then, she ran back inside. The whole situation was so absurd they were not even angry. It stays in our house about thirteen years later.

From Whoknowsimstoned:

I bought a bike from a man in a grocery store parking lot. His flaccid penis stuck out of his zipper during the entire transaction.

From REDUCE23:

I sought a roommate. This person thought I was a girl. He sent dick pics and I texted, 'I am a dude.' He replied, 'Sure, girl. The things I would do. Blah, blah.' I finally told this guy to come to my house. An idiot arrived with flowers. I told him, 'Look, I'm a dude, not a chick.' He called me a f*cking tease and threw the flowers down. I sat there shocked. A week later, this guy texted me: 'Wish you would have been a girl with all that teasing.'