Illegal Craigslist Ads
What Is Craigslist & Is It Illegal? – Small Business – Chron.com
Craigslist is one of the most popular online classifieds websites in the world, servicing 50 countries and dozens of small and large cities in the United States and allowing you to post ads for jobs, items you wish to sell and even personals. Craigslist’s popularity has quickly made it a go-to destination for people looking for a deal on the Web. Craigslist itself is not illegal, but you must employ caution when using it to acquire goods and services. Craigslist History Craigslist was founded in 1995 by Craig Newmark. The site began as a San Francisco-specific mailing list for classified ads and quickly expanded into other cities. Craigslist currently boasts over 50 billion page views per month, and millions of Craigslist users have completed transactions with the site as a starting point. Since its inception, Craigslist has seen very few visual upgrades, preferring to keep the interface simple and clean. Craigslist’s Terms of Use When posting an ad or interacting with any Craigslist function, you must follow the site’s terms of use. Craigslist limits access to those who are 18 and above, not attempting to sell or share illegal goods through the site, and agree to act within the bounds of local law. Additionally, users agree to be responsible for all activities conducted by their accounts and to allow Craigslist staff to moderate posts as the website sees fit. This system helps keep Craigslist postings within the law. Illegal Activity Though Craigslist staff works to keep content on the site legal, they have had trouble with illicit postings in the past. Police have conducted several prostitution stings that originated with ads on the website, and it is not uncommon for thieves to attempt to fence stolen goods through the site. Craigslist actively works to police its site and to ensure that posts offering illegal or suspicious goods or services are removed; the community is able to flag posts to assist in this effort. Best Practices When dealing with Craigslist, the only guarantee you receive is from the person with whom you are communicating. Craigslist does attempt to ensure posts are legitimate, but does not guarantee anything found on the site. Always bring a friend when checking out goods for sale and treat Craigslist posters like you would any other strangers. If an offer seems too good to be true, show caution in checking it out. Never give up more personal information than is needed to complete a transaction (email and phone number are enough in most cases), and meet people in public places whenever possible.
What Is Prohibited on Craigslist? – Azcentral
Free advertising on Craigslist is a major incentive for responsible small business owners, but it’s also a magnet for criminals and fraudsters. To keep operations running smoothly and safely, Craigslist forbids the sale and solicitation of some items and services. Not following the guidelines and listing prohibited content could get you banned from the site, creating a barrier from using the site for future business promotion. Before using the site for listings, make sure that you’re fully aware of what the site prohibits in advertisements. Illegal Items and Services Craigslist forbids items and services that are illegal, or items that were obtained during crimes. If you sell on Craigslist, you are subject to federal laws, as well as your state laws and local ordinances. Since Craigslist operates out of California, listings must also comply with that state’s laws. Users are encouraged to research applicable laws and regulations before posting, according to Craigslist’s frequently asked questions. Examples of illegal postings include those for child pornography, illegal drugs, stolen property and false identification documents. Craigslist users may not sell or solicit illegal prostitution, or other criminal acts such as violence or theft. Controlled Items Some items may be legal to use, but are subject to extra regulation and therefore can’t be listed on Craigslist. Examples of these items include alcohol, tobacco, prescription drugs, medical devices, firearms and personal information such as prospect lists. Lottery tickets, raffle entries, slot machines and other gambling items are also prohibited. Obscene items and pornography can’t be listed. Non-Transferrable Items Items that are required by law or company policy to only be used by a certain individual can’t be listed. Examples include government benefits such as food stamps, and airfare or travel vouchers that have transfer restrictions. Money saving offers that are issued to specific individuals, such as employee discount cards, can’t be sold. Coupons available to the general public may also be prohibited if they are printed with verbiage stating they can’t be sold or transferred. Conterfeit Items Fake money and knockoff consumer goods are not allowed on Craigslist. Items that infringe on artistic copyrights, such as bootlegged media, may not be listed. Users who list items from premium name brands should be prepared to prove authenticity to the buyer, through sales receipts or registration. Unsafe Items Craigslist users can’t sell items that may sicken or harm the recipient. Clothing and bedding must be washed before being sold. Live animals, insects and plant life are generally restricted, except for unwanted household pets being offered for adoption in exchange for a small fee. Craigslist does not define a “small fee” but makes clear that it prohibits for-profit breeding operations from its listings. Other forbidden listings include those offering human and animal body parts or fluids, hazardous chemicals, used batteries and edible items that are not properly packaged. References Resources Writer Bio Marissa Meyer has been writing professionally since 2004, with work published on websites such as Decoded Science and MomSquawk. She has also worked in the travel, beauty, home design and childcare fields. Meyer received dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in communication and political science from University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Image Credit Jupiterimages/Pixland/Getty Images
How to Find Out Who Posted Something on Craigslist – ItStillWorks
By Aaron Charles Updated August 24, 2017 i Justin Sullivan/Getty Images News/Getty Images Craigslist staff won’t divulge the identity of the poster unless compelled by a court order. However, if someone has posted an ad that’s causing you trouble, there are a few detective-like methods you can try to discern the poster’s identity such as reverse phone look-up, web searching or even with an email message. With more than 50 billion page views per month, Craigslist is one of the most popular online classified sites in the world. It is replete with job listings, garage sale announcements, apartments for rent as well as ads for romantic partners, missed connections, rants and raves, offers of services and much more. With so many anonymous ad possibilities, the potential for someone to cause trouble is high, but there are methods that might reveal the identity of the original poster. Reverse PhoneWhen a poster places a transactional ad on Craigslist – such as a “for sale” ad – she can choose to include her personal email address in the ad, opt for a temporary anonymized address issued by Craigslist, or include no email address at all but a phone number or other way of contacting instead. There’s a chance that you can uncover who posted the ad by entering that phone number in an online reverse directory, such as White Pages, AnyWho or Intelius. Look for the “Reverse Phone Lookup” on those sites. Another, simpler option is to enter the phone number into a search engine to see if a general Web search brings anything up, such as a website or social network SearchIf there’s no phone number in the Craigslist ad but there’s a personal email address, enter that into a Web search to see if you get any hits. Otherwise, sometimes taking what appear to be other key bits of text from the ad and doing a Web search for those, with quotation marks around them, you’ll find that they match content on a company or personal website. These key bits could be distinctive parts of a job ad or simply a peculiar use of words – anything different enough that it would jump out in a Web search. DirectYou could also try a more direct approach, as you never know what an ad poster might reveal in response to your questions, such as a website, phone number, personal email address – or even a name. Someone might reveal their name and email address to you themselves when replying to your email; the Craigslist message system sometimes carries through the “real name” field that some email users include with their address. And if you discover a website domain, try entering that into a Internet domain search, which could provide you with the domain owner’s – and perhaps the ad poster’s – name and more serious approach is to try to discover a poster’s identity through a court order. In such cases, you should talk with a qualified attorney who could help navigate you through that process. If successful, the court order would legally obligate Craigslist staff to provide whatever information they have about the slanderous post that could reveal the poster’s identity.
Frequently Asked Questions about illegal craigslist ads
Can police track a Craigslist ad?
Craigslist staff won’t divulge the identity of the poster unless compelled by a court order. However, if someone has posted an ad that’s causing you trouble, there are a few detective-like methods you can try to discern the poster’s identity such as reverse phone look-up, web searching or even with an email message.Aug 24, 2017
What Cannot be sold on Craigslist?
Prohibitedweapons; firearms/guns and components; BB/pellet, stun, and spear guns; etc.ammunition, clips, cartridges, reloading materials, gunpowder, fireworks, explosives.offers, solicitation, or facilitation of illegal prostitution and/or sex trafficking.exploitation or endangerment of minors; child pornography.More items…
Is Craigslist legal?
Craigslist’s popularity has quickly made it a go-to destination for people looking for a deal on the Web. Craigslist itself is not illegal, but you must employ caution when using it to acquire goods and services.
