Should I Post My Phone Number On Craigslist
Why You Shouldn’t Post Your Phone Number on Craigslist
The things I’ve bought and sold on Craigslist reads like a veritable Christmas list: guitar amp, video game system, vintage toy collection, several board games, assorted furniture; it seems like if you’re looking for (or looking to get rid of) something, you can eventually do it on Craigslist. Whether it’s locating that hard-to-find item at an unbelievable price or making a handful of cash from something that was gathering dust in the basement, every transaction I make through the website leaves me with a smile on my face and the belief that Craigslist is one of the coolest things on the there is a darker side to Craigslist that all buyers and sellers need to be aware of: some Craigslist creepers are looking to scam you, steal from you and possibly even bring harm to you. That may sound alarmist, but a quick Google search returns story after story of users who find themselves in the midst of annoying, and even unsafe, reality of what lurks online can be frightening, but guess what? You don’t have to close the website, shut down your computer, close your curtains and keep storing your dust-collecting stuff in your basement! A few common and not-so-common sense precautions can make your Craigslist experiences both safe and are three very simple steps you can take that can help protect you as a Craigslist user:1. Stay AnonymousThe first and best way to protect yourself from Craigslist scammers is by eliminating any chance of them knowing who you Davidson’s blog post does an excellent job summarizing how and why you should keep your private information off Craigslist. He recommends that the first step you should take is to use the remailer option when creating as well as when responding to advertisements. Keep your personal email out of strangers’ hands by following his advice, and you won’t have to worry about random spamming or having your email address mass-mailed to a stranger’s 500 email, in your ad and/or response, don’t share any private, personal information. Things like not sharing your address and full name are no-brainers, right? But you should also be cautious of sharing your phone number on Craigslist! Automated phishing tools can easily collect your number, and scammers search specifically for this kind of information. Spelling out the digits of your phone number on Craigslist doesn’t protect you, either; what if you give your (spelled out) number to some unscrupulous buyer who doesn’t like the product after the transaction? That person can now use your phone number to harass you, and if your number is a landline, they can even locate most situations, you have to provide a contact phone number, so the best solution is to put a unique number in your Craigslist postings that won’t get trolled later. This number acts as a mask that protects your real information from Craigslist creeps but still gets you the calls, so you can buy and sell without worry. It’s both convenient and easy to set up your unique number with TeleCapture, too. 2. Be Careful When and Where You Choose To MeetMake it difficult for someone to take advantage of you. As much as possible, arrange meetings in a familiar, well-lit, busy public locations. When at all possible, avoid meeting at your home or business, and avoid meeting at night. This post on Craigslist safety suggests using an app like BuddyGuard to keep you a bit safer, too. Finally, trust your instincts. Don’t do business with someone who makes you feel uncomfortable or who pressures you, and always bring someone else along. 3. Pay With CashIt’s way too easy to get scammed with checks, money wires, and other fake payments. Cash is king! For small purchases, insist on cash only. If you’re buying a larger item, Paypal is recommended as a safer resource that requires only an email address. Where money and strangers are involved, it’s so important to keep yourself safe, so keep the above tips in mind, member, it’s better to be safe than sorry. These tips will help protect you and keep your money secure when you find that awesome deal or decide it’s time to sell that antique pinball machine that hasn’t been used in decades. It only makes sense to do everything you can to protect your privacy online, so contact us to find out more about getting a unique number for your Craigslist buying and selling.
In this scam, criminals can clean out your financial accounts with just …
If you’re not familiar with SIM swap fraud, prepare to be terrified. This scam, also known as port-out or SIM splitting fraud, allows criminals to hijack your cellphone number. Once they have your number, the bad guys can clean out your financial accounts, confiscate your email, delete your data and take over your social media profiles.
Fraudsters can do all this because many companies — including banks, brokerages, email providers and social media platforms — verify your identity by texting a code to your cellphone. Intercepting those codes can give a criminal an all-access pass to your financial and digital life. This kind of identity fraud has been around for years, but it’s getting more attention after a wave of cryptocurrency thefts and attacks on high profile victims, including Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who briefly lost control of his Twitter is the fraud the experts fear most The potential damage is so great that security expert Avivah Litan, vice president at research firm Gartner Inc., fears losing her phone number far more than having her Social Security number compromised. Also read: This couple fought $25, 000 in fraudulent credit-card charges after falling prey to identity theft — then things got worse “I’d rather they took my social, to tell you the truth, ” Litan says, “because I care about my retirement money and I know some of it’s protected through phone number access. ” What’s more, you can’t prevent this fraud — only your carrier can. And right now, criminals are finding it’s pretty easy to fool the phone companies. Sometimes the scam artists bribe or blackmail carrier employees; sometimes, the employees are the criminals. Other times, the fraudsters use identifying data they’ve stolen, bought on the dark web or gleaned from social media to convince carriers that they’re you. They pretend they want to change carriers or say they need a new SIM card, the module that identifies a phone’s owner and allows it to connect to a network. Once they persuade the carrier to transfer your number to a phone they control, they can attack your other accounts. Even getting your cellphone carrier to recognize what’s happening, and help you stop it, can be a challenge, says security expert Bob Sullivan, host of the “So, Bob” technology podcast. Victims report being forced to educate phone company employees about the fraud and having their numbers stolen more than once, even after protections were supposedly in place. “The real problem is when you call, are you going to get a person that you can talk to about this quickly and are they going to recognize what’s happening? ” Sullivan asks. “Or are you going to be in voice mail hell for three hours while a criminal raids all your accounts? ” Phone companies protest they’re doing all they can, and solutions that would make this theft harder also would inconvenience people who legitimately want to switch carriers or need their numbers transferred to new SIM cards because their phones have been lost or stolen. Don’t miss: Your baby’s identity may already have been stolen While you can’t prevent this fraud if you have a cellphone, you may be able to reduce the chances of being victimized or at least limit the how you’re identified, if you can First, ask your phone company to put a personal identification number on your account. Hopefully the carrier will require that to be produced before your phone number is “ported out” to a new carrier or assigned to a different SIM card. Then, investigate whether you can switch to more secure authentication on your sensitive accounts. Being texted a code is better than nothing, since this “two factor” authentication is harder to beat than just using a password. Better options would be to get the codes through a call to a landline or by using an authenticator app such as Authy, Google Authenticator or Duo Security on your the worst If your phone stops working or you can’t send or receive texts, don’t assume it’s a glitch. Call using an alternate method or visit your carrier immediately to report phone takeover fraud. Sullivan recommends knowing a few alternate ways to contact your carrier, such as Wi-Fi calling, Skype or an easily accessed backup phone. Read next: 5 ways to keep your money safe from hackers in 2019 If you do become a victim, you should:
Alert your financial institutions.
Change the email and password associated with all your financial and payment accounts.
Freeze your credit reports.
File identity theft reports with the Federal Trade Commission and your local police department.
The important thing is to move quickly, because the bad guys won’t wait. “You have a plan in place because minutes are going to matter, ” Sullivan from NerdWallet:
How to Protect Myself as a Seller on Craigslist – Small …
Craigslist is a great resource for connecting you to prospective buyers, but it is not without its risks. Revealing too much information about yourself could make you a target for criminals, and the informal nature of the transactions creates the opportunity for the buyer to take the merchandise without actually paying for it. You can, however, minimize your risk by taking a few simple precautions when creating your ad and dealing with prospective buyers. Omit any personal information about yourself when you create your Craigslist ad. Do not include your phone number, a permanent email address or anything in photos of your product that someone could use to find your house or place of business. Select “anonymize” under your “Reply to” email address. This will create a random email address which will forward any mail it receives to the email address you provide. Ask prospective buyers to provide their phone number in emails to the anonymous address Craigslist creates for you. When you call the buyer, use caller ID blocking by appending *67 before dialing the number. Arrange meetings with prospective buyers in a public place. This will reduce the chance of the prospective buyer robbing you and keeps thieves pretending to be interested in buying your merchandise from scouting out your home or place of business for a future crime. Insist that the buyer pay for your merchandise in cash. Checks can bounce, buyers can forge cashier’s checks and other payment schemes can leave you with no payment for the merchandise you already handed over to the buyer. References Writer Bio Micah McDunnigan has been writing on politics and technology since 2007. He has written technology pieces and political op-eds for a variety of student organizations and blogs. McDunnigan earned a Bachelor of Arts in international relations from the University of California, Davis.
Frequently Asked Questions about should i post my phone number on craigslist
What can a Craigslist scammer do with my phone number?
This scam, also known as port-out or SIM splitting fraud, allows criminals to hijack your cellphone number. Once they have your number, the bad guys can clean out your financial accounts, confiscate your email, delete your data and take over your social media profiles.Nov 2, 2019
How do I hide my phone number on Craigslist?
Ask prospective buyers to provide their phone number in emails to the anonymous address Craigslist creates for you. When you call the buyer, use caller ID blocking by appending *67 before dialing the number.
Why you shouldn’t post your phone number?
Hackers, identity thieves, and scammers can use your phone number to find out where you are (and where you’ll be), impersonate you, hijack your phone, or use your accounts. … They can also use your hijacked phone number to trick your friends and family into sharing passwords or sending money to your compromised number.May 20, 2020
