Interview With A Craigslist Scammer (infoworld.com)

snydeq writes: Ever wonder what motivates people who swindle others on Craigslist? Roger Grimes did, so he set up a fake Harley Davidson ad on Craigslist and requested an interview with each scammer who replied to the ad. One agreed, and the man's answers shed light on the inner world of Craigslist scamming: "If you mean how often I make money from Craigslist, it depends on the day or week. Many weeks I make nothing. Some weeks I can get five people sending me money. But I respond to a lot of ads to get one email back. I'm not only doing Craigslist -- there are many similar places. I haven't counted, but many. It takes many emails to get paid. That's what I mean. Some weeks I lose money. It's harder than most people think. But I don't have to go into a place at a certain time and deal with bosses and customers. I can make my own time." Grimes asked the scammer a number of questions ranging from "How do you know when you have a good victim?" to "What country do you originate from?" and everything in-between. He ended the interview asking the scammer for any words of advice for readers. The scammer responded: "It's getting harder for business people like me to be successful, but if they [the victims] follow the rules it would be very hard for me to be successful. That's one of the surprises. My friends and I thought we would not be successful for so long, especially with how Craigslist is different now. But there is always someone looking to sell something who doesn't know the game."

Comments

No value

[Anonymous Coward]

>But I don't have to go into a place at a certain time and deal with bosses and customers. I can make my own time.

And if you're lucky, you might also _do_ time.

Re:No value

[Anonymous Coward]

RTFA:

No one ever gets caught. And if I ever got caught I would pay money and walk away. That is the way of the world.

In Third World countries anyone can bribe their way out of anything. In the US you need to be politically well connected to get away with crimes.

Re:No value

[TheRaven64]

Also, criminals are well aware of the risks they take

If this were true, then setting penalties at 50% more than the reward of the crime divided by the probability of being caught would eliminate crime, yet time and time again we've seen that increasing penalties has a negligible effect on crime rates.

Re:No value

[jellomizer]

No it is just a normal criminals self rationalization.
Just like "If the victim really cared they should had been more careful", "People are always scamming me, so I should be first"...

Most people rarely consider themselves a monster or the villain, they will feel quite justified to themselves on what they are doing.
That is why we have a court of law, to judge peoples actions beyond the point of view of the criminal and victim because often both sides are too focused on their point of view then what is considered right and just.

Because often the victim of a crime does have a degree of responsibility too. Trying to acquire and illegal product. Avoiding working around the system to avoid taxes or extra fees... Often the victim isn't completely innocent, however the crime committed against them is far worse than what they were doing. However all this needs to be factored in.

self-justification

[gsslay]

This interview is full of classic self-justification;

"I like to think I am a businessman. Not a criminal."

"I like to think my victims are rich and won't miss the money I'm stealing."

"I like to think those I'm stealing from had the opportunities I didn't. This makes us even."

"I like to think that because scamming is hard and takes time, it's like a real job."

"I like to think it's my victim's own fault I'm scamming them. It's not my fault they don't follow the rules and don't know the game."

Re:Money from people who want to sell?

[Anonymous Coward]

You realize that every time you write "Crooked Hillary" you make yourself look like an idiot incapable of independent thought, don't you?

Come on, at least make up your own name calling insults.

Re:Money from people who want to sell?

[mrchaotica]

In the US, banks have to make the funds available shortly after deposit, before the check clears

The real issue is that it's 2016 and checks don't fucking clear instantly yet!