Tacoma woman's house emptied after craigslist hoax

mimo2005 · 04-05-2007, 07:58 PM

TACOMA, Wash. -- Many people have had success buying, selling and swapping goods on the Web site craigslist, but one Tacoma woman says she was robbed.

Laurie Raye said she had everything stripped from her home after someone placed a fake ad on the San Francisco-based Internet site, a collection of online classifieds.

"The instigator who published this ad invited the public to come in and vandalize me," Raye told Seattle television station KING.

Raye had recently evicted a tenant and cleaned out the rental.

The ad posted last week welcomed people to take for free anything they wanted from the home. It has since been pulled from the site, but not before the residence was stripped of light fixtures, the hot water heater and the kitchen sink.

Neighbors said they saw strangers hauling items away, apparently looking for salvage material.

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Even the front door and a vinyl window were pilfered, Raye said.

"In the ad, it said come and take what you want. Everything is free," she said. "Please help yourself to anything on the property."

Raye said she contacted craigslist and received an e-mail saying officials would need a subpoena or search warrant to release information about who posted the ad.

On Thursday, Jim Buckmaster, chief executive officer at craigslist, said officials "have released all the information we have" about the ad.

It was posted last Friday and was on the site for less than two hours before it was flagged down by users, Buckmaster said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

He said craigslist rarely encounters such false postings, despite receiving 25 million postings each month.

The company does strive to prevent false postings, however.

"It's as difficult to prevent crime online as it is offline, but we do work closely with law enforcement," Buckmaster said.

The online hoax isn't unusual, investigators said.

"We've had a lot of scams off of craigslist," Tacoma police Detective Gretchen Ellis told KING. "We've had prostitution things happen, rental scams, fraudulent activity. In this case, it appeared the items were going to be given away, but they were not."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/..._Phony_Ad.html

What is your adress ?

**jen56** · 04-08-2007, 06:50 AM

Was totally disgusted, when this came on our news service, here in Australia.
Is this really the sort of thing that goes on over there? what where they really trying to achieve by doing this to that poor woman.
Thank goodness Aussies are a little more dignified, and honest towards other peoples property......

mimo2005 · 04-08-2007, 07:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jen56

Was totally disgusted, when this came on our news service, here in Australia.
Is this really the sort of thing that goes on over there? what where they really trying to achieve by doing this to that poor woman.
Thank goodness Aussies are a little more dignified, and honest towards other peoples property......

Hi jen

No it doesnt happen every day , this lady was victim of a criminal prank , and the person who did it knows her ,and certainly is in jail or fined by now .
I assure you that it doesnt happen often around here .

**-=Rousseau=-** · 04-08-2007, 04:59 PM

Maybe it was the tenant she had evicted? Got a little vengeful?

04-05-2007, 07:58 PM	#1 (permalink)
mimo2005 Manager, Emeritus Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 11,142 OS: xp	Tacoma woman's house emptied after craigslist hoax TACOMA, Wash. -- Many people have had success buying, selling and swapping goods on the Web site craigslist, but one Tacoma woman says she was robbed. Laurie Raye said she had everything stripped from her home after someone placed a fake ad on the San Francisco-based Internet site, a collection of online classifieds. "The instigator who published this ad invited the public to come in and vandalize me," Raye told Seattle television station KING. Raye had recently evicted a tenant and cleaned out the rental. The ad posted last week welcomed people to take for free anything they wanted from the home. It has since been pulled from the site, but not before the residence was stripped of light fixtures, the hot water heater and the kitchen sink. Neighbors said they saw strangers hauling items away, apparently looking for salvage material. advertising Even the front door and a vinyl window were pilfered, Raye said. "In the ad, it said come and take what you want. Everything is free," she said. "Please help yourself to anything on the property." Raye said she contacted craigslist and received an e-mail saying officials would need a subpoena or search warrant to release information about who posted the ad. On Thursday, Jim Buckmaster, chief executive officer at craigslist, said officials "have released all the information we have" about the ad. It was posted last Friday and was on the site for less than two hours before it was flagged down by users, Buckmaster said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. He said craigslist rarely encounters such false postings, despite receiving 25 million postings each month. The company does strive to prevent false postings, however. "It's as difficult to prevent crime online as it is offline, but we do work closely with law enforcement," Buckmaster said. The online hoax isn't unusual, investigators said. "We've had a lot of scams off of craigslist," Tacoma police Detective Gretchen Ellis told KING. "We've had prostitution things happen, rental scams, fraudulent activity. In this case, it appeared the items were going to be given away, but they were not." http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/..._Phony_Ad.html What is your adress ? __________________ TSF has outgrown its server, again. Please help "Gutta cavat lapidem, non vi sed saepe cadendo"

04-08-2007, 06:50 AM	#2 (permalink)
jen56 TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Elizabeth. South Australia. Australia Posts: 2,649 OS: XP My System	Re: Tacoma woman's house emptied after craigslist hoax Was totally disgusted, when this came on our news service, here in Australia. Is this really the sort of thing that goes on over there? what where they really trying to achieve by doing this to that poor woman. Thank goodness Aussies are a little more dignified, and honest towards other peoples property......

04-08-2007, 04:59 PM	#4 (permalink)
-=Rousseau=- Biker, Geek and Jock Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Nashvegas Posts: 827 OS: Windows 7 Ultimate My System	Re: Tacoma woman's house emptied after craigslist hoax Maybe it was the tenant she had evicted? Got a little vengeful?