Craig List Scam - what is in it for the scammer?

[funtime]

Lots of spam and scammers on Craig's List as everybody knows. My question is what is in it for the scammer? I once saw a sixty minute type expose that traced a scam from a Toronto or Montreal ISP and then traced that back to a Nigerian internet cafe full of scammers including one fellow that hit the jackpot and was sporting a gaudy large old car. That one I get which is let me send you a cashier's check for over the amount. Its recent variant is the doctor and his wife coming over on their honemoon. Luckily, they do not smoke, drink or have a pet!

What I don't get are the spammers that suggest that they have been helped by this or that site to sell or rent their timeshare and ask you to click away to this other site. Are they somehow paid by the amount of click throughs? Do they harvest your email and get paid for that, and if so how much? In other words, I do not understand the scam for the "helpful" folks who just want to let us know that they just sold or rented their timeshare on x site. Anyone have a clue? Funtime

 

[carl2591]

your question is not clear.. ??

i get the... "we are a dr and new wife coming to stay for honeymoon and no smoke no drink and no pets.." you can tell these guy just copy what the other pile of crap scammer used and i have gotten the same message 3 times in one day..

I usually just delete with out reply as i know its BS.. one time i had a female call me and state her company was going to send a check and they needed my name address etc and bank to send check to.. that got me on alert and i started asking questions about the company and such.. they slithered back under the cow pie they came from..

most likly it the cashiers check scam.. we are sending extra to cover somekinda of activity that is taking place in the town and you are to send the extra to someone in canada or somewhere to pay for the activity..

blah, blah, blah.. i just delete them now.

check out 419eater.com for some funny reverse scams..

 

[djs]

I think for the spammers who say they've been helped by a particular site, they may actually get someone from this site to their site to use the services they're pimping. Sure to many of us it doesn't pass the "smell test" but maybe someone else is new and does fall for it. A new person here might fall for it because they didn't think to look at the number of posts; or perhaps they're under the mistaken impression that posts here are monitored and reviewed before going "live".

The spammers also help to engage us in a debate about their site; with that debate the likelihood that a Google search will pull up the thread increases. Some people may also think that just because a site they've Googled comes up with a high number of hits it means they're reputable.

Basically these spammers are hoping for the same things as our good friends in Nigeria; if they can get one person to come to their site and sign up for their services at $1,500 or more then it was well worth their time.

 

[rod]

What I don't get are the spammers that suggest that they have been helped by this or that site to sell or rent their timeshare and ask you to click away to this other site. Are they somehow paid by the amount of click throughs? Do they harvest your email and get paid for that, and if so how much? In other words, I do not understand the scam for the "helpful" folks who just want to let us know that they just sold or rented their timeshare on x site. Anyone have a clue? Funtime

I believe these spammers are the operators of these other sites "that will sell or rent your timeshare for you." They are just trying to get you to their site so they can scam you out of some money.