Safety Tips

Personal Safety

girl walking down a dark alley all alone with a shadow casting on the wall looking ominous giving the impression something is wrong... terribly wrong

When meeting someone for the first time, please remember to:

  1. Insist on a public meeting place like a cafe, bank, or shopping center.
  2. Do not meet in a secluded place, or invite strangers into your home.
  3. Be especially careful buying/selling high value items.
  4. Tell a friend or family member where you're going.
  5. Take your cell phone along if you have one.
  6. Consider having a friend accompany you.
  7. Trust your instincts.
  8. Taking these simple precautions helps make craigslist safer for everyone.

The overwhelming majority of craigslist users are trustworthy and well-meaning. With billions of human interactions, the incidence of violent crime related to craigslist is extremely low. Millions of violent crimes occur in the U.S. each year: 10,000+ homicides, 600,000+ robberies, 5 million assaults.

Vanishingly few of these are craigslist-related.

Nevertheless, please take the same common sense precautions online as you would offline.

For more information about personal safety online, check out these resources:

Users must comply with all applicable laws, the CL terms of use, and all posted site rules. Here is a partial list of goods, services, and content prohibited on craigslist: weapons; firearms/guns and components; BB/pellet, stun, and spear guns; etc ammunition, clips, cartridges, reloading materials, gunpowder, fireworks, explosives recalled items; hazardous materials; body parts/fluids; unsanitized bedding/clothing prescription drugs, medical devices; controlled substances and related items alcohol or tobacco; unpackaged or adulterated food or cosmetics child pornography; bestiality; offers or solicitation of illegal prostitution pet sales (re-homing with small adoption fee ok), animal parts, stud service endangered, imperiled and/or protected species and any parts thereof, e.g. ivory false, misleading, deceptive, or fraudulent content; bait and switch; keyword spam offensive, obscene, defamatory, threatening, or malicious postings or email anyone’s personal, identifying, confidential or proprietary information food stamps, WIC vouchers, SNAP or WIC goods, governmental assistance stolen property, property with serial number removed/altered, burglary tools, etc ID cards, licenses, police insignia, government documents, birth certificates, etc US military items not demilitarized in accord with Defense Department policy counterfeit, replica, or pirated items; tickets or gift cards that restrict transfer lottery or raffle tickets, sweepstakes entries, slot machines, gambling items spam; miscategorized, overposted, cross-posted, or nonlocal content postings or email the primary purpose of which is to drive traffic to a website postings or email offering, promoting, or linking to unsolicited products or services affiliate marketing; network, or multi-level marketing; pyramid schemes any good, service, or content that violates the law or legal rights of others Please don't use CL for these purposes, and flag anyone else you see doing so. Thanks for helping keep craigslist safe and useful for everyone.

Unlawful sales of recalled items are prohibited Please be sure items are safe to use and legal to sell. United States: Consumer Product Safety Commission (cpsc.gov) Reseller's Guide to Selling Safer Products SaferProducts.gov (saferproducts.gov) Recalls.gov (recalls.gov) Safercar.gov (safercar.gov) CA: Health Canada Consumer Product Safety (hc-sc.gc.ca) UK: Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (rospa.com) EU: European Union Consumer Safety (ec.europa.eu) AU: Product Safety Australia (productsafety.gov.au)

Avoiding Scams Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts. Do not extend payment to anyone you have not met in person. Beware offers involving shipping - deal with locals you can meet in person. Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer. Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible. Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee". Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc). Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing "deal" may not exist. Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person. Who should I notify about fraud or scam attempts? United States Internet Fraud Complaint Center FTC Video: How to report scams to the FTC FTC complaint form and hotline: 877-FTC-HELP (877-382-4357) Consumer Sentinel/Military (for armed service members and families) SIIA Software and Content Piracy reporting Ohio Attorney General Consumer Complaints New York Attorney General, Avoid Online Investment Fraud Canada Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre or 888-495-8501 (toll-free) Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) If you are defrauded by someone you met in person, contact your local police department. If you suspect that a craigslist post may be connected to a scam, please send us the details.

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