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(Apologies if this is off-topic; per Are questions about pyramid schemes and other scams off-topic?, it seems that some questions about financial scams are on-topic for this site, but this may be too far afield.)

I've recently become aware of a strange Craigslist phenomenon in which the same ad is placed repeatedly in dozens of markets. For example, the following links all lead (or used to lead, as at this writing some of them have already been flagged for removal) to an ad for a pop-up camper trailer:

https://annarbor.craigslist.org/rvs/d/jayco-qwest-pop-up-camper/6237764232.html

https://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/bfs/d/jayco-qwest-pop-up-camper/6237935224.html

https://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/rvs/d/very-nice-jayco-qwest-pop-up/6237812958.html

https://lawrence.craigslist.org/rvs/6190612671.html

https://sanantonio.craigslist.org/rvs/6180504127.html

Note that some of these ads have the exact same photo, but with different cell phone numbers overlaid on the image. Some of the ads use abnormal spelling (for example, commas between the letters of the model name), presumably in order to avoid detection by spam / scam filters. They all advertise the exact same model camper and the exact same asking price, but with different text descriptions and in different locations.

It's possible that these are just coincidences, but given that CL has been flagging and removing these, it seems that at the very least I'm not the only person who thinks these are dodgy.

The fact that the same ad is being posted in Metro Detroit MI, Lawrence KS, and San Antonio TX (I also saw a version in Seattle and one in Portland) suggests that this is not a case of a single bad actor trying to lure someone to bring a large amount of cash so that they can be robbed -- how would that even work in practice? And yet I find it hard to imagine a coordinated group of scammers working nationwide on something like this. Also, why this specific make and model of camper?

It seems extremely likely that this is some sort of scam. But what, exactly, is the scam? How does it work?

(Before you ask: No, I did not call or text those phone numbers. I am not interested in giving my private contact information out to whoever is doing whatever this is.)

(Also, sorry if this is mis-tagged. I didn't see scams as a tag.)

mweiss
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    This is a perfect question for [money.se]. They have a 'scams' tag. –  Jul 27 '17 at 15:43
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    CL has warnings not to send money for cars in another state. I assume this is related to that. –  Jul 27 '17 at 15:45
  • @JanDoggen This is almost certainly an dupe of a question on that site, too (I'm pretty sure I've seen it on there). – Reinstate Monica -- notmaynard Jul 27 '17 at 16:48
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    @iamnotmaynard [Like this one](https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/80944/too-good-to-be-true-vehicle-rv-sale) –  Jul 27 '17 at 17:59

1 Answers1

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The alleged scam (not saying any of the OP ads are necessarily scams) is that they ask you to pay up front, and say they will then deliver the camper to you.

Sources:

https://blueskyrecreation.wordpress.com/2014/11/23/camper-selling-scams-on-the-increase/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-siciliano/scammers-use-craigslist-t_b_4830021.html

http://www.popupportal.com/threads/scams-on-craigslist.59316/

https://www.fightthescams.com/2015/07/19/craigslist-rv-camper-scam/

DavePhD
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