Woman's House Robbed After Fake Craigslist Post

flanksteak writes "The Seattle Times is reporting that a woman in nearby Tacoma had her rental property stripped of almost everything after someone posted a fake Craigslist announcement that everything in the house could be hauled away no questions asked. When contacted, Craigslist said they would release data about the poster if they were issued a subpoena."

They got this place too!

[Burdell (228580)]

Cleaned it out:

"Nothing for you to see here. Please move along."

Just picked up - wait a minute...

[Tacoma_Furniture_Sal (1084833)]

Uh oh.

The Best Idea Ever

[dj245 (732906)]

I'm a little sorry I didn't think of it first. I would of course use a library or an open wireless AP.

On a related note, I have heard of a story about an ad placed on Craigslist asking for several construction workers for a job and to have their own tools. Workers show up, the guy asks them to deconstruct the house, and leaves. When the homeowner comes home at the end of the day he faces a bunch of angry unpaid construction workers and a demolished house.

That one probably isn't true.

Re:The Best Idea Ever

[eric76 (679787)]

There was a similar incident reported in San Antonio several years ago (early 80s, if I remember correctly).

Someone called up a demolition company and arranged for the house at such and such an address to be demolished. When the homeowner came home from work, his house was a pile of rubble.

I think the demolition company's insurance had to cough up some serious money on that one.

Re:The Best Idea Ever

[sponga (739683)]

early 80's?
this happened recently in the last 2 years in Southern California where they demoed the wrong house and the poor Mexican crew had no idea; it especially sucked because all the belongings were in the house and they went through it with a giant bulldozer.

In fact this type of stuff happens all the time around here and especially with parties.
The kids pass out flyers for a party at some elderly persons house who is not home or arrives home when it is prime time for the party; cops show up with the kids running everywhere jumping over the fence and all you have left is a couple of dumb drunk teenage girls who have no idea whats going on. It happens a lot also with houses for sale also since this is such a huge housing market around here.

Another thing that happened around here and I find it funny that it never got news, but when the Dateline came to town in Long Beach,CA and some kids found out about it on craigslist or whatever source. So the kids print up some fliers at school on the printers saying "5 KEGGER, $2 at door girls are free, etc...." and sure enough a bunch of teenage kids show up curiously at the home expecting a party but the cops have to end up moving to a whole new area.

Re:The Best Idea Ever

[Guppy06 (410832)]

"all you have left is a couple of dumb drunk teenage girls who have no idea whats going on."

I am intrigued by your ideas and would like to subscribe to your newsletter!

Re:The Best Idea Ever

[afidel (530433)]

The one I pulled wasn't quite as mean spirited or destructive. I posted a picture of a classic Vette all over town with an ad stating that due to an unusual work schedule I could only be contacted between 2am and 6am. The price of the mint condition Vette? $6,000. Boy was my mark pissed off at being called at all hours of the night by people looking to buy the car. He never tried to pull another prank on me =)

Re:

[BakaHoushi (786009)]

You know, quick question, but wouldn't a demolition crew check a house thoroughly BEFORE tearing it down? I mean, even looking through the window, if you see a ton of furniture, especially stuff that'd sell pretty well on eBay at the very least, odds are, it's not really scheduled for demolition.

And even if it really is, why not TAKE all of that furniture, first? I hate waste. Take the stuff for yourself, sell it, donate it to the homeless/a shelter/an orphanage/whatever! Tearing a place down still full of

nothing you can do about this

[by Anonymous Coward]

I saw an interview with this person on the news.

1) They left the doors to the house UNLOCKED

2) They pissed someone off.

Ive often wondered if things like "free transmission behind X house" were actually something along these lines. Neighbours getting even. Its an interesting problem anyway that doesnt really have a solution I can see. No free webmail posts to craigslist?

I could see the same thing happening to any classified ads service. How do you know the laptop your buying is not hot? The car parts you buy? Its not craigslists job to verify every ad for truth. The only thing that needs to happen, is the obviously doubbley duped salvagers give her the stuff back. Imagine how pissed that would make the evicted tenant or whoever.

Re:nothing you can do about this

[jbrader (697703)]

OK, I'm from Tacoma. I really love it there but it's not the kind of place where you leave your door unlocked. Ever heard of Ted Bundy? He grew up in Tacoma. The Beltway Snipers got their gun in Tacoma. One of the Watergate conspirators was from Tacoma. You lock your doors.

It's also the hometown of Frank Herbert and Bing Crosby so it's not all bad, but still.

Re:nothing you can do about this

[RealGrouchy (943109)]

RTFA. It's a rental unit, as this person [slashdot.org] pointed out already. And it was devoid of personal belongings. And the victim is the landlady; she doesn't live there.

Methinks it would be very difficult for a Ted Bundy type to attack her in that apartment when she doesn't live there.

- RG>

so?

[GroeFaZ (850443)]

I grew up in the town where the Angel of Death [wikipedia.org] was born and raised. Do we have to drive around in APCs instead of regular cars and sleep in bullet-proof vests? Well, no. So unless you could name a mechanism by which Tacoma makes people dangerous (except that it's a town in the USA), that's not exactly a reasonable argument. I don't question the conclusion of locking the door, but maybe the rationale behind it is more than "we had a couple real bad guys born here". Anecdotal evidence only goes so far.

Re:nothing you can do about this

[nuzak (959558)]

> You know the type -- liars, thieves, doles, and the dupes who voted them into congress.

I'm pretty sure the Doles are republicans actually :)

Re:nothing you can do about this

[Khaed (544779)]

1) They left the doors to the house UNLOCKED

This does not make going in and stealing the property any more legal.

And Craiglist is being pretty stupid here, IMO. "One of our users obviously caused a crime to take place... so we're going to be stubborn about it."

2) They pissed someone off.

Pissing someone off does not make theft legal, either.

The person who posted the fake ad should be convicted for the theft, and the people who took things should not -- if they give said stuff back.

Re:nothing you can do about this

[norton_I (64015)]

And Craiglist is being pretty stupid here, IMO. "One of our users obviously caused a crime to take place... so we're going to be stubborn about it."

Requiring a subpoena to release such records is a wise and reasonable move. It ensures that craigslist does not make the same mistake all the people who mistakenly stole property from this lady made. This is what supboenas are for, and given that there is, according to the article, an abundance of evidence of wrongdoing, getting one should be easy and fast. Releasing the name to the public, or really to anyone but the police with proper documentation, would be inappropriate and possibly comprimise the investigation.

Re:nothing you can do about this

[bill_mcgonigle (4333)]

Blatent criminal activiy is a good reason to release the information. Craigslist needs to do the right thing and expose the perpitrator.

That's the prosecutor's job, not Craig's List. I believe they will do the right thing through the right channels. Satisfying the media's, yours, or my thirst for identity isn't necessarily the right thing, even if we want it.

Besides, Craigslist will probably find the IP is at a coffee house, then there will have to be further subpoenas for more information to find the perp.

Re:nothing you can do about this

[Sancho (17056)]

Pissing someone off does not make theft legal, either.

Jeez, for the last time, it's not theft, it's COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT.

Re:nothing you can do about this

[cdrguru (88047)]

Any newspaper would collect enough billing information to send the person a bill. And, by the way, have enough real identification to be able to track down the person that did it.

Craigslist, because it is on the Internet and anonymous, has no identity verification at all. Many people, most in fact, will do things they would never consider doing if they know it can never be traced back to them and there cannot possibly be any consequences.

I assure you, there would be consequences with a newspaper classified.

Re:

[kjart (941720)]

I saw an interview with this person on the news.
1) They left the doors to the house UNLOCKED
2) They pissed someone off.

Hate to say it, but insurance scam?

Re:nothing you can do about this

[nurb432 (527695)]

Ironically, without a contract, even legit 'pickups' could land you in jail if you were the target ( instead of the 'oferrer' ).

Its just your word against his, and he can prove ownership. You cant.

Hi

[by Anonymous Coward]

This is Rob "cmdrtaco" Malda.

I have to get rid of everything in my house quickly, and I'm gonna let it go for free in order to get it out of here fast. Please leave the computers in the back closet though, I use those for slashdot.

Thanks

Rob

I'm non-plussed

[fiendo (217830)]

I know it's supposed to be "news" that crime continues to exist despite (and sometimes with the facilitation of) the internet, but I can't seem to muster up the energy. I'm sure that when the phone was popularized there were initially stories about how people would use this new technology for dastardly crimes, such as getting pizzas delivered to the wrong address, but do we really at this point need be kept informed of the breaking development that yes, new technologies will be used by criminals as well as law-abiding citizens? Maybe I'm just crabby and this is a good old heads-up.

Sounds like a classic urban myth, only real

[edwardpickman (965122)]

It's bizzare because it really does fit a classic urban myth profile. It obviously happened and the owner was shook up but it shows why urban myths are often believeable. Gotta wonder why no one that stripped the house questioned it. At least the first few to show up it must have looked like a normal house. It got pretty trashed so the later ones at least had an excuse.

I had the opposite happen

[Reziac (43301)]

During college I lived in what was called the "fruit section" of Bozeman MT, not only because of the street names (Plum, Avocado, Peach, etc.) but also because of the numbers of just plain fruity people living there. Anyway, one day I opened my garage (which was well off the street) to discover a bunch of stuff I didn't recognise had magically appeared -- a set of wheels, a kitchen stove, misc. household goods, garden tools, etc. Didn't appear to be dumped, stolen, nor broken. Landlord said it wasn't his st

Re:Similar offers have appeared that were legit

[jcr (53032)]

Maybe I'm just not a trusting soul, but it seems to me that if I were a demolition contractor, I'd require a meeting with the client to show me his ID and the deed to the building before I'd accept the job. I know that in Santa Cruz county (California) at least, you have to get a permit for that kind of work. I'd be surprised if that's not the case in most of the USA.

-jcr

This isn't as bad as it sounds.

[by Anonymous Coward]

RTFA. This was a piece of rental property that the woman owned. It was empty. None of her personal things were taken.

Re:

[munpfazy (694689)]

RTFA. This was a piece of rental property that the woman owned. It was empty. None of her personal things were taken.

Actually, it may be even *less* shocking than that. She evicted a tenant and then "cleaned out that rental."

Assuming the tenant didn't know the rental had been cleaned out, this could have easily been an honest mistake: a former tenant giving away the personal possessions he believed were left behind in his apartment. Without having read the original post, there's no reason to imagine the i

It's ambiguous

[Chris Pimlott (16212)]

The article says it was her home that was vandalized. It also says she had recently evicted a rental tenant but it does not state that the vacated apartment was the one that was struck. It may be that the tenant posted the landlord's home address rather than the property he was evicted from. Or perhaps both the landlord and the ex-tenant lived in the same building and both apartments were hit. The article is not very clear on this point, but calling it her "home" strongly implies it's where she personally resided.

Re:This isn't as bad as it sounds.

[lindseyp (988332)]

No it doesn't beg the question [begthequestion.info], but it does indeed raise it. ;)

A known disgruntled previous tenant [king5.com], her sister who was evicted, is apparently the prime suspect.

That sounds like something I saw

[aussie_a (778472)]

That sounds like a Craiglist ad I saw, except that one was real. I know because I went there and took the plasma television. Funny how two ads can be placed on the same site saying the same thing, even in the same area.

unlocked doors is irrelevant

[ayeco (301053)]

It doesn't matter if the door was unlocked, it's still considered theft. You can leave you keys in you car and the thief will still get charged with grand theft auto - though you insurance company might not cover it.

Unfortunately too common

[NMerriam (15122)]

I know several people who've been abused through Craigslist -- unfortunately it just proves too tempting an environment for assholes. One friend had his garage pretty much cleaned out (bikes, tools, etc) from a posting on Craigslist saying he was moving and was offering it all free to people who would pick it up.

One friend had her phone number posted when she turned down a second date from some jerk and he posted an ad claiming she wanted men to call her up and tell her how they'd use her -- she was VERY freaked out until I figured out what had happened and got the post removed, then she debated changing her number because guys were calling at 2am and waking her up but I set her up with ringtone groups for which anyone not in the phonebook would get a silent ring. Then she just had to delete dirty voicemails for a few more weeks until the fun wore off and the guys realized she was never calling back.

Mod me down

[Tablizer (95088)]

This user wants to be modded down. Please mod him/her down.

metamod alert

[bill_mcgonigle (4333)]

Note to metamods: this was a brilliant on-topic post by Tablizer, allegorically enforcing the point of the article. But, the mods are too thick to get that. In these matters, Dumb Moderation == Unfair Moderation.

post a new ad?

[tilde_e (943106)]

Has the victim tried to post a new ad asking for her stuff back? The lost+found section?

What is wrong with people?

[phulegart (997083)]

Let's see. Brief Synopsis of a great deal of the replies here...

1: She was an Evil landlord. She evicted someone. She deserved it.
2: Karma returned to her what she deserved.
3: It was a rental property. She can afford to replace everything.
4: She left the property unlocked. She deserved what she got.
5: Crime is nothing new. This is nothing new. Laugh all you want.

WTF people? IF and WHEN something like this happens to you, you will change your tune VERY quickly. What does it say about the state of people today when the biggest mouths all laugh at someone's misfortune, writing it off to just be "Life". People who engage at finding entertainment in the misery of others, are the ones responsible for continuing the misery of others.

Sure it could happen (and probably has) with regular old paper classifieds. That doesn't make it OK. People in the Tacoma area that read this (and those here on /. especially) should be donating everything they can to help this woman out. It doesn't matter if she is rich beyond means, or if she needs to rent this property to keep from being homeless. Pranks and acts of vandalism like this are not funny. At all.

Re:

[Mr2001 (90979)]

People in the Tacoma area that read this (and those here on /. especially) should be donating everything they can to help this woman out.

Um.. isn't that her insurance company's job?

Re:

[DerekLyons (302214)]

WTF people? IF and WHEN something like this happens to you, you will change your tune VERY quickly.

Indeed. (And your point #3 especially galls me, being a landlord is not the same as being rich. In fact, it's a pretty easy way to lose your shirt if you aren't careful and a little lucky. I know - I've been a landlord.)

123 Main St.

[quokkapox (847798)]

Boy do I feel bad now for the poor schmuck who lives at 123 First St., Schenectady, NY 12345

I've been signing them up for junk mail, spam, credit card offers, everything for years now.

Holy shit, Google Maps says that that address actually exists.

Sorry, dude.

Re:Lots of vultures out there

[LionKimbro (200000)]

What happened to common decency?

A huge population (Tacoma,) would have to be uncommonly decent, some might even say unnaturally decent, in order for there not to be a few vultures present.

As it is, it's Tacoma, and thus only has merely common levels of decency, and thus there's a few vultures present.

Common decency itself remains intact.

Re:Lots of vultures out there

[operagost (62405)]

cameo appearance on American Idol

Being a contestant on "American Idol" is not a "cameo" appearance. If you mean that you are Gwen Stefani or Diana Ross and you showed up to coach and perform, that still isn't a "cameo" appearance.

Re:Lots of vultures out there

[Chris Burke (6130)]

If pedantry was a martial art, you would have just knocked him across the room with a roundhouse kick, punched through his rib cage, torn out his heart, and held it aloft.

Shang Tsung: Fatality!

Re:Im evil

[packeteer (566398)]

It might be a song too but it is most likely a reference to a radio DJ. He hit on some model over the air and his wife sold his ~$45,000 car for $5 on ebay.

Re:All guilty...

[Sparr0 (451780)]

I disagree. Most theft statutes require intent. By making the post, the poster effectively stole all of the items from the woman and then gave them away. That people had to come get them is a technicality. They are surely guilty of receiving/possessing stolen goods, but imho they aren't guilty of theft.

Re:All guilty...

[Vegeta99 (219501)]

OK, sure, Cletus told me to do it isn't a good defense, but...

"Cletus told me that he owned it, and that I could take it. Furthermore, he told me in a forum where such offers are not uncommonly made, where offers for such services as one night stands are often solicited, and where completely fraudulent offers are commonly listed with no detection or tagging methods" sounds pretty good.

I grew up a landlord's son

[toadlife (301863)]

I bet my tenant horror stories much more horrifying than your landlord horror stories. Being a landlord, especially one with multiple properties tends to turn the nicest people into complete assholes.

Re:Been there, almost

[Kannaida (1069502)]

A great prank/revenge?!!? Are you fracking kidding me?!?! The tenant was evicted... which TYPICALLY means said tenant didn't own up to their bills or violated some sort of agreement signed when they moved in. I'm sorry, but in no way is stealing a "great prank". Particularly when it involves stealing things like the hot water heater and kitchen sink, things which, without, the home is now completely worthless. You need to seriously rethink what you consider a prank. If it's your buddies calling your girlfriend, you'll pay up in your own hell... but you need to consider the collateral damage. In this case, it's going to cost this lady thousands of dollars. And YOU consider it a good prank? When was the last time you spent thousands of dollars just to pull off a prank (and if you had, where do you work, I could use a job like that)? This isn't funny.... this is the kind of thing that causes fear in our society for people who don't have the means to support themselves. It's the "good" thing to think, "Hey, they're a little down on their luck, let me help". And I really do like to think that way, but it's stories like this that make me think, "They're not down on their luck, they're just out to screw someone." As for the people who went in and took stuff... c'mon people! Use a little common sense! Should Craig's List require a subpoena? Of course! But that doesn't make what happened any better. You've got one imbecile who's mad because (s)he can't pay their debts, and then a bunch of other people who are just, apparently, waiting to prey on a CLEARLY false opportunity. If you're the kind of person who reads that add and thinks "the hot water heater MUST be okay to take" then I've got this great bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. Think of all the money you can make on tolls! It even has a pedestrian walkway! Real cheap, but act fast, the bids keep coming in! Seriously... THINK about anything you see on the internet. This is supposed to be such an advanced society what with our acceptance of technology, and all this shows is that we're too stupid to filter out the crap. If anyone here fell for that add, it's a wonder you're not broke for buying EVERYTHING you see on a T.V. commercial. A good general rule of thumb is if it looks too good to be true, it probably is, and you should do a little research before you sink your time and/or money into it. If you don't believe that, quit your job and go do the "clearly" higher paying job they offer on T.V. to "work from home" and "make millions of dollars". I really expect more from society. I like to think that as information becomes more prevalent, people become more wary... Clearly I'm being too optimistic. Time to call my folks and make sure they're not doing something stupid...

Re:Been there, almost

[Some_Llama (763766)]

I felt bad when i read your post as you obviously ran out of page breaks.. here are a few, they are good for breaking up long posts into smaller paragraphs:

Re:More evidence that people are cruel...

[philpalm (952191)]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/20 03654116_housestripped06m.html [nwsource.com] "Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster said an after-hours customer-service representative initially denied Raye's request for information, but after further review "we gathered enough info to be confident that we would be within the law to release the info to the victim herself." The ad was online for only about an hour and a half before enough craigslist users flagged it and it was removed, Buckmaster said." The latest update contradicts what you state. The name of the poster will be revealed and it is up to the police to bring the poster in. Most likely "family" were evicted because they are drug users, Raye is a cruel landlord or some other reason.

WTF?

[Slashdot Parent (995749)]

The karma wheel did not bite her in the butt. The ex-tenant kicked her while she was down.

Clearly, you do not understand what an eviction is, so let me help you. First of all, a landlord may not evict a tenant. In some jurisdictions, a landlord who evicts a tenant could go to jail. At any rate, he would certainly owe the tenant damages. Look up "constructive eviction" to see what I'm talking about.

Here's how a real eviction works:

1. Tenant violates his lease, generally by not paying his rent
   
2. Landlord posts notice on the property to "Pay or Quit" (experienced landlords do this the minute rent is late.. beginning landlords let the tenant be late for a few months before acting). This means the tenant is given X number of days (number varies by jurisdiction) to pay rent or leave.
   
3. Assuming tenant doesn't pay by day X, landlord sues tenant for possession of his property. A court date is set.
   
4. Landlord goes in front of a judge and says why he's suing (tenant hasn't paid rent in 3 months, or whatever), and the tenant can present a defense ("I did pay, here are the canceled checks", or "No, I did not pay, but there was a legal reason for me not to pay and that reason is Y") and the judge decides what to do.
   
5. Assuming the tenant had no legal defense, the judge will order the sheriff to evict the tenant.
   
6. You set up a date with the sheriff for him to do the actual eviction.
   
7. You show up with movers and a locksmith to meet the sheriff at the scheduled time.
   
8. Locksmith opens the door (in case the tenant changed the locks) and then locksmith changes the locks.
   
9. Sheriff removes the tenant from the building
   
10. Movers move all the tenants prized possessions to the curb
    
11. Scavengers take anything of value
    
12. Garbage man takes the rest

At this point, the landlord is out a minimum of one month of rent (it takes time for the wheels of justice to turn) and usually more, plus court costs, eviction costs, locksmith, movers, etc.

In other words, if someone's getting evicted, it's for a darn good reason. It must be approved by a judge, and it costs money to do.

As you can see, this lady got kicked while she was down.