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The Internet Privacy

Woman's House Robbed After Fake Craigslist Post 365

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."
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Woman's House Robbed After Fake Craigslist Post

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  • by Burdell ( 228580 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @10:21PM (#18630669)
    Cleaned it out:

    "Nothing for you to see here. Please move along."
    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by ByteSlicer ( 735276 )
      ... it out:

      "... for ... to ... ... . Please move ... ."

      (Even left some words for other people)
  • Im evil (Score:2, Funny)

    by normuser ( 1079315 ) *
    This really should be sad. But I laughed.
    • by Anonymous Coward
      Jeez. It's sad but in a different way. Makes me sad about the nature of man. What happened to common decency?

      I wonder what will happen if someone posts a photo on the internet with a personal ad "Hey I'm 18 and hot, come and have sex with me, even if I say no. My address is..."

      I hope the people who plundered crap at least have the decency to bring it back if they hear it on the news. It almost makes me wonder how they got into the apartment? Someone ought to be charged with breaking and entering.
      • by LionKimbro ( 200000 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @10:37PM (#18630777) Homepage
        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: (Score:2, Funny)

          by Elladan ( 17598 )

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

          ... that is, if you consider zombie hordes of meth heads prowling the streets in broad daylight, tearing people from their cars and then ripping the human flesh off with rotting zombie teeth and broken shards of Chihuly glass to be the common level of decency. We are talking about Tacoma here, right?

          Rrrroooaaaaaah... <drool> <stab> <stab> Wwwweeeeelcoo tuuu Taaaaacohma

          • by Nethead ( 1563 )
            I didn't read TFA but was this in the Hilltop neighborhood?

            And WTF is Toyota naming a truck after that POS city? (Yes, I lived there, briefly, once.)
  • by Tacoma_Furniture_Sal ( 1084833 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @10:28PM (#18630705)
    Uh oh.
  • The Best Idea Ever (Score:3, Interesting)

    by dj245 ( 732906 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @10:29PM (#18630719)
    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.
    • by eric76 ( 679787 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @10:52PM (#18630865)
      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.
      • by sponga ( 739683 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @11:07PM (#18630949)
        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.
    • by afidel ( 530433 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @11:29PM (#18631079)
      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: (Score:3, Funny)

        by operagost ( 62405 )

        Boy was my mark pissed off at being called at all hours of the night
        All hours? They could have at least had the courtesy to keep it between 2 and 6 AM. Sheesh!
  • by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 05, 2007 @10:31PM (#18630731)
    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.

    • by jbrader ( 697703 ) <stillnotpynchon@gmail.com> on Thursday April 05, 2007 @10:41PM (#18630803)
      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.

      • by RealGrouchy ( 943109 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @11:37PM (#18631125)
        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? (Score:3, Insightful)

        by 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.
      • by Nethead ( 1563 )
        Don't forget about the cop that shot his wife in front of his kids, and then himself. Wasn't he an ex-chief?
    • by Khaed ( 544779 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @10:55PM (#18630879)
      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.
      • by norton_I ( 64015 ) <hobbes@utrek.dhs.org> on Thursday April 05, 2007 @11:18PM (#18631013)

        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: (Score:2, Funny)

          by Anonymous Coward
          Although you have to admit it would be cool to know the poster's address. We could go take all of his stuff :)
        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Hatta ( 162192 )
          Exactly right. Never cooperate with an investigation. If they really need the information, they'll just get a court order for it. Only then do you cooperate. If they don't get an order and you cooperate, then you've just given away information that you shouldn't have and you've opened yourself to liability.
      • by Sancho ( 17056 ) on Friday April 06, 2007 @12:04AM (#18631263) Homepage

        Pissing someone off does not make theft legal, either.
        Jeez, for the last time, it's not theft, it's COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT.
        • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

          by Khaed ( 544779 )
          I thought it was piracy.

          else, what am I to do with all these silly eyepatches?
      • 1) They left the doors to the house UNLOCKED
        This does not make going in and stealing the property any more legal.


        No, but if the doors had been locked, she probably still would have had her stuff. These weren't thieves, these were people taking stuff they thought was being given away free. If the doors were looked, they would probably have shrugged and come back another time, not broken in and nicked her stuff.
      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        "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."

        I believe that the people who took things are guilty of accepting stolen property, and the person who posted the fake ad is guilty of fraud.
    • by cdrguru ( 88047 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @11:36PM (#18631115) Homepage
      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: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by petermgreen ( 876956 )

        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.

        of course the people who belive that are almost certainly wrong. cragslist presumablly have an IP and timestamp, with the ISPs cooperation that should be enough unless the person making the post was carefull to cover thier tracks.

        Any newspaper would
    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by 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?

    • by nurb432 ( 527695 ) on Friday April 06, 2007 @07:51AM (#18632933) Homepage Journal
      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 (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 05, 2007 @10:34PM (#18630747)
    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 (Score:5, Insightful)

    by fiendo ( 217830 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @10:35PM (#18630757)
    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.
    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by NFN_NLN ( 633283 )
      do we really at this point need be kept informed of the breaking development that yes, new technologies will be used by criminals

      When the stories are this funny.... then yes :)
  • by edwardpickman ( 965122 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @10:36PM (#18630771)
    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.
    • The first people to arrive were probably the ones who posted the con post. When you do something suspicious, always have a good reason to be where you are, before things start to get be border line. Even people from your group are queried individually, they all tell the same story.
    • by 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: (Score:3, Funny)

        by networkBoy ( 774728 )
        I had someone empty out my storage locker at one of those self storage places, then put it all back. Only thing broken was a floor lamp. (different locks and all).
        All I can figure is that someone hired a moving company and told them they didn't have the keys anymore, thus the company just cut the lock. I wonder who shit a bigger pile when they showed up with all the wrong stuff . . . the homeowner or the moving company?

        I had tons of old computer stuff and as far as I could tell, nothing was missing. The
  • by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 05, 2007 @10:36PM (#18630773)
    RTFA. This was a piece of rental property that the woman owned. It was empty. None of her personal things were taken.
    • by penix1 ( 722987 )
      Which begs the question of was it a disgruntled tenant? This is the silliest thing I've heard of though. People actually believe what some numb-nut says on the Interweb?!?!? If so, I have some prime real estate for sale in Florida with such a pretty name....The Everglades...

      B.
      • by lindseyp ( 988332 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @11:47PM (#18631177)

        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.

      • Would you consider trading it for a nice bridge in New York city?
    • Hot water heater? Front door (if metal)? These are not cheap items.

      I do think that the police should be the ones to handle this situation, and they'll certainly be able to get a warrant on the matter. However, if craigslist users think that this type of post is 'reasonable' to the point of pulling something as heavy as the heater, they better do something about dissuading people from making that type of post, whether it's public shaming, encouraging reporting of too-good-to-be-true posts or whatever else th
    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by 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

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

        Huh? The fixtures etc... taken from the rental property were certainly her property. Theft is theft.

        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 im

    • It's ambiguous (Score:5, Informative)

      by Chris Pimlott ( 16212 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @11:23PM (#18631041)
      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.
      • It also implies there's more to the story than is written here. I suspect her insurance company will be most interested in getting those Craigslist records.
  • by aussie_a ( 778472 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @11:03PM (#18630923) Journal
    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.
    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by Some_Llama ( 763766 )
      WTF?!?! That was you?!? That ad was a fake and you stole _MY_ TV!!!

      Please return it asap, I have moved though, so you will need to bring it to my new address, no hard feelings if you hurry.
  • how this will be translated into some sort of attempt to regulate craig's list entries to ensure that the children are safe and no copyrights are infringed or something like that. If YouTube is being sued to police the content on their site, shouldn't Craig's List police their site too?

    Call me cynical but I just know someone is going to try this lame kind of reasoning to enact more laws we don't need...
  • by ayeco ( 301053 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @11:11PM (#18630969)
    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.
    • by Sancho ( 17056 )
      With a car, you have to transfer the title. A better example would be a bicycle with a sign on it which read, "Free bicycle to a good home."
  • by NMerriam ( 15122 ) <NMerriam@artboy.org> on Thursday April 05, 2007 @11:32PM (#18631099) Homepage
    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.
    • by pongo000 ( 97357 )
      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.

      Sorry to be pendactic here, but I don't believe your friend was "abused through Craigslist." Instead, he was abused by the lowlife thieves that stole his property.

      This isn't a Craigslist problem.
  • Mod me down (Score:4, Funny)

    by Tablizer ( 95088 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @11:43PM (#18631139) Journal
    This user wants to be modded down. Please mod him/her down.
  • ..it seems the karma wheel bit her in the butt. I mean, she did just evict someone. I suppose the evictee would my first suspect. But, who knows, maybe they're not that dumb.
    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by dgbrownnt ( 1012901 )
      I wouldn't say karma, per se, since the tenant most likely had it coming (it's very difficult to evict someone without a reason). It's just a biproduct of property management that you make enemies. When your tenant become a liability and/or breaks there contract, it's a business decision to you, but it's a home decision to them.
    • I've known some landlords who were badly mistreated, and I've known (and been) some tenants who've been badly mistreated. In most states, the law gives evictees lots of protection that they can heavily abuse. Since eviction is a legal procedure and this revenge is not, the presumption must be that the revenger is at fault.

      Furthermore, a property owner has far more to lose and is much more likely to be a responsible person than a renter.

    • Karma? So kicking someone out is automatically a dick move? For all you know, this was some pacific heights terror chopping up the place or someone who hasn't paid rent in months. Ya just don't know.
    • WTF? (Score:5, Informative)

      by Slashdot Parent ( 995749 ) on Friday April 06, 2007 @08:41AM (#18633367)
      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.
  • by tilde_e ( 943106 ) on Friday April 06, 2007 @12:01AM (#18631247)
    Has the victim tried to post a new ad asking for her stuff back? The lost+found section?
  • by phulegart ( 997083 ) on Friday April 06, 2007 @12:18AM (#18631341)
    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.
    • by 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: (Score:3, Informative)

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

      Yep. Nobody is *really* a relativist. The coolest punk
      or the smarmiest professor turns positively Puritan
      when it's *their* stuff stolen, *their* face punched,
      *their* wife raped.
  • by quokkapox ( 847798 ) <quokkapox@gmail.com> on Friday April 06, 2007 @04:02AM (#18632037)

    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.

  • Missing the point (Score:3, Interesting)

    by HikingStick ( 878216 ) <.moc.liamtoh. .ta. .remeir10z.> on Friday April 06, 2007 @09:10AM (#18633681)
    I can't believe how many of my peers digress into banal discussions about evil landlords and evil tenants when examining a piece like this. I have my students do case studies every week. When they come across an interesting piece, like this one, that does not immediately seem related to networking or technology (the subjects I teach), I ask them to make the connection for me. That point of connection is usually the main point we, as tech professionals, can take away.

    In this case, it demonstrates a flaw in the Craigslist community--an honor-based system--that allows people to post for any address. If anyone can log on and post an ad that refers to any address (e.g. "Change of staff--new office holder wants to redecorate--take what you want from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C.), you might say "didn't see that coming" the first time, but you sure can anticipate the copycats. Think of what the credit card industry went through--once upon a time you could order and have something shipped anywhere. Now, you are mostly limited to shipping to your billing address. If Craigslist were my firm (and for the case studies, I ask my students to put themselves in that position), I would look at devising a way to limit posts to the verified address of a registered user only.

    Should Craigslist do this? That's their call. I'm just saying that instead of griping and moaning about bad landlords and rental experiences, we should look at an item like this and say "what can I learn from it." I would not want to risk even implied liability for my company by allowing such fraud to be propogated on my watch. Didn't online firms learn anything from that online check service that allowed anyone to register checking accounts without verifying their owners?

One person's error is another person's data.

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