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Craigslist Hawaii: Da Craziest Stories, Scams, & How You Can Avoid Becoming One Victim

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You won’t believe some of the crazy things that happen on Craigslist Hawaii. Here’s the low down on what went down and how you can avoid becoming a victim of a scam or even worse.

If you don’t want to get scammed, robbed, shot at or even arrested, you might want to keep reading.



I’ll tell you what happened, what you can learn from what happened, and how you can avoid becoming the victim in one of these stories.

But to prove that I’m not a “Debbie Downer” I’ve even found and included a few funny and heartwarming stories about Craigslist Hawaii too.



Crazy Craigslist Hawaii Stories

Here are the crazy, funny and sometimes heart-warming stories that I’ll cover:

 

 

Craigslist Hawaii Code Words, Know Them or Risk Getting Arrested

Did you know that you could wind up in jail if you don’t know these Craigslist code words?

Let’s say you are cruising the Craigslist Hawaii Personal ads, you see a stunning woman so you write to her.

To your surprise she replies, and says that if you give her “roses” she’s willing to do all kinds of “fun things” with you.

If you say yes, you might be looking at jail time because “roses” is code for money.

Because the Honolulu Police Department is seriously cracking down on prostitution on Craigslist and other websites: http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2009/Apr/25/ln/hawaii904250353.html

Here are the Craigslist code words to watch out for:

  • Molly: MDMA
  • Poppy: Heroin, since it is made from opium poppies
  • Rolls Royce: Ecstasy on any form of transportation, not necessarily a high end British automobile
  • Roses, Sugar: Cash in return for illicit activities
  • Ski: Cocaine, there’s no snow in Hawaii, so the only “snow” is the chemical kind
  • Tina: Meth, because Tina is Molly’s (MDMA) angrier, tita sister
  • Violet: Marijuana
  • Wet Works: They are an assassin (or they want to pee on you)

Learn more about these code words: https://www.instantcheckmate.com/crimewire/post/code-words/

Tips to stay safe:

  • Be very careful with Craigslist Hawaii Personals.
  • Run a background check on the person you are planning to meet.
  • Meet in a public place with a lot of people.
  • Bring a friend who looks like a bad-ass.
  • Avoid responding to Craigslist ads that contain these keywords.

 

 

Craigslist Hawaii Electronics Shocker

A Milani woman tries to sell her iPad through a Craigslist Hawaii electronics ad. She goes to meet the 24 year old man who says he wants to buy it in a Makaha home on Ikuone Place. The man asks to see the iPad before he pays. But instead of paying, he pulls a gun and takes off with the iPad.


KFVE, K5-Hawaii News, Weather and Sports

http://www.k5thehometeam.com/story/25620638/men-suspected-of-robbing-makaha-woman-over-craigslist-ad

How to keep this from happening to you:

  • Never go to someone’s house unless you can bring a friend.
  • Even better, arrange to meet in a public place with a lot of people.

Craigslist Hawaii Car Trouble

This one didn’t happen in Hawaii, but it was reported on Hawaii News Now. Just because it didn’t happen in Hawaii, doesn’t mean that it couldn’t happen here in our lovely state. So be on the lookout.
A Georgia man responded to a Craiglist Car ad and he went to meet the two men who were selling the car. But instead of getting a car he got a severe beating and was shot in the head ten times with a stun gun, plus the men stole the $4,500 he had brought to purchase the car.
He says that he’s never doing business on Craigslist again, but if you choose to use it he warns that you should make sure you feel really good about the purchase you’re about to make or you shouldn’t do it.
Police say the best advice is to meet in a public place and the very safest place to meet is in front of a police station.

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/33733000/man-senses-trouble-before-craigslist-meetup-instincts-prove-true

Craigslist Rental Scams Return

Barbara Allison Simpson, saw an ad for a roomy 3-bedroom house in Mililani for $1,000 per month. She responded and received a reply saying the owner had to move to West Africa and only needed $1,800 for her to move in. Later she found out that she wasn’t talking to the real owner and that the real rental price was $3,000. Fortunately, she did not send her money to the scammer.

http://www.kitv.com/story/30565064/rental-scam-returns

Craigslist Hawaii Personals: Syphilis Outbreak

The State Department of Health has issued a warning about a Syphilis outbreak on the Big Island and people are posting warnings to Craigslist about the outbreak, warning others to be careful.

http://bigislandnow.com/2013/06/15/opinion-the-sex-files-hawaii-craigslist-edition/

 

Craigslist Hawaii Pet Adoption That Sparks Public Outrage

You may have heard about something called house flipping. You buy a house for $100,000 and then immediately turn around and sell it for $150,000.

It turns out a woman from Hawaii decided to try dog flipping. She adopts a Jack Russell terrier from the Hawaiian Humane Society for $85. One hour later she posts an ad on Craigslist saying that she and her boyfriend were working two jobs and too busy to take care of the dog and asked for a $200 “rehoming” fee. Fortunately, Facebook fans of the Humane society noticed and in the end the dog was returned to the shelter.

http://khon2.com/2014/06/24/craigslist-dog-ad-sparks-public-outrage-disappointment/

 

Hawaii Kai Man Stunned to Find His House Posted on Craigslist Oahu

Roger Wong of Hawaii Kai had no reason to every think that he’d cross paths with a West African gang of scammers, but that is exactly what happened. Wong was in the middle of selling his home, when one of his friends told him that he saw Wong’s home listed on Craigslist Oahu for rent at a really cheap price. Wong was floored that a gang of West African scammers had grabbed details from his real estate listing, posed as him and posted his home on Craigslist for rent and nearly succeeded in scamming a prospective tenant out of her money.

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/19233068/man-shocked-to-find-his-house-for-rent-on-craigslist

 

‘Free Baby’ Ad Posted on Craiglist

Fortunately this one didn’t happen on Craigslist Hawaii, but the story was reported by Hawaii News Now. On February 17, in Clinton Mississippi, someone posted an ad on Craigslist offering a free 7-pound, 6-ounce baby boy. Clinton police are looking into the matter, and they have located the owner of the phone number listed in the ad. However, they do not believe that this person was responsible for placing the ad.

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/17030375/free-baby-on-craigslist

Hawaii Police Bust Craiglist Ticket Scammer

A 19-year-old man from Kea’au was busted by the Hawaii police for allegedly advertising Coachella tickets on Craigslist and taking the money without delivering the tickets. The police know of at least four victims and think that there may be more who have lost hundreds of dollars. The man was caught when he sold nonexistent tickets to an investigator from the Hawaii Office of Consumer Protection.
http://www.laweekly.com/news/coachella-craigslist-ticket-scammer-anthony-berson-busted-by-hawaii-5-0-cops-say-2396342

How Hawaii Craigslist Rental Ad Scams Work

Hawaii rental ad scams are getting more and more sophisticated and looking more and more legitimate. Here’s how they hook unsuspecting victims:
1. First, the scammer grabs photos and the address from homes that are listed on real estate websites.
2. Next, they look up the property’s tax records to get the name of the owner.
3. Then they create Yahoo, Hotmail, or Gmail email addresses using the name of the owner.
4. After that they pose as the owner and post a Craigslist ad.
5. In the ad, they’ll say that an emergency/job/military deployment has urgently called them to go to a foreign country so they need to rent the place fast.
6. Finally, they make you enter your financial information into a “rental application” and ask that you send a deposit and first month’s rent to a foreign country and they’ll then mail you the keys.
7. Of course, they then take your money and run.

https://www.hawaiilife.com/blog/craigslist-rental-ad-scams/

Washington Men Busted for Using Craigslist to Get Dates for Their Mom’s Hawaii Wedding

Okay, not all the crazy Craigslist stories are downers, this one is funny. Cousins Austin and Wyatt from Graham, Washington are planning to attend Austin’s mom’s wedding in Hawaii, but they didn’t have dates to bring. So, they went on Craigslist and posted an ad seeking dates to bring to Hawaii.
Unfortunately, Craigslist “busted” them and flagged and removed their ad.
But, fortunately for the cousins they already received a considerable response before the ad was removed. They say that they now have tons of “cute-looking girls” messaging them and since these girls don’t realize how cute they are, they’re thinking that they can’t go.

The Moral of the Story

Even if you get busted by Craiglist and your ad is removed, sometimes you still end up coming out ahead.

http://mynorthwest.com/506174/craigslist-dates-hawaii-wedding/

Craigslist Auto Scam Results in Shooting and Robbery

This one happened in Raleigh, TN, but since it was picked up by Hawaii News 8, I think it is fair game. Plus, it could easily have happened in Hawaii, so be careful out there.
A couple told Memphis police that they planned to meet a woman to buy a truck posted on Craigslist. They show up at the arranged location and a group of men with AK47s appeared and robbed them of the $16,000 the couple had brought to buy the truck. The armed men then shot the couple’s car and drove off.

Lessons Learned

Arrange to meet in front of a police, fire station, or someplace public where you feel safe when buying something from Craigslist.

http://www.hawaiinews8.com/story/31368192/couple-robbed-shot-at-during-craigslist-scam

Hawaii Craigslist Hacked?

November 23, 2014 many people are reporting on Facebook that Craigslist Hawaii was hacked. Instead of seeing ads for apartments, jobs and personal ads they saw: “digital gangster for life’ on my browser tab. This is the copyright on the page – (c)2006 – infinity digital gangster enterprises, llc”
https://www.facebook.com/HawaiiNewsNow/posts/10152813913165479

Don’t Get Fooled by the Craigslist PayPal Con

It works like this, you post an expensive item on Craigslist Hawaii. A “buyer” contacts you and arranges to meet for the exchange. They arrive, but it turns out that they don’t have cash. They say that they will send you the money through PayPal. You check your email and you see what looks like a message from PayPal saying that you’ve received the money. You give them the item, they leave. Later on, you check PayPal and you don’t see any money there.
Tips to avoid this scam

  • Don’t rely on the email confirmation.
  • Log in to your PayPal account and check that the funds have been deposited.
  • But the best way to avoid this scam is not to accept PayPal at all. Only accept cash or credit cards.

http://www.bbb.org/hawaii/news-events/bbb-scam-alerts/2016/01/scammers-craigslist/

 

Fake Craigslist Oahu Rentals

An Oahu realtor discovers that one of the homes she has listed for $1 million is listed on Craigslist Oahu for only $600 per month. What happened is that a scammer stole the photos from her listing and posted an ad on Craigslist to dupe unsuspecting people looking for a place to rent.

How to spot fake rentals and avoid being suckered.

  • They ask for money upfront.
  • They have a ridiculously low rent in comparison to the rest of the market.
  • They have many factual and grammatical errors.

What to do if you see a fake rental ad.

  • Go to the Craigslist help and abuse page and report fake listings.

Craigslist Hawaii Jobs Suspiciously Large Check Scam

When Suzanne from Hawaii was looking for a house cleaning job, she replied to a Craigslist Hawaii Job ad that sounded amazing. The scammer said that if she wanted the job, all she needed to do was provide her name and address so their accountant could pay her in advance to buy cleaning supplies. But when she got the check it was for $3,000. This set off alarm bells in her head and she had her check cashing place attempt to verify the check first. Her check cashing place told her it was a fake check.
How does the suspiciously large check scam work?
Scammers send you a big check. Often, they’ll say it was an accident. They steal your money by asking you to send the excess back to them. But you’ll be sorry if you do because you’ve sent them real money, while they’ve sent you a fake payment that you can’t collect.
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/the-suspiciously-large-first-paycheck-how-does-this-job-scam-work-041515.html

Craigslist Hawaii Vacation Rental Swap: My Hawaii Beach House for Your S.F. Condo

How would you like to swap vacation rentals?

You get a majestic two story ocean front condo in Hawaii in return for use of your condo in San Francisco.
Only problem, the Hawaii condo is a bit small: 8 square inches, and it’s made out of legos.
https://www.craigslist.org/about/best/hnl/4420294847.html

Craigslist Hawaii Lost and Found

Laura Mitrowski came to Hawaii for a family vacation. After snorkeling in our little paradise, she got out of the water of Lawai beach and realized that her ring was gone.
Later that night she posted what happened to Craigslist. A few people replied that they’d keep an eye out for it. Later, Mike Smith replied saying that he found her ring. He said he say a nice-looking shell and when he went to grab it, he saw the ring.
https://gma.yahoo.com/craigslist-reunites-lucky-woman-engagement-ring-lost-off-194053639–abc-news-topstories.html