February 2008

Prostitution Goes High Tech:
This is an article from a Milwaukee news station about prostitution on craigslist. It isn’t anything that I haven’t already posted about but I found a quote by an arrested john pretty humorous.

“Jimmy” is a first-timer. He came to the hotel with condoms, cash and a box of candy for his date.

“You went on craigslist?” an undercover officer asked.

“Yes,” Jimmy said.

“You saw the undercover police officer’s ad, you thought she was a prostitute?” an undercover officer asked.

“I didn’t know it was an undercover police officer, obviously,” Jimmy said.

I would imagine that being a hooker or a john on craigslist is like playing Russian Roulette. You never know when someone is going to be a cop or criminal.

Man carjacked, robbed in Pittsburg after responding to Craigslist sex ad:
A 23-year-old man from Brentwood, California was carjacked in Pittsburg, California after responding to a craigslist hooker ad. The location should have been a dead giveaway that he was going to be in trouble…

The victim found the ad on Craigslist and called the phone number to set up a date with the purported prostitute at a Pittsburg address in the Brickyard Housing Development around 9:30 p.m., Pittsburg police Lt. Brian Addington said Tuesday.

I don’t know anything about Pittsburg but that sounds like a pretty rough part of town. The phrase crack-ho comes to mind.

Anyway instead of being met by a prostitute he was met with a shotgun butt to the head and his truck was stolen.

Let that be a warning to all you crack-ho aficionados.

Charges Dropped Against Man Accused Of Impersonating Deputy, Raping Woman:
Here’s another downside to being a craigslist hooker. If you’re raped you won’t be believed.

Robert Pegues was arrested for impersonating a deputy and raping a woman. Then his lawyer turned up the woman’s craigslist ad and phone records showing that Pegues spoke several times with the woman prior to the alleged rape. Pegues says he responded to the woman’s ad but then had cold feet and didn’t pay the woman who in turn accused him of rape.

I’m not saying who’s right or wrong in this instance but it’s a damn interesting story that should be noted.

Online escorts are off limits:
I like how the article calls them e-hookers. If they used Macs would they be iHookers?

Anyway the Toronto police are cracking down on craigslist prostitution. Just recently they arrested high class escort 38-year-old Sabina Mitakina. They seized over $150K in assets and are deporting her back to Russia.

I also like how the article said she was charged with keeping a common bawdy house and possession of proceeds of crime. Those Canadians, so polite.

The Toronto police are also saying that there is underage prostitution and human trafficking being conducted on craigslist as well.

San Francisco man who bought fake IDs on Craigslist sentenced for tax fraud:
33-year-old Roger Mai of San Francisco was sentenced to two years in prison for tax fraud . Mr. Mai used fake identity’s that he purchased on craigslist and used the identity’s to file phony tax returns. He filed 142 false returns and allegedly got $120K in refunds. He was shooting for $841K but prosecutors could only prove he got $57K. So I guess he got to keep $63K.

Your tax dollars at work.

False Craigslist Post May End in Identity Theft Charge:
A 43-year-old man from Berkeley, California could be charged with identity theft after posting harassing ads on craigslist. The man in question posted ads stating that a 44-year-old mother and her 19-year-old daughter liked to have sex together and listed the family’s personal phone number and address. He posted the same ad five consecutive times. Luckily no one showed up but the phone did ring off the hook. It seems that the man dated the woman at one point but they broke up five years ago.

The DA isn’t sure if the man can be charged with identity theft yet but at the least this man should be charged with cyberstalking. If I remember correctly California doesn’t take stalking very lightly.

(I also post weird ‘romance’ stories like this at Psycho for Love.)

I received a couple of e-mails from reader gbel who is selling some things on craigslist and got the following responses from obvious scammers…

I am interested in the immediate purchase this placed on www.craigslist.org for my client and i will like to ask few questions before i proceed onthe purchase.

1 :- Is it still available for sell?

2 :- What is the condition ?

3 :- How old is it?

4 :- Where is it located ?

5 :- What is the final price of it ?

6 :- Will you be able to send more pictures to see how it look likes ?

7 :- Can my client take care of the shipping via our shipping courier service ?

8 :- Will you be able to wire the Shipping fess via western union money transfer to my client shipper? cos the payment of the item and the shipping fees will be issue out to u once

9 :- if accepted kindly get back to me with your full name and contact address including your phone number ?

My client can only raise payment for the item with the shipping fees via cashiers check or money order issued in American Bank which is cashable same day at your bank.Let me know if you accept the mode of payment for the item with shipping arrangement after you must have receive payment.I will be looking forward to read your response about the ad and you can as well e-mail me with the address where item is located with your contact name, address and phone number for the issuing out of the payment.Reply to (cirs2@yahoo.com)
Regards.

Let’s see. Broken English, wiring the money requested, cashier’s check, and no location given. Yep, that sounds like a scam to me.

On to the next scammer…

Thanks for your mail,I’m talking about the $140 car seat n stroller. I would have loved to come to pay cash and take it from you but I have already relocated.The payment would be made via money order.I hope this is fine with you.My movers would be comming for the pick up so you dont have to worry about shipping.

I will include the total cost to have it shipped with some other items and my other valuables. All you have to do when the payment gets to you is deduct your charges for the seat and have the rest forwarded via money gram money transfer to my shippers who will come over for pick up at your location.I hope you undersatnd?
Please get back at me with your full name complete address and phone number so i can have the payment sent to you asap.Thanks.

Mathew

Same as above but this time the scammer evebn says that he’s going to send more money that the item is worth. And what’s with his ‘other valuables’?

gbel worte back to this particular scammer…

G BE wrote:

Hello Mathew

could you be more specific as to what item do you need?

thanks

This was the response…

Hello, I am Mathew Nolan. I have been looking for your item and I was lucky to come across it on craigslist. I am very interested in buying it from you. The price seems reasonable by me. I just relocated to sa cos of the project am working on wtih the un. My shippers would be coming to pick up some of my valuables in my former apartment, so you don’t need to worry about shipping. Get back at me so we can discuss the payment. Thanks

Mathew

Doesn’t really answer gbel’s question does it? I also like how the buyer just relocated because of work they’re doing with the UN. I guess all the Peace Corps positions were filled.

Remember Trench’s craigslist law. Local only and cash only.

If someone tried to scam you on craigslist feel free to send me an e-mail using my contact form.

Scammer targeting local renters on Craigslist:
How would you like it if you put your house up for sale only to get calls from people who wanted to rent it. That’s what happened to Julie McEachern of Burien, Washington. People were responding to a craigslist ad for a house for rent only that Ms. McEachern never placed an ad with craigslist.

The craigslist ad was directly copied from the legitimate real estate listing for the house only with some language changed. Of course people should have been tipped off that this was a scam…

McCann started get suspicious when the fake landlord wanted $2,000 upfront and claimed he couldn’t show the house because he was on a three-year mission trip to England.

The article also gives out some good advice when tryin g to rent or buy a property…

Anyone can find out who owns certain pieces of property on the Web site of the county property assessor.

And renters should always check out a rental property in person. Even without an appointment, renters can always knock on the door and find out whether the property is really for rent.

Not only that but even when dealing with real estate only deal with people in the local area.

Police Use Craigslist In Prostitution Sting:
Police in Lenexa, Kansas arrested 5 johns in a craigslist hooker sting. Here’s what one of them had to say…

“The problem is 10 years of marriage, is the problem,” he said when asked why he took the risk. “We sleep in separate rooms, but we’re still married for the kids. That’s it.”

He said it was the Craigslist that brought him here. “I was looking for a car,” he said.

Now daddy has to tell his kids that he’s a whoremonger.

Pr. George’s Police Suspect Online Prowler in Six Rapes:
Police in Prince George’s County, Maryland are saying that a serial rapist is using craigslist among other websites to find his victims. So far he’s committed six rapes in the county which began in August.

Allegedly he meets women online to set up sexual encounters then rapes his victims.

Police said they want to know whether others have been assaulted and ask that anyone with information call 301-772-4908.

I’m not going to criticize someone’s lifestyle but if you’re someone who is into what the article calls ’sex dates’ you may want to rethink your choices for your own safety.

Looking Into The World Of Online Prostitution In Charlottesville:
This is a great story from WCAV in Charlottesville, Virginia about craigslist prostitution in their area. I realize it was probably done for ratings sweep’s week but it’s still a great story nonetheless.

They interviewed a craigslist prostitute over the phone. Here’s just a sample of what really caught my attention…

Mark: Do you have any kids?

Alecia: uh huh.

Mark: What do you tell them when you’re leaving the house?

Alecia: I’m going to work. I do what I do right now so that they won’t have to.

Yep, no victims there.

But what was even more shocking to me was the police departmets’ response to this.

We contacted Albemarle County and Charlottesville Police to get their reaction. Albemarle County Police say they were unaware of the website and would look in to it. Charlottesville Police said they would get back to us.

What rock are they living under?

craigslist had its usual response…

Craigslist does ban illegal activity in their terms of use. After contacting them they say they do everything they can to prevent anything illegal on their website but it’s impossible to review each of the more than 30 million free postings submitted each month.

Translation: We don’t care.

Man gets 40-60 years for abusing daughter:
48-year-old William Pattison of Milford, Michigan was convicted and sentenced to 40-60 years in prison for first-degree criminal sexual conduct and pandering.

Pattison started sexually abusing his daughter when she was 4 to 5 years old then pimped her out on craigslist as an adult.

Pattison is also accused of sexually abusing another female relative who is the mother to another one of his kids.

But hey prostitution is a victimless crime remember. There’s no human trafficking involved at all.

That was sarcasm in case you couldn’t tell.

Framingham police arrest two women in online prostitution sting:
Police in Framingham, Mass. have arrested Ester Mirian Reis, 24, of Milton, MA and Ashley Lynn Walser, 23, of Dorchester, MA in an undercover craigslist hooker sting.

Just the usual stuff except for the very last sentence of the article.

The News has contacted Craigslist.org for comment on this story.

And then what? For the love of God man, what? That’s where the article ended. I’m going to guess that craigslist had their usual non-response.

I got an e-mail from a man named Jeremy who shared with me how someone tried to scam him on craigslist.

Hello, I would like to report another scam that someone tied on us recently. We were selling an antique couch that belonged to our Father who is dying of cancer. We were going to use the money for his medical care and this is the email response we got from someone who’s email address was :nicolewilson0@gmail.com

First Email:
Hello i really appreciate your response to my earlier mail.like i said i will like to buy this item so pls do withdraw the advert from Craigslist. I will also like you to know that i will be paying via check .I will need you to provide me with the following information to facilitate the mailing of the check.

1.Your full name
2.Your mailing residential address
3.Your phone number.

**I will like you to know that you will not be responsible for
shipping i will have my mover come over as soon as you have cashed the
check**

Have a nice day.

Second Email after information was sent:
Hi ,how was your day ?I want you to understand that the deal is on and my secretary as posted the payment promptly, but there was a little problem which i guess we can handle with care while i contacted her to confirm if the payment as been mail out she said my boss issued a single check of $3300 for your item and other items bought.The payment was already posted before i was inform about this but i wouldn’t want this to delay the sale. All you do once you have the payment is to take it to you Bank and have it cashed and you will then deduct the money for your item plus $100 for your running around. The excess fund on the payment will then be wired to my mover via western union that same days so that he can come for pick up as i already plan on using the excess on the payment to offset the cost of the various shipments he as undertaken on my behalf.Do let me know if i can trust you to have the excess sent to my mover thank you,best Regards.

Sellers beware of this, scammers do not have a conscience obviously and will prey on anyone they can.

If someone tried to scam you on craigslist please drop me an e-mail at my contact form.

Thanks Jeremy for sharing your story.

Louisville craigslist sting nabs 27 for prostitution charges:
I think we may have a new record. I’m just too lazy to check to see if it is.

Anyway Louisville, Kentucky police have arrested 27 johns in a craigslist hooker sting.

It was the usual. Cops place fake ad, guys show up, guys get arrested.