The Craigslist Freelance Writing Scam

Criagslist Writing Jobs Scams

This scam has been reported several times, and I actually saw webmasters bragging about this on a popular webmaster forum. Be very wary of delivering any content that you have not been paid for, especially to an unknown company.  Understand that you can seek legitimate freelance writing opportunities on Craigslist. Some authors report it as a very good source of work. But you must be wary too. Some pretty savvy freelancers have been caught by this common freelance writing scam.

The advertisement asks for samples of writing with an article about a specific topic. It may also ask for certain contact information, like an email address, as well. The writer submits the samples, and sometimes they submit several articles. They never hear back from the advertiser after their content gets delivered.

Then, a few weeks later, they search online and find their own article on the Internet with a different author name. Sometimes they find that the articles have been published in multiple places on the Internet. They never can contact the original ad poster, and of course they never get paid.

A variation on this Craigslist scam actually pays them for the first article, but then requests several more. After the author sends the articles, the original advertiser disappears.

Another variation, which is even sneakier, actually submits the author’s email address to an emai submit advertisement. Not only does the author lose their work without payment, they also get spammed. And some legitimate advertiser gets scammed too if they are paying for real email addresses that are actually interested in the offer.

Have you had any experiences like this you would like to warn other readers about? Do you know how to safeguard yourself, and other writers, from having work stolen? You can register free to comment.

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