Craigslist Precautions

Craigslist Precautions.

Craigslist can be a valuable online community source for those who are looking for
jobs, products, services, personal connections, housing opportunities and
business. Followers that go to this community will find all of the above listed
categories and more that you can use to meet others and network.

However because Craigslist is an online community there can always be the opportunity for
scammers and predators to be around each corner while using Craigslist.
Craigslist gets around four billion page views per month and approximately ten
million visitors each and every month ( WOW ). The vast majority of these visitors
do not have harmful intentions but there is always that small percentage.

There are however some very worthwhile reasons to use Craigslist for finding more information
and possible prospects for your online business. This article will take a look at
why Craigslist is so useful but will also offer advice on how to protect
yourself while using the service.

Why Choose Craigslist for Online Searches.

Many may wonder why Craigslist has so much attraction. While there are other websites which
focus exclusively on job searches, prospecting, product purchases or meeting people or
partners. Craigslist has a uniqueness in that it provides one easy location for all of these
types of searches and more. Craigslist might have started as a small operation like
all businesses but focused exclusively on the events going on in the San Francisco Bay
Area. It has since exploded into a much larger community with websites specific to
different geographic regions. This is a great model for any business in that as it
grows it just keeps fueling the main core of the business model.

The various websites focusing on very specific geographic regions putting Craigslist as an
excellent resource because the users can talk with those in their area directly instead of
having to search larger databases to find information on people, products and events
in their particular area.

How to Protect Yourself on Craigslist.

Craigslist is no more dangerous than any other online community. As with any Internet
gathering place the biggest problem is the ease in which individuals can trick
others into believing they are trustworthy when they are not.

One of the best ways to protect you and your family while on Craigslist or any
online community is to safeguard your key personal information. This means
information such as your credit card numbers, bank account numbers,
social security numbers and other similar numbers that should not be handed
out to just anyone.

This is important because this information can be usedfor identity theft or other
fraudulent purposes that is growing all the time. Care should be taken as well
to avoid giving out your personal information such as full name, address and
phone number. This is really important because such information could be used
by someone with the wrong intent to locate an individual by using the
information.

While name, address and phone number are obvious pieces of information
which should be safeguarded it is important to note other pieces of information
that could be used to find a person. For example a person can be identified
and located by supplying just simple information such as a first name, what
high school they attended and year of graduation and so on. Determined criminals
can use this information to deduce the last name of the person which could lead to
finding their address and using this information to harm or harass
the individual.

Bottom line for your online business.

Craigslist is a fantastic sources for marketing your online products as well
as turning up possible prospects that may have an interest on starting a online
home business.

So get your information straight and start doing your business a favor by finding
some new prospects and marketing some of your products on Craigslist.

To be safe always ” Backup ” all your personal and business information in a
safe place.

Mike McCoy

Burn The Bridge Marketing