Imagine that you are looking for a place to rent in a new city. Since you aren’t familiar with the area, you use Craigslist to find the perfect place with an affordable rent.  Unable to reach the landlord in person, you wire your deposit and first month’s rent in exchange for the keys to the residence.

Then you discover the crushing truth. The keys don’t work. In fact, the property is not even available. You’ve been scammed out of your money.

Unfortunately, this scheme is becoming common place on Craigslist and other classifieds sites. A Texas woman lost her $900 deposit on a house when her scammer gave her fake keys to a house he didn’t own. A Kansas family almost lost out on $1400, but avoided their loss with further investigation. What they found was that the house they were looking to rent, was not owned by the woman in Africa with whom they had been corresponding via email.

This type of scam starts with the criminal lifting the address and photos of a property that is for sale, and posting it as a vacant rental online. The scammer then lures an interested party in, weaving a believable story about why they are not in town to meet and show the property in person. Then, after the innocent renter wires money to the person, the renter either receives fake keys or no keys at all, and the scammer has disappeared with their money into Internet oblivion.

Here at Safelist, we are aware of the scams that plague Internet users and we are committed to providing a safer alternative to help minimize the chances that this could happen to you.

We realize that the anonymity of online classifieds allows criminals greater ability to disappear once they commit fraud. Therefore, we have created a community of only verified users.  Each Safelist member must verify their identity, ensuring that the person with whom you are transacting, is who they say they are. Therefore, should any crime be committed while using Safelist, we will have that offender’s personal information, thus making the criminals accountable for their actions.

Our hope is that identity verification alone will deter criminal activity; however, should a crime be committed, Safelist will be ready to assist in the apprehension of the perpetrators involved.

We invite you to join our safer community, where our members can engage in online commerce free from worry and suspicion.

Around 10:30pm on May 11, 2011 Garrett Berki, an 18-year-old resident of San Diego who graduated from La Jolla High School was shot and killed during a planned Craigslist transaction.

Garrett Berki replied to a Craigslist ad for a $600 MacBook Pro in the San Diego area. When Berki and his girlfriend appeared for the transaction, three 17-year-old boys robbed them of their cell phones and money. The attackers then chased Berki and his girlfriend in a vehicle where Berki was shot in the chest while attempting to drive away. Berki died about an hour later at the hospital.

The accused killers are Rashon Abernathy, Seandell Jones and Shaquille Jordan. Although they are minors, they are being tried as adults and may face 50 years to life in prison if convicted.

Stories like these are occurring more and more frequently. At Safelist.com, we feel, as citizens and parents, it’s our job to create a safer community. Online local classifieds are here to stay, so Safelist.com is taking extra steps to make the online shopping experience safer.

All members who join Safelist.com have their identity verified before they can post or respond to ads. Therefore the risk of someone using a fake email or name is essentially eliminated. To get even greater reliability as a member, upgrading to a Gold membership requires a criminal background check. Although this does not guarantee buyers are free from potential harm, it is an extra step that other classifieds sites like Craigslist do not offer.

No matter how extensive background checks are, classified users still need to use precautions and their own best judgment when completing transactions.

A few tips to stay safe during classified transactions include:

• Meet in a public place such as Starbucks or grocery stores to complete the transaction.
• If you are uncomfortable for any reason, walk away. Just because you set up a place and time to meet doesn’t commit you to purchasing if you don’t feel safe.
• Research. If you are buying something big such as a computer or a car, do your research to ensure the item you’re buying works and is priced fairly.
• Remember: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Be wary of scams if a price is set too low.
• Take advantage of Safelist’s advanced features like voice or video chat to talk directly to the buyer/seller before meeting.

Tragedies like the death of Garrett Berki can be prevented by taking security measures into your own hands. At Safelist.com we’re building a safer community to prevent these types of tragedies from occurring.