craigslist | about | help (2024)

FAQs

Where do Craigslist replies go? ›

A: Replies to live posts are relayed to poster's email address.

Craigslist uses email obfuscation to protect your actual email address from exposure. When you click on the response button in the Craigslist ad, the site generates for you a Craigslist email address. When the other user responds to your message using this address, you receive the message into your real email address.

Make sure the post you are responding to is still active by refreshing the page. If the recipient has opted out of the conversation, you will no longer be able to email that address. Try sending your message again with less content, fewer or no attachments, and reduced file sizes.

What can a Craigslist scammer do with my phone number? If a Craigslist scammer has your phone number and gets you to verify a code sent to that number, they can use it to open a Google Voice account. With that account, they can continue running scams using your phone number.

If the buyer's email fails to make any specific reference to the item you're selling but rather refers to "the item" or uses other generic terms, there is a good chance that the reply to your ad is the work of a scammer copying and pasting replies to as many potential victims as possible.

To protect buyer and seller privacy, Craigslist keeps email addresses hidden. However, even with this security system, you might want to take additional precautions when responding to emails from Craigslist.

Unfortunately, no such protection exists for those replying to posts. When you reply directly from Craigslist, your email address will be visible to the recipient. To reply anonymously, you need to create a free Web-based email address, which does not contain identifiable information.

Always use a proxy email address or phone number

If you're the one browsing, send questions to sellers through an email address you solely use for Craigslist.

Your email is anonymized as a seller responding to a Craigslist email, but the name field is not. PLEASE NOTE: The “real name” field (e.g. Jane Doe) in your email program is passed through to the recipient. Any contact information in the body of your message will pass through unaltered.

Respond to the email you receive with your dedicated Craigslist email address. Limit personal information, such your address or phone number, in an email response. You can handily deal with an interested party or even a confirmed buyer without initially divulging this information.

Why is Craigslist blocking me? ›

The platform detects bad activity and blocks a suspicious user automatically. Since the process is automatic, you might get banned when you post too many ads in a day, or send too many connections to Craigslist from a single device.

While there is no accurate way of tracking views on your Craigslist ads without violating Craigslist's rules, that's totally fine because views are not what you should be worried about anyway.

Scammers are getting pretty sneaky and are collecting personal phone numbers through Craigslist Ads. Case in point, when you're placing an ad or responding to an ad, avoid using your personal phone number to communicate with buyers or sellers.

Craigslist blocks number written more than one time, so when someone has more than two ads, they spell out the rest.

One of the first things that scammers try to do is route out the most gullible. One way they accomplish this is by creating a massive amount of fake, low quality ads. Frequently the ads are created by bots, or programs that live on the internet and perform tasks that their makers assign.

If you've created your posting through a Craigslist account, log in to your account and check the "Messages" or "Inbox" section to see if there are any responses there.

Click on “Reply” located at the top-left corner of the Craigslist post. A floating menu with a list of email options will display on-screen.

You can reply to any post on Craigslist — just click the "reply" button at the top left of a post, and complete the Captcha puzzle if you're asked to. Some Craigslist listings will offer a phone contact to call or text, though most listings will only offer an email contact.

To respond to a job listing on Craigslist you must email the poster. You can navigate to the email from the job posting. In your email, you should introduce yourself, express your interest in the job, and briefly touch on the skills, experience, and qualifications that you possess.