Craig's List hacked -- early 911's
 

I keep an eye out on Craig's list for nice 911's in the San Francisco Bay Area. Probably many here do the same when they are looking.

What I've noticed is that recently almost all of the early 911's that are posted for sale end up getting "flagged by the community" and thus taken off the system. I've seen some of the ads before they got flagged, and there was nothing notable about them that should cause them to get flagged. Of course sometimes ads get flagged. But the number of early 911's getting flagged -- all of them -- is disproportionate compared to later vintages, or other models like 914's or 944's. Also, this seems to be a recent phenomena. So I'm suspicious that someone has figured out a way to trick the system. Obviously, this is unfair to the community. Has any one else noticed this?

I know it's questionable putting this topic in the for sale section, but it seemed like the most relevant forum for the subject.

-Juan

Yup. Somebody is out for profit.
Perhaps the CL guys can contact the owners in question and see if the same person has contacted them all regarding their cars. Then we can post said person's name up in bright lights.

Doesn't take much for a single person to flag an ad down if you know how to do it.


Dont get mad, get even.
;)

Suggestion: for those of you that care about CL and follow the Porsche ads, if you see an early 911s ad that has not been flagged, Email it to your self. There's an link that says "email this posting to a friend" in the upper right. Then if you notice that the post later gets flagged, post the Email to this topic. That will allow us to investigate. I don't think CL has the resources to investigate this kind of thing, so its up to those that care to figure it out.

Noah, Thanks for relocating the ad.

-Juan

Juan,

I am not familiar with hijacking, but instead of waiting, could you just post a bogus ad and see what happens (i.e., see if it gets flagged)? Of course, if the culprit is a pelicanhead, then the bait would not work!

The reason they get flagged is because whenever somebody wants something on craigslist, to get it out of the viewing public they flag it right after emailing the owner. Get it? I think its just cheezy but thats without a doubt why it occurs.

Maybe, but it doesn't seem likely. It takes more than one person to get a post flagged off of Craig's List. Also, I don't see this flagging happening for other interesting Porsches. Plus I also notice that wanted ads looking for early 911's get flagged.

It's possible that there is now an early 911 mob on Craig's List that is ganging up cheat the system. But given evidence I would think it's more likely a hack. Do you know anyone that is following the practice that you describe, or are you just hypothesizing?

-Juan

I was woundering why I post my add on craigs list for a 85 carrera and gets flagged almost every time.I think it is consignment dealers doing it .

Andrew,

When your ad gets flagged, are you also getting any replies to your ad? If so, those that replied would be suspects for the flagging. Another possibility is just others selling cars that don't want the competition.

Can you post your ad to this thread so that we can see what they were flagging? Might provide a clue.

-Juan

Is this only happening in the Bay Area CL?

Right, like when shopping for a house, if you see one you really like, you take all of the flyers. :)

Not that I've ever done that (I haven't, but probably because I haven't found a house yet). :)

-Wayne

So I guess we know where to look when all the good stuff starts disappearing on Pelican Parts. :)

-Juan

I have been scanning Craigslist for the past three or four months looking for an early 911 to make into a hot rod. Not very many early cars have been appearing. This morning, I just happened to log on at about 12:10 PM and found an add for 1970 E complete, running, some rust, paint not so good but original for $6,000.00 e-mailed the seller, add was gone the next time I checked my e-mail. So add was posted at 11:56 AM and gone by about 1:30 PM. Maybe someone out there got a good deal.

Matt

I have flagged what look to be scams
mostly 60s to 70s restored collector cars
like a 454 chevys SS 4 speed for 5 to 7k
no ph # or location given
but lots of glossie pic of a like new car
that look to be taken out of the S fl area
that just smells like a rip off to me

the few time I see cheap 911's they are not
in the just restored class

one guy did have a boxster cheap
but claimed the car was in STOCKHOME
just send the money and we will ship it to you!!!!!
so NO THANKS!!!!!

That one appeared to be legit with no flagging. I saw it and Emailed the seller about a half hour after it had been posted. It was sold already. Seller deleted the ad himself.

-Juan

I could'nt have been that much behind you, I guess you really have to be lucky to just happen to log on and find an ad like that almost the instant it's posted, or just sit in front of the computer and refresh the page constantly?

Matt

Trust me.

One person who knows how can flag an ad down.

There's a similar thread on the Alfa BB on this very topic. Seems the Alfa guys are in on it, too.

71T w/low miles for $9,700 just flagged down on SF Craigslist

That 71T was advertising an Ebay listing, item 170082621776 . The $9700 price was just the current bid.

-Juan