Why does Craigslist have so many scammers and spammers?

[Throckmorton]

Every time I've posted something on Craigslist, it's always taken a long time to post- maybe even an hour or two. But I don't understand what's happening during this time. I know they don't screen posts..

 

[Capt Caveman]

It's free and anonymous.

edit - my bad.

 

[mattocs]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
It's free and unanimous.

Unanimous?

 

[ppdes]

Probably just a way to reduce load. I've heard they get insane amounts of traffic. The majority of the site could be static and generated every hour, for example.

 

[michaels]

craigslist is so full of spammers it's unreal. My local cl classfieds read something like this(I'm in Jonesboro, AR)
2004 Acura loaded 3500 bucks*pic of a car by palm trees..no palms here*
WORK AT HOME.... BE YOUR OWN BOSS!
rinse repeat

 

[shortylickens]

I think its just you.
When I post its usually up in 10 minutes. Though I will express my amazement that people can flag it down in 30 seconds.

 

[RU482]

you just have to use common sense when using craigslist.

It is a shame that it has been so exploited by scammers. Kinda like anything started by hippies.