Craigslist Looters

One of the quirky, and unrealistic aspects of a video game RPG (role playing game), is the ability to randomly visit stranger’s houses and take goods that are inside. Well, thanks to Craigslist this idea seems alot less strange, but for the wrong reasons.

Last year, the first “Craigslist Looting” post was made. The incident occurred in the state of Washington. Someone made an ad saying that anyone could come and take anything from their house that they wanted. The problem was that the owner of the house never submitted the ad to Craigslist. She had rented the house out, and the previous tenant had just been evicted (wonder who the poster really was?). The ad was only up for a hour and a half, but the house was almost entirely stripped. Furniture, light fixtures, sinks, and even the hot water heater were taken in the pillaging.

It looks like a copycat has sprung up, as another case of Craigslist looting has occurred. This incident happened in the state just south of where the original incident occured, in Oregon. This time, Robert Salisbury was the victim of the free-for-all looting ad on Craigslist. What makes his story different is how he came home during the pillaging. Salisbury drove up in his truck to find people walking out of his home carrying his belongings. When he confronted the looters, they handed him the post saying they had a right to be there. The woman who made off with his horse, began to get an off feeling, so decided to call Salisbury to make sure the post was legit. As of now there is no suspect for the post, but if history is correct it’s probably someone he knows, as the first victim had her niece to thank for the ad.

These two incidents just prove how much closer we are to mirroring the movie, “Idiocracy“. I guess if you want to make sure your home is entirely safe, you can go ahead and add “Scan Craigslist” to the checklist. What we need is Chris Hansen to devise a sting operation, and try and get into the minds of these Craigslist Looters.

1. The Tech of Tomorrow, Today » Blog Archive » Pacific Northwest Couple Nearly Gets Away With It - TechBelieves.com 4.3.08 / 7am

   [...] so awful you’re obligated too. Like watching a bad card accident. It was reported by Tech Kills, about a week ago, an Oregon resident was the victim of a Craigslist looting attack. I’m glad [...]