In any place you put yourself out there, you take a chance. The fact is craigslist is just a vehicle for posting ads. I post all the time and have successfully sold and bought many things via craigslist. You have to be smarter than the scammers. Obviously if you're talking to a stranger you take the measures necessary to avoid the scammers criminals and psychopaths.

I could say the same thing about going to a daycare with my child or finding a babysitter! There's enough horror stories about babysitters and daycares that if you took it as the norm you would never leave your kids with anyone!

You could end up with a sociopath employer in any method you choose to find a job that involved working individually at home with the person hiring. It doesn't matter what method you choose to find them the risk is always there. Craigslist posters are in no way more crazy or scam-prone than any other way.

How about dating sites? People shouldn't use those either? Why? because there are a ton of scammers there! Heck I got one that tried to hook up with me and the difference? I'm smarter than the scammer. I picked up pretty quickly that they were fake and probably were going to try to scam me out of money. I blocked them in every way. Funny. As soon as I did they disappeared off the dating site I was on too! Hmmm.. so should I stay away from that site too? NO, just be smart enough to not jump into something where you haven't investigated enough about the person on the other end.

Carry it to the extreme and you should not use gmail, there are phishers, don't use web sites, there may be spoofers, don't use the internet there may be sniffers and hackers looking to steal your identity! Ok yeah so that's the extreme of it

In a nutshell, yes there are scammers on Craigslist and the lesson here is, be smart. Know what you're getting into and don't take their word for what they offer. Get proof, get evidence that they can and will pay you for what they want you to do.

Ok I'm rambling but I'll end with this. I've ended up with somewhat scam-like behavior in the freelance field of art too. People who would want something but drag the job out asking for changes repeatedly to their art until after weeks have passed the salary or fee they are paying is next to nothing. So I just started asking for 50% up front to start the job. that way if they flake out on me, I'm not out a lot of money, I've at least got half even if they or I walk away. How does that apply? Find ways to protect yourself. Don't live in a shell like everyone out there is going to take you for a ride. They might but if you're smart, you can keep them from doing so.

Nuff said.

Good Post Mara and although craigslist is only one method, I think it's a good thing you mention it. Definitely at least one vehicle for finding a work at home job.