Skip to content

Biting the hand that feeds IT

The Register ®


Related Whitepapers

[Print][Mobile][Alerts]

Craigslist robberies rise

Hold on to your hoodies

Published Tuesday 25th July 2006 11:30 GMT

Craiglist isn't just about destroying local newspapers. It's about helping to "disintermediate" the local retail chain, too.

Gang members in Northern California recently hooked up with a Craigslist poster who had advertised clothes for sale for a casual mugging encounter, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The items in question were hooded tops.

San Jose experienced four Craigslist-prompted robberies in one week last month.

"The series of robberies through Craigslist casts the website in a different light from its reputation as a tight-knit community, led by Buckmaster, who espouses a philosophy harking back to the hippie era, and the company's convivial founder Craig Newmark," notes the Chron.

Police have warned posters to meet in a public space, such as a parking lot. But following this advice didn't help the two victims from Pleasanton and Livermore who were mugged for their hoodies...in a parking lot.

The classified chain, which likes to pose as a non-profit, rakes in an estimated $20m a year, earning it the nickname "Craig$list".

There's more, here. ®

Track this type of story as a custom Atom/RSS feed or by email.
Previous Article Next Article
whitepaper title

The Perfect (Virtual) Marriage

Get consistent virtual machine storage savings of 50% (often as high as 90%) with virtually no performance impact with NetApp deduplication..
whitepaper title

Gartner Paper: US Data Centers

U.S. enterprise data centers face considerable space and energy constraints over the next few years. Download this free independent report to read more..
Whitepapers

Top 20 storiesAll The Week’s HeadlinesArchiveSearch