Craigslist Hoax: house stripped after hoax ads appear on Craig's list
Robert Salisbury of Jacksonville, Oregon, lived a nightmare of the worst kind last Saturday after hoax ads stating his belongings were free for the taking appeared on the Craig's list.
The ads appeared on the Craig's list on Saturday afternoon; they said that the owner of a Jacksonville home was forced to leave the area immediately and all his belongings, including a horse, were free for the taking.
Too bad the homeowner, later identified as Robert Salisbury, had no plans to leave. He began realizing something was very wrong after he received a call from a woman who had stopped by his house to take his horse.
He immediately made his way home and could not believe his eyes. "I informed them I was the owner, but they refused to give the stuff back," Salisbury said. "They showed me the Craigslist printout and told me they had the right to do what they did."
Approximately 30 people were still busy taking everything was left from the house as Salisbury was trying to stop them in vain. "They honestly thought that because it appeared on the Internet it was true," Salisbury said. "It boggles the mind."
Jacksonville police and Jackson County sheriff's deputies arrived at the scene but several cars packed with Salisbury's property had already fled.
Detectives from Jackson County Sheriff's office have contacted Craigslist's legal team to try to trace the hoax ads and their originators.
TOW Newswire - Published March 25 2008 - 8.40am EST
house stripped after hoax ads appear on Craig's list
