Illinois National Guard warns of Craigslist and EBay ads placed by fake 'soldiers'

July 31, 1:59 PMChicago Headlines ExaminerDeborah O'Malley

Identity thieves are sinking to new lows to get information from unsuspecting people looking for bargains on Craigslist and EBay.

The Illinois National Guard reports several advertisements have been placed on these sites in recent weeks by people pretending to be National Guardsmen about to be deployed as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The ads say the "soldiers" are selling vehicles and boats at rock-bottom prices before they head out. When people respond to the ad, the cons wheedle personal identification information from the would-be buyers and that information is used by the thieves to make purchases under false names.

The Illinois Guard says it has contacted the websites and asked to have all the ads removed. It's warning the public to be wary of any ads by people claiming to be with the Guard.

The two fictitious names used in the ads so far are Staff. Sgt. Brianna Mitchell and Staff Sgt. Anthony Potter, both of the 139th MPAD.

The FBI is involved in the investigation to try and determine who placed the ads.

Over at youtube, the DODvClips channel has also posted a video regarding this, and similar issues

Scammers

I wouldn't be surprised to learn things like this are an inside job by ebaY and/or Paypal employees. They have been caught supporting terrorism and also calling our guys, who came back blown up and mind-fawked whiners and thieves, when they had disagreements with ebay's glorious protection policies