[vaksel]

craigslist could probably eliminate a ton of spam by simply editting out the urls that go thru it's email system.

i.e. if someone includes <a href> inside the email body, simply unscramble it and show the full link.

And on the bottom of the email spell out a warning about affiliates.

This will eliminate most of the spam that goes out to people who list stuff on craigslist.

To fight spammers that list fake listings to gather email addresses...simply implement a private message system for craigslist. Then you can analyze all emails that get sent to users and do the same trick as #1.

You can also limit exposure by blocking messages based on user IPs. Chances are someone from China listing in New York craigslist is a fake.

[uxp]

> You can also limit exposure by blocking messages based on user IPs.

Craigslist already does this to an extent in their high volume categories. For example, one cannot post Job Listings in highly populated areas (like New York or San Francisco) unless the posting IP address comes from a place near there, and the account is verified via a phone call. Anyone not fitting this description must pay a certain amount of money.

The other side of the coin is the blackmarket selling of Phone Verified Craigslist accounts along with proxy lists in those same markets which can effectively bypass any IP filtering put in place.

[planetguy]

> You can also limit exposure by blocking messages based on user IPs. Chances are someone from China listing in New York craigslist is a fake.

That last one would probably just create a minor inconvenience for actual scammers while creating headaches for the occasional legit "I am in Shanghai please buy my couch" poster.