Experiences with Craigslist Personals (dating, wife, women, separate)

[Special_Guest]

I recently started perusing Craigslist in an attempt to meet men. I started talking to one man, but my spidey senses started tingling and I got creeped out. Things just didn't add up. He MIGHT have been telling the truth, but his pictures were model-perfect, and I could tell some things were cut-and-pasted in his responses. We texted a bit, but he refused to meet me for coffee, saying I didn't send him enough pictures. I was really concerned I was being catfished. I found a LinkedIn page that appeared to belong to him along with a photo, but not being a member of LinkedIn, not sure if that is something easily faked.

I'm hesitant to attempt again. Anybody have any interesting stories? What kind of scams have you heard of or run into?

[TheseGoTo11]

If you are female and under 300 lbs, statistics suggest you've got 197 unopened messages in your inbox from other guys. I'm sure at least one of them is normal.

[strawberryanise]

I know someone who met his wife through Craigslist. I believe he answered her ad. Yet, I don't think that's the norm.

I've met some...interesting characters through the personals. I encountered a bunch of people who were looking for an NSA situation...despite the fact that was not what I had stated in the ad and there is a separate section for that. I went out with one guy who had lied about his age; I had started to become suspicious when some of his references didn't make sense for his stated age.

I met one guy who was one of the weirdest people whom I had ever met. He was relatively harmless (especially compared to others I met through Craigslist) but he was just too odd!

Word to the wise: screen very, very hard.

[Rhenzanite]

Originally Posted by TheseGoTo11

If you are female and under 300 lbs, statistics suggest you've got 197 unopened messages in your inbox from other guys. I'm sure at least one of them is normal.

Not true.

Not true at all.

[OdysseusNY]

i met a cool gal through CL and we dated for a while, but that was years ago

i've heard it's gotten worse since then

[dragon_fly_12]

I've had contests with friends for which of us could find the most bizarre ad on CL for our state .... But, those mostly come from the encounters section.

[Marc Allen 242]

I have to say, on the very positive side, I've made some great IRL friends from the platonic section of CL. I also have this bizarrely coequal, no-pic, multi-year texting friendship with another. It's weirdly life-affirming.

On the other hand, in the midwest, CL seems to be a haven for the morbidly obese, nutcases, men-pretending-to-be-women, and the criminally insane. I've never encountered anyone I would remotely consider for a one night stand much less any ongoing intimacy.

Essentially, I have no experience with online dating as it seems to me that real world encounters are the most efficient and expedient, but were I of a mind to try that medium Craigslist would not be my first choice...

[MountainGuy74]

The Craigslist personals......you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.

I have a female friend who placed an ad on there and it was both entertaining and disturbing on the responses she received. She was very specific in her ad as far as what she was looking for and the type of men she was interested and it seemed that most men didn't ever bother to read the ad and replied anyway even though they were not at all what she was looking for. It's like they just look at the picture in the ad and that's all that matters.

[exim36]

Originally Posted by TheseGoTo11

If you are female and under 300 lbs, statistics suggest you've got 197 unopened messages in your inbox from other guys. I'm sure at least one of them is normal.

like your view about this I would just change rations, to something like 1000 / inbox

[Kin Atoms]

Originally Posted by JetJockey

Not true.

Not true at all.

The most succinct, accurate comment. I couldn't rep you again so soon, but your answer was on the money.