The Good, The Bad and The Ugly About CraigsList Ads
Everyday, millions of people log onto Craigslist, looking for everything from apartments and jobs, to jewelry and cars. But now, there is a growing number of people logging on for sex.
Every conceivable law authority, city vice detectives, county sheriffs, even federal agents, and local, county, state, and federal politicians are now closely scrutinizing Craigslist.
They are all trying to get an inside look as they target online escorts / prostitutes and their "cyberpimps."
Law enforcement contacts the girls through their very descriptive ads. The cops pretend to be business men visiting from out of town. They call the girls to their hotel rooms and the game is on. The set-up in the hotel room needs to be realistic. Clothes are in the closet, a toothbrush in the bathroom, and beer on the table. If just one thing out of place, it could tip off the girl who’s looking to smell out a rat, and if she suspects anythingand leaves the operation would be blown.
“That’s how sharp these girls are. If they even sense something is out of place or not quite right, they will leave. Escorts also use other techniques to help them determine that the call they are going on is legitimate and safe. They call the hotel to make sure the name that was given to them over the phone is the same name that the room is registered to. "They'll check doors, they'll pick up pillows and mattresses. They check everywhere."
So yes, the cat and mouse game is on, because hidden in the hotel rooms are highly-sensitive voice recorders. It allows detectives in the room next door to listen to everything said between the alleged prostitute and the cop posing as a John.
Once money is exchanged, and sex is offered, the woman is handcuffed and placed under arrest for prostitution. One 28-year old woman arrested in the vice sting told detectives she was selling her body to pay for cosmetology school.
Another gal said she had a lot of friends and family that were out there, stripping and escorting and that they had a house with nice things “All I was trying to do was get nice things, too."
But those "nice things" come at a price. The kind of men who surf craigslist for prostitutes are not usually well to do, respectful, good paying customers. Often times, they are cheap thugs, men with anger issues, looking to rob or rape the girls. "We hear men have held guns to their heads, they've choked them, and they've tied them up and left them, robbed them, raped them, hell just wasting their time and not showing up is a blessing compared to what some gals go through said one detective.
Detectives say most women selling themselves on Craigslist have "cyberpimps who they have to make money for. The ads the cyber pimps post place the girls at great risk and make them target of the cops because the ads offer things that blatantly break the prostitution laws.
This in effect make the girls working independently post ads that are explicit, because if they don’t post a guarantee of service or satisfaction, their ads may not generate any interest.
The cops love this because they say setting these people up and busting them is like taking candy from a baby." We know escorting is a competitive industry, and in escorting there is no guarantee of sex, so we look for the sure thing, where the ad promises full service or satisfaction guaranteed.
Detectives say that is what makes Craigslist so popular for online prostitution is that it’s free, anyone can post, and there is very little regulation by craigslist. Of course craigslist has no incentive to regulate the adult services “erotic services” ads because right now that were 70% of their entire website traffic comes from.
If you’re a female escort advertising adult or erotic services, go with a more upscale directory. There’s eros.com, cityvibe.com, and SexyGFEs.com as some of the oldest and most trusted and recognized escort directories.
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