Illegal to Scrape Craigslist for Phone Numbers?

kebertt

Junior Member

Aug 17, 2011

134

38

• Nov 20, 2011

• #1

I'm in the process of opening a cell phone recycling business and starting to plan my marketing techniques.

I am wondering if it is illegal to gather phone numbers through Craigslist and use an SMS Marketing campaign to tell them about my business? It would be perfect for my business because my customers are people looking to sell their new/broken/used cell phones for cash.

My thinking is that I am simply advertising my services to a customer who has asked for them, am I correct?

 

kebertt

Junior Member

Aug 17, 2011

134

38

• Nov 21, 2011
• Thread Starter Thread Starter

• #2

Any input?

 

Y

ying-yang

BANNED

Jul 18, 2010

751

101

• Dec 13, 2011

• #3

not really on ur topic, im looking to get phone numbers scraped from craigs list too, but u used the words " My thinking is that I am simply advertising my services to a customer who has asked for them, am I correct? "

if u scrape u do not actually have a list of customers ASKING for ur service, u stole the numbers , and ur advertising ur service, there is a difference, basically, there is no OPT in for u to sms them. so it might be spamming ?? not sure.

 

kebertt

Junior Member

Aug 17, 2011

134

38

• Dec 13, 2011
• Thread Starter Thread Starter

• #4

ying-yang said:

if u scrape u do not actually have a list of customers ASKING for ur service, u stole the numbers , and ur advertising ur service, there is a difference, basically, there is no OPT in for u to sms them. so it might be spamming ?? not sure.

Click to expand...

But if I'm simply responding to an advertisement they posted and I'm interested in purchasing that item then they are in fact asking for my service.

 

socialmediaking

Regular Member

Feb 25, 2011

201

240

• Dec 13, 2011

• #5

It is illegal to market to them via SMS without an opt-in...although if you use a longcode and make the message seem targeted, i.e., "hey i saw your cl ad about your phone, i run a phone recycling company, if you are interested in recycling it, please let me know"

I don't think they would have a way of really knowing you are bulk sending...

 

S

Sweet Deal :)

Newbie

Sep 28, 2011

48

13

• Jan 5, 2012

• #6

lol who cares, nobody has to know were u got the numbers from

 

N

Nick1

Junior Member

Oct 16, 2009

196

45

• Jan 5, 2012

• #7

Might be against TOS of Craigslist (I never considered scraping off Craigslist, but 99% of the large commercial sites have restrictions against using bots...).If they catch you, they can sue in some countries.

 

mpulse

Regular Member

May 27, 2009

428

122

• Jan 6, 2012

• #8

1 word scrapebox

 

C

chatmasta

Junior Member

Sep 1, 2007

122

38

• Jan 9, 2012

• #9

Definitely against CAN SPAM. As someone said an opt-in is a required. But if you are doing it on a small scale with a personal looking number and saying "I saw your ad on CL...blahblah" then I doubt anyone is going to complain. Just be careful and know that what you're doing is technically not allowed.

 

DMSEsquire

BANNED

Dec 4, 2010

235

70

• Jan 16, 2012

• #10

Does anyone know of a program yet that can reliably scrape numbers from CL?
Posted via Mobile Device

 

frankjames

Registered Member

Dec 9, 2008

53

14

• Jan 21, 2012

• #11

Anyone know of a guide to using scrapebox to harvest coubtry specific cell numbers ? i cant figure it out
cheers

 

D

don38086

Junior Member

Aug 14, 2010

101

1

• Jan 22, 2012

• #12

lol who cares

 

Grinch

Regular Member

Jan 26, 2012

423

277

• Jan 27, 2012

• #13

Well if there contacting you then there is no problem to get there numbers.

 

R

realpva

Newbie

May 18, 2012

2

1

• May 18, 2012

• #14

DO NOT DO IT BRO>>> FTC will be all over you.....


RealPVA

 

CyberknightTully

Junior Member

Feb 19, 2010

136

151

• May 18, 2012

• #15

Instead of annoying the shit out of cellphone users and breaking all kinds of laws, why don't you just run a bunch of ads on CL and Backpage? If you are paying for the phones people will find you and if you're paying well, they will flock to you. Often there are local forums with free B/S/T sections as well. Blackhat can sometimes be taken too far and used where it is completely unnecessary.

 

2011nfl

Supreme Member

Aug 9, 2010

1,265

6,059

• May 19, 2012

• #16

If you openly admit where you get the numbers from it could backfire, but nobody needs to know

 

E

Ellisd

Regular Member

Oct 13, 2009

250

62

• May 26, 2012

• #17

How risky is it using an auto poster on CL now days ? In terms of getting sued or charges pressed against me, I am in the USA

 

I

insanebeeftw

Junior Member

Premium Member

May 12, 2012

119

18

• Jun 1, 2012

• #18

kebertt said:

I'm in the process of opening a cell phone recycling business and starting to plan my marketing techniques.

I am wondering if it is illegal to gather phone numbers through Craigslist and use an SMS Marketing campaign to tell them about my business? It would be perfect for my business because my customers are people looking to sell their new/broken/used cell phones for cash.

My thinking is that I am simply advertising my services to a customer who has asked for them, am I correct?

Click to expand...

My question is: How exactly have these customers asked for your service by placing their phone numbers in CL posts? Unless they have mentioned your business specifically by name and are asking for you to contact them, this is scraping and stealing phone numbers. Many of these CL posters have probably listed their numbers for totally unrelated reasons, such as on a job resume. I would not do it if it were me. Some mobile subscribers are also billed per text. You may even risk some type of legal consequences by doing this, though I imagine it depends on the geographic region.

 

A

alexpack

Registered Member

Mar 26, 2012

64

4

• Jun 7, 2012

• #19

I think yes its against the TOS of the craiglist

 

A

Await

Registered Member

Jun 7, 2012

72

19

• Jun 7, 2012

• #20

lol who cares, nobody has to know were u got the numbers from