Craigslist hoax casts unwanted attention

Jason was never really vocal about his politics.

He grew up in Berks County and was raised in the Mennonite faith. He attended private schools with friends who shared his values and was surrounded by a pretty conservative community.

And he mostly, though quietly, supported Republicans.

That changed with the 2020 presidential election.

Jason became a champion for progressive causes, sharing his newfound political preferences with friends and family through social media posts. He had a feeling that his opinions were going to be unpopular with many of his followers, but thought this election was too important to stay silent.

He expected some heated exchanges and anticipated some friends would choose to block him from their Facebook feeds. But, he said, nothing could have prepared him for what happened last week.

It was Friday afternoon when he got the first call.

The person on the other end of the line was seeking more information about who was behind a posting they saw on Craigslist stating that Berks County was hiring people to create fake ballots.

“I had no idea what they were talking about,” said Jason, who declined to provide his last name or where he lives. “By the time I got the third call, I knew something was up, so I started asking people where they got my number. That’s when I found my number on this Craigslist post.”

County officials had become aware of the post, too.

Stephanie M. Weaver, the county’s public relations officer, issued a statement Thursday night saying the Craigslist post was fraudulent and the county believed it was a hoax meant to taint the legitimacy of the county’s handling of the election.

Weaver said county officials contacted the phone number in the post and confirmed the person the number belonged to was listed without their knowledge. She said the county reported the inaccurate posting to Craigslist and planned to investigate further.

Jason said he suspects the person who created the post was a longtime family friend who made a vague threat a few weeks ago about sharing his information online. He also discovered that a second number listed on the post is a former coworker of the same man who he assumes is responsible.

But, Jason acknowledged, he has no evidence to prove that the man he suspects is the person behind the post.

Jason said the other person whose number was listed on the post has reported the incident to police but was told that there was very little they could do. So instead they decided to report the online post as fraudulent in an effort to have it removed from Craigslist.

By late Friday night, Jason said it appeared the post had been taken down by the author. But, he added, screenshots of the post continue to circulate on several social media platforms.

Jason said that since Friday afternoon he has received dozens of phone calls and text messages from people as far away as North Dakota who believe the post is real.

“There are a significant amount of people out there who believe this stuff is happening,” he said. “The threats I was getting were pretty extreme. And I think there are some people who might have acted on those threats.”

Jason said he has been responding to many of the calls and texts with an explanation that the post was fake and that he was unknowingly targeted by someone. Some have apologized while others have remained skeptical.

“There was one call in particular where I got heated when they refused to believe me,” he said. “It’s not that I care what they think so much as I care that people could essentially judge someone without any evidence.”

Jason said the incident has shed light on the broader problem of why so many are quick to believe the things they see online.

“We, as Americans, have got to figure out how to determine what’s true,” he said. “I understand not wanting to get all your information from the mainstream media, but there’s got to a better way to decide whether what we see online is true.”