Craigslist is an online platform for classified advertisements. Its impact on local economy is non-negligible. For example, such advertisements reduce housing rental vacancy rates. The success of Craigslist is limited by persistent scams. The possibility of being scammed could prevent transactions from being completed. In economic terms, the expected value of loss due to a scam can be thought of as a probable tariff towards future transactions. Given the positive effects of Craigslist for the economy, local governments should aim to minimize this expected loss. Thus, local governments should either decrease the probability of victimization or limit the magnitude of losses. The obvious solution is to decrease the number of attackers, for example through prosecution. Such deterrence is prohibitively expensive, especially considering the limited resources of local law enforcement and associated public bodies. (The difficulties encountered in the application of consumer fraud statutes online are well-documented. Craigslist (automobile) scams are targeted and influenced by community characteristics and composition. Communities with higher proportion of educated white males specifically are most exposed to online fraud. The likely explanation is purchasing behavior. Local government initiatives, such as public awareness campaigns and education efforts should take this vulnerability into account. Our results are limited by the nature of the online scam studied. Individuals that buy automobiles online may not be representative of other fraudulent transactions enabled by Craigslist scams. This study is also limited to 30 American cities. Thus, the results are likely not generalizable