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Man Battles Craigslist Stalker

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga.,None — A Buford man began selling guitars and music equipment on the web to save up for retirement, but he said his plan hit a sour note when someone began stalking him on Craigslist.

Richard Allison used to work in the mortgage industry and sold the equipment for retirement money. He said his online music sales plummeted when his ads were repeatedly changed by an Alpharetta man he had never met.

He said he hopes the ordeal will be over now that he has sought legal action against the man.

WSB-TV Richard Allison The harassment started more than two years ago, Allison said. He said the man initially just posted derogatory comments. Then, the man began copying and pasting Allison's ads with altered information -- such as, drastically lower prices.

Seller Fed Up With Web Harassment

"I would just be relaxing and then I'd get 30 or 40 phone calls asking about this stuff and I would have to explain to each person," Allison told Channel 2's Tony Thomas.

But it didn't stop there. Allison said last March he was receiving phone calls from people following up on sex ads with his contact information.

"I was covered up with calls from guys who expected to talk to some girl named DJ," Allison said.

Allison believes he was targeted simply because of the volume of products he was selling.

"He got tired of seeing my listing," Allison said.

And Allison was tired of dealing with the harassment, so he went to court. This month, a Fulton County judge granted him a protective order against the man.

Allison said so far, the issues have ceased.

Channel 2 made several attempts to contact the man listed in the protective order, but he did not return any phone calls.