Would it be illegal to "bait" people on freecycle?

Question

i.e. totally just waste their time and play along with them pretending you want or are offering something?

Illegal or just sad?

People do it with scammers ("scambaiting") and that seems to be accepted.

Answer 1

First, it's against the rules of free cycle to place false ads. Second, scam baiting is very dangerous to your computer; the scammers are very tech savvy and can fry your computer the moment you go on line. I know that for a fact from a group I belong to that more than one has had that happen to them.

Answer 2

Freecycle groups would be a poor choice of groups/sites to play those kind of games. It might not be illegal to "bait" freecyclers but it would be totally against Freecyle group rules.  There's no comparison of Freecycle activities with scamming / scambaiting.  

With the high price of gasoline, it would be sad to see someone who really looks forward to receiving your offer waste their time and gas driving to pick it up when you have no intention of following through.  Word does get back to the Freecycle group owners about members not following through with their offers and promises to pick up items.  Members who repeatedly do this are usually removed/banned from groups.  I hope you do not pursue this idea.

Answer 3

SAD