Investigator Use
Search Tempest is a Craigslist and classified ad aggregation search tool that searches multiple Craigslist regions simultaneously and also covers eBay, eBay Motors, and other classified platforms. It allows investigators to search for specific items, names, or terms across all geographic Craigslist markets in a single query.
For OSINT investigators, Craigslist is a significant intelligence source because it hosts classified advertisements for goods, services, housing, employment, and personal connections. Fraudulent sales, human trafficking advertisements (using recognized indicator language), illegal weapons sales, stolen goods resales, and other criminal activity frequently appear on classified ad platforms.
The multi-regional search capability of Search Tempest is critical because perpetrators of classified ad fraud or trafficking often post the same listing across multiple geographic markets. A fraudulent vehicle sale scam posting the same car in 50 cities simultaneously is immediately apparent through multi-region search but would require 50 individual Craigslist region searches to discover manually.
For property fraud investigations, searching for specific property addresses across all Craigslist markets can reveal whether the same property is being advertised by multiple fraudulent posters attempting simultaneous rental fraud from a property they don't own.
The eBay search component extends coverage to the largest general auction platform — useful for locating specific items potentially sold through illicit channels, identifying seller accounts selling specific categories of goods, or tracking specific item listings across time.
For human trafficking investigations, Search Tempest's broad multi-region coverage helps analysts monitor classified ad platforms for listings that use trafficking indicator language or phone numbers and email addresses associated with known trafficking operations.
Limitations: Craigslist posts are ephemeral and frequently deleted after sale or by the platform's moderation. Important listings should be immediately archived upon discovery. Search Tempest's index may not be completely real-time.
Document all searches with terms used, regions covered, and any significant listings found with full text and timestamps.
Before You Pivot
Record Context
Capture the target, search terms, and why this source is relevant before you leave the page.
Preserve Evidence
Archive volatile pages, save screenshots, and keep timestamps for anything that may change.
Corroborate
Treat one tool as a lead source. Confirm important findings with independent sources.
Related Tools
All IO
OSINT Search Techniques
All.io aggregates results from multiple search engines in one interface, covering web pages, tweets, YouTube, and images for OSINT.
Answerthepublic
OSINT Search Techniques
AnswerThePublic surfaces real questions people search around any keyword — useful for OSINT subject profiling and research mapping.
Carrot Search
OSINT Search Techniques
Carrot2 organizes your search results into topics. With an instant overview of what
DorkSearch
OSINT Search Techniques
DorkSearch generates advanced Google dork queries to find exposed data, sensitive documents, and vulnerabilities for OSINT research.
Duckduckgo
OSINT Search Techniques
The Internet privacy company that empowers you to seamlessly take control of your personal information online, without any tradeoffs.
Etools
OSINT Search Techniques
Transparent metasearch engine in Swiss quality. Simultaneously queries major search engines with one click.