People who are buying online and meeting people locally need to be wary. A Shelby County Sheriff’s Office spokesman told Lakeland leaders on July 9 that it’s risky for citizens to meet strangers with cash or valuables.
Websites make it easier than ever to find buyers and sellers online, and people then find it convenient to meet locally to complete the purchase. Popular sites include Craigslist.com, Facebook groups and Varagesale.com, among others.
The problem is that the innocent person can’t tell who is legitimate and who is going to be a scammer or a robber.
Lt. Terry Lomax of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department said, “It’s like I say on social media: A friend of a friend of a friend is still a stranger.”
At the city board’s July 9 work session, Lomax was answering questions from Lakeland board members about crimes in a local parking lot.
Gene Torrey, Lakeland board member, told an anecdote about a Mid-South victim. He said this person advertised a car on Craigslist and met a potential buyer in a local restaurant’s parking lot. The person posing as a buyer beat up the owner, stole the car, ransacked it for valuables and then abandoned it, he said.
Torrey commented, “I think it’s incumbent that people realize that this Craigslist scenario with people wanting to meet somewhere to buy something is a dangerous proposition.”
Lomax agreed, saying that the only person he’s seen have good experiences with buyers is a fellow police officer who warns people up front not to scam him.
“But everyone else, I’ve never heard a really good experience on Craigslist,” he said. “Maybe it’s like anything else — you only hear the bad things.”
Minimize risks
Craigslist.com has some helpful advice to minimize the chances of being victimized in a transaction:
- Deal locally, face to face. Beware of offers involving shipping costs.
- Insist on a public meeting place.
- Consider making high-value exchanges (such as a vehicle sale) at your local police station or sheriff’s office.
- Don’t go alone.
- Never wire funds to someone.
- Don’t accept cashier’s checks, certified checks or money orders. If they are fakes, your bank will hold you responsible for their value.
- Never give out financial information such as a bank account, Social Security number or PayPal account.
- Check and test all merchandise. That amazing “deal” may not exist.
For more information about personal safety online, Craigslist recommends these resources: staysafeonline.org, onguardonline.gov, getsafeonline.org and wiredsafety.org.
They gambled and they lost
Earlier this year and at the end of 2014, some local victims suffered large financial losses and harrowing threats:
- A Lakeland woman found a hair stylist on Craigslist, provided her debit card and PIN to buy supplies, and got her hair done at the stylist’s home in April. Meanwhile, someone drained $806 from her bank account. She suspected the stylist’s boyfriend, who was in and out during the session.
- A Lakeland man paid $3,772 for a vehicle and vehicle insurance in April before a Ford Ranger could be shipped to him.
He thought he was buying it from an Army sergeant who needed to sell before deployment. The vehicle never arrived. - An Arlington man was attacked and robbed of his iPhone and cash on May 23at the Memphis Arlington Sports Complex.
His attacker fled with the victim’s acquaintenance, who the victim had met on Instagram. - A victim in Lakeland reported paying $16,000 on Dec. 9, 20140, for a car advertised on Craigslist. He learned later that day it was stolen.
- A man trying to buy an iPhone via Craigslist was held up at gunpoint Nov. 8 on Bartlett Oaks Drive in Bartlett. He escaped without injuries or financial losses but took a gunshot to the door of his car.
Written by Carolyn Bahm, Express editor. Contact her at (901) 433-9138 or via email to bartlett.editor@journalinc.com.
