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SOUTH LOS ANGELES — As the holiday season approaches, officers with the LAPD Operations-South Bureau are warning the public to be cautious when buying and selling items online. With e-commerce transactions increasing during this time of year, police stress the importance of staying vigilant.
“Each year, there are many successful e-commerce transactions, however, some of those transactions have harmful and traumatic outcomes for our community,” said LAPD Cmdr. Ryan Whiteman.
The growing popularity of platforms like Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp for holiday shopping has led to a troubling rise in robberies.
“In the past three months August to October, Los Angeles Police Department Operation-South Bureau areas have had five robberies involving e-commerce transactions. In the month of November, this trend continued and we’ve already had two additional e-commerce robberies,” Whiteman said.
LAPD says over the past several months, detectives were investigating a series of e-commerce robberies involving a suspect armed with a knife. The suspect used fake listings for items such as iPhones to lure victims to meeting locations before robbing them.
“That’s when we noticed the pattern. And that’s why we recommend this holiday season make sure these profiles are legit and you’re using a safe place to exchange these properties,” said LAPD Lt. Carlos Chavez.
To help prevent further crimes, the LAPD is encouraging residents to use safe exchange zones located in the lobbies of local community police stations.
“LAPD’s objective is to provide a safe place for all. At no time will we be involved in actual transactions. E-commerce transaction is a civil matter and it is our job to make sure everybody is safe,” Whiteman said.
