ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando police said they’ve seen a rise in crime involving people making deals online and then meeting up to buy or sell the items.
During the last couple of weeks, police have seen more than two dozen cases and officers are worried it will continue.
Nicki McDonie has sold items online for a decade—meeting a buyer at the OPD e-commerce station Wednesday morning to buy a chest.
“I came here for a chest for my nephew’s Christmas. I’m going to fill it up with Legos and surprise him with them. They love to build Legos so I bought them a whole bunch. I did it all through E*Trade,” she said.
While McDonie’s trade was successful and happened without incident, police said in the last six weeks there’s been at least two dozen e-commerce deals that have ended violently.
The cases usually involve smart phones and start on websites like OfferUp and Facebook Marketplace.
OPD has designated parking spaces at the station where people can conduct such transactions—and police say if one of the parties doesn’t want to meet at a police station, then that’s a red flag.
OPD officials said the spots are under video surveillance and that the spaces are a safe environment to conduct trades.
Cox Media Group
