Buying and selling goods online is now a little safer in West Perth, officials say.
The municipality has partnered with Perth County OPP to establish the region’s second Safe Trade zone, a well-lit area marked with signs people are encouraged to use when buying and selling items through online marketplaces such as Kijiji and Craigslist.
The new “community safe zone,” as described by police, is located in two parking spaces across from the firehall on Wellington Street in Mitchell.
In a press release, Perth County OPP Insp. Wendy Burrow said police are proud of the project’s partners. “This is an excellent example of community stakeholders working together towards affording a safe location for residents to complete their online transactions,” she said.
Online classified and auction sites can be used as tools to sell stolen property. In Perth County, provincial police have received “a few complaints over time regarding transactions not going as planned,” OPP spokesperson Const. Kimberly Lyon said in an email.
Elsewhere in the province, online transactions have occasionally been dangerous.
Earlier in July, Toronto police strongly urged the public to use caution while using online classified sites after robberies related to online transactions were reported in the city’s downtown core. According to police, potential buyers arranged a meeting with sellers in response to ads for cellphones on Kijiji, but the sellers were instead confronted by men wielding firearms who demanded money.
Perth County OPP and the Municipality of North Perth established the area’s first Safe Trade zone in Listowel last year after it was requested by a local resident. It’s located in the parking lot outside the North Perth OPP detachment and the Municipality of North Perth office at 330 Wallace Avenue North.
“From what I’ve heard it has been well utilized,” Lyon said, adding the program also allows users to avoid setting up transactions at their home.
Perth County OPP is expecting to unveil a third Safe Trade zone in Sebringville in the near future.