Mounties create safe zones for online sales transactions

The Kamloops RCMP has created two sites where people can meet to buy and sell goods via online transactions.

Residents are urged to complete transactions at either of the new Buy and Sell Exchange Zones, which are located inside the main Kamloops RCMP detachment downtown at 560 Battle St. and at the North Shore Community Policing Office at 915 Seventh St. in North Kamloops.

The Buy and Sell Exchange Zones are open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and are under 24/7 surveillance.

“The goal of this new project is to provide locations where people can choose to complete their online transactions in a safer and monitored environment, in an effort to help reduce theft, robbery and fraud,” said Const. Justice Lesuk, the officer responsible for implementing the zones locally.

Lesuk proposed bringing the initiative to Kamloops in recognition of some of the safety concerns online buy-and-sell consumers can sometimes have.

“It’s a simple and straightforward solution that will, hopefully, provide buy-andsell shoppers with more comfort when they get to the actual physical exchange of cash and product,” Lesuk said.

Although the site offers a safer place to exchange goods, it should be noted that police will not be assisting or mediating exchanges and that the surveillance won’t be actively monitored. The Kamloops RCMP added that it will not take any financial responsibil- ity for trades completed or provide any assurance in the validity of items purchased.

If people buying and selling items online are unable to meet at the two Buy and Sell Exchange Zones, police have the following tips for conducting transactions:

• Conduct the exchange in the daytime;

• Don’t go alone. Bring a friend or family member with you;

• Go to a public place that has plenty of foot traffic;

• Limit the personal information you give out;

• On either side of the exchange, inspect the items and money to ensure they are not fraudulent

• Check with this website — https://www.cpic-cipc.ca/ index-eng.htm — to ensure the items being traded are not stolen.

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