How to Stay Safe When Meeting People from Tristate Resale Facebook Groups

When I had my daughter, I save hundreds buying second hand items like plastic toys and a high chair. I used resale Facebook groups to find a couple items and always met the minivan-driving mom at the local grocery store to get my item. Great, right? Well, there have been recent robbery allegations on Facebook in local resale groups around the country. You never know when you might be walking into an ambush. The truth is, you can never be completely safe when meeting with strangers… even in our area.

There are a bunch of these Facebook resale groups, among the largest in the area are Everything for SALE in Evansville and Tristate Yard Sales. These are a great place to unload whatever is cluttering your home or pick up that special item you want or need for cheap but whenever there are that many people involved in something, there are bound to be a few bad apples. (cue "That's Life") And yes, there may be people posting things on those pages just to lure in victims for robberies or worse… just like they do on Craigslist.

One Sheriff's office from our sister station said this:

“If [a deal] sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Also, don’t give any personal info out. Be suspicious of everybody until they earn your trust. Watch for overly aggressive behavior. Get references and ask questions. Unfortunately, the internet and social media are both incredible resources, but both can be a snare of deceit as well.“

In addition to those, here are some general safety tips from our friend Tree Riddle from banana1015.com about meeting strangers:

• Always meet in a very public place during the daylight hours. Don’t ever go in some strangers house or you might end up at the bottom of a creepy well putting lotion on your skin… or worse!
• Always bring at least one friend. Preferably someone who can “handle business” if needed.
• Have a cell phone ready in case something goes wrong. But definitely don’t flaunt your brand new iPhone 6 in front of the stranger.
• Never bring more cash than you need for the transaction. If you whip out $400 when you only need $20, you’re basically asking for trouble.
• Always let a friends and family know all of the details about your meeting in advance. Setup some sort of plan so if people don’t hear from you, they will know something is wrong right away. The more people you trust that have the info on your situation, the more likely that the useful info will get to the authorities in case something goes wrong.
• Try not to bring any other valuables with you. You can’t rob someone that only has the $2 they needed to buy your used copy of ‘The Nutty Professor’ on DVD.

And ones from me:

• Buy a shooting pepper spray gun and know how to use it. Keep it in an easily accessible place.
• Use an app on your phone that alerts authorities if something happens to you.