Regina police urge caution after seller bear-sprayed during meet arranged through online marketplace

The Regina Police Service is urging people to be careful when buying from online marketplaces after an attempted theft, during which a seller was attacked with bear spray, on Tuesday.

Policesaid officers were sentto the 1900 block of Robinson Street, in centralRegina, just before 7 p.m., where they found a 47-year-old man reeling from a bear spray attack after a Facebook Marketplacetransaction didn't go to plan.

The 47-year-old had agreed to meet apotential buyer fora smartwatch, but the supposed buyer attempted to take the watch without paying and a struggle ensued. The would-be robberthenattacked the seller with bear sprayand fled, police said in a news release.

Police said they're still looking for the person involved in that incident. They believe he used a false identity to contact the seller.

Ron Pich, a defence lawyer in Saskatoon, said the frequency of theft and scams over social media in the past five years "has become alarming."

"Frankly, I think this is like our current version of train robbers. It's the new wave, if you will, of criminality."

In light of the latestincident in Regina,police are recommending anyone arrangingmeetups over social media bring along a friend and have a phone handyin case of emergency.

Cities like Saskatoon, Lloydminster, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Brampton, Ont., have set upmeetup areas for sales arranged by social media. Those areas are in front ofpolice stations, where there arevideo cameras and designated parking spaces for transactions.

Regina doesn't have a designated safe meetup area.

Pich said a monitored area, in the vicinity of a police station, could potentially help deter crime.

"There is a general suggestion that criminals don't want to be anywhere close to a police headquarters or a jail, so there's the optics," he said.

Four years ago, a similar incidentprompted questions aroundsafe zones in Regina. Evan Bray, then Regina's police chief, said he was not part of any discussions with officers to establish such an area in the city.

The Regina Police Service is operating out of a newheadquarters building, with its last phase of construction expected to be completed nextyear, at a projected cost of $50 million. The police servicesaid it could look into options for a secure meetup area, but hasnot made a decision yet because of ongoing work.

"Before moving forward, we'd also need to discuss the concept with other agencies offering similar spaces to better understand its value in crime prevention,"LesParker, a Regina police spokesperson, saidin an emailed statement Friday.

'Should have been a safe transaction':Saskatoon theft victim

Jay Shah, a Saskatoon resident, said he was robbed by a supposed buyer while trying to sell a phone last year.

Shah said he arranged the meetup overFacebook Marketplace in a busy parking lot, accompanied by a friend, in broad daylight, and in a neighbourhood that has one of the lowest crime rates in the city. Yet, he said, the supposed buyer fled with the $750 phone.

"All the checkboxes were ticked that this should have been a safe transaction, but clearly not," he said.

"As of right now, there's no hope in my mind that I'll get the phone back or that we'll even know what happened to it."

Shah said he was unawareSaskatoon had a safe site for buyers and sellers to meet, but the experience led him to look into better options. He's now urgingother sellers to stay safe by making sure they know who they're supposed to be meeting, and using the safe site.

"There's a lot of webcams there and it's lit up, so you can go pretty much any time," he said.

Shah added the police site might not be foolproof, but gives an added layer of protection.

Facebook's trust and safety guidelinesrecommendusers vetsellers, share their live location with someone else during meetups, check their bank account to verify transactionsand report any suspicious activity.