Police Nationwide Creating E-Commerce “Safe Zones”

While the vast majority of digital transactions completed between two otherwise associated parties on the internet goes off without incident — the times when it goes wrong almost always make the headlines. Stories like that of a Craigslist shopper who found himself shot in the leg while trying to buy an iPhone from a stranger. Turns out, the phone was a lure, and the “seller” was just an armed robber.

And now police are getting involved – working with local communities to develop “safe exchange zones” at police offices, where surveillance cameras track all exchanges.

“I think the criminal is going to think twice about coming up here and trying to do a transaction, especially if they’re here for no good,” said Mark Samson, a spokesman for the St. Augustine, Fla., Police Department.

The horror stories seem to make a compelling case. A Colorado woman was slashed with a knife and had a fetus cut out of her.  Karl Trenker was shot in the chest and the stomach when he showed up to sell a gold necklace in a deal his fiancée had arranged on Craigslist in Deerfield Beach, Fla.

“There’s a lot more dangers here” than in Iraq or Afghanistan, Trenker told NBC News at the time. “For me, one of the dangers is [meeting with strangers encountered online]. I think that’s something people need to be aware of.”

That’s why designated safe zones are needed, Samson said.

“We’re not involved. It’s just a safe place,” he said. “If nothing else, it’s making someone feel a little safer than at their house or the gas station across the street.”

The safe commerce zone concept has caught on sufficiently that those interested in using it can find a local location on Safe Deal.

“I just think it’s safer for everybody else,” said Diane Junger, who started a Facebook group where Waretown, N.J., residents can buy, sell and trade their products.

“You have your kids in the car, do you really want to go to somebody’s house?” she asked.