Be Careful Meeting People From Genesee County Facebook Resale Groups

Recent robbery allegations I've seen on Facebook in local resale groups made me think it might be a good idea to give you some pointers about how to be safe this holiday season... and all the time, really.

My wife follows a few of these local Facebook resale groups and quite often picks up some cool stuff for pretty cheap. However, I'm always concerned that she could be walking into an ambush. The truth is, you can never be completely safe when meeting with strangers... especially in this area.

There are a bunch of these Facebook resale groups, among the largest in the area are Genesee County Yard/Garage Sale site (over 12,000 members) and Genesee County Sales (over 8,000 members). Whenever there are that many people involved in something, there are bound to be a few bad apples. 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.

The office of Genesee County Sheriff Robert Pickell had the following to say about these type of transactions:

"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 us 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.