Grande Prairie RCMP is reminding people to document their items after allegations of stolen property showing up on Kijiji.
On October 28th, a man went to the detachment to report that the serial number for an item for sale on the site matched one on an item that was stolen from him.
Later on that evening, a 26-year-old man was arrested at a local gas station and the item was recovered. The man’s name has not been released at this time.
Constable Candace Hrdlicka says there are several things people can do to protect their items including writing down serial numbers and leaving identifying marks on the item.
“If [they are] unable to record a serial number, they can mark it in a way that easily identifies that as their property. People can also keep their proof of purchase, their invoice or receipt [if] their items go missing or are stolen.”
Hrdlicka urges people to do their research if they looking for goods on websites like Kijiji.
“For high priced items, there are ways to check serial numbers for vehicles and VIN numbers to see if items may have been reported stolen in the past,” she says.
“If a deal seems too good to be true or doesn’t quite seem legit there might be a reason behind that,” she adds.
Any suspicious activity seen on buy and sell sites like Kijiji or the Facebook Marketplace can be reported to the RCMP or Crime Stoppers.
