Vancouver police are encouraging people to hold their Craigslist transactions in the safety of their headquarters.
Other U.S. cities have welcomed the public to exchange cash and goods in the lobbies of parking lots of police stations to discourage criminals.
Vancouver police suggest that their lobby or in front of the building are good places for the public to make their deals.
"Those conducting Craigslist scams would be reluctant to continue that scam at the police station," said Vancouver police Const. Brian Montague in an email to The Huffington Post B.C.
Hundreds of people who used Craigslist to buy tickets to the Maroon 5 concert in Vancouver on Sunday night discovered they were fake, reported Global News.
In October, a New Westminster man was mugged at gunpoint after meeting a seller who advertised a $600 MacBook.
In 2013, a couple who were trying to sell jewelery through Craigslist were pepper-sprayed and robbed in Langley.
Crimes related to Craigslist may happen more than people know, because the Better Business Bureau says such incidents are "under-reported," reported CBC News.
Some police departments in the U.S. have opened up designated "safe zones" for trading at their stations. The Hartford Police Department in Connecticut dedicated an entire section of their parking lot just for Craigslist exchanges.
"If it's gonna prevent a robbery, if it's gonna prevent a homicide, if it's gonna make our citizens feel safe... we can live with it," Hartford's Chief of Detectives Brian Foley told NPR. "We don't want it to become a flea market out there, but certainly it hasn't been a problem."
ALSO ON HUFFPOST:
