Police offer advice around online selling following burglary in Portchester

We are sharing some cautionary advice about buying/selling online, particularly through Facebook Marketplace, and the risks that you could face.

Police recently received a report of a garage burglary in Portchester on 10 July whereby an E-bike was stolen.

The victim had put an E-bike up for sale online and given their address to someone they believed to be a prospective buyer, before their garage was broken into.

The investigation into this particular incident remains ongoing.

The stolen bike is described as a white and orange KTM, with serial number M5847C9253. If you have been offered the sale of this bike, or have any information to assist enquiries, please contact police on 101 quoting 44240291056, or submit information online here: https://www.hampshire.police.uk/tua/tell-us-about/cor/tell-us-about-existing-case-report/

Alternatively, you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers 100% anonymously on 0800 555 111, or via their anonymous online form at crimestoppers-uk.org

Selling online is extremely common, and the majority of prospective buyers are legitimate, however there are unfortunately individuals who exploit online sales forums to commit crime.

When you are either selling or buying online and through Facebook Marketplace, you never truly know who you are dealing with, as criminals can hide behind a social media profile.

We would like to take this opportunity to remind people to be vigilant when buying and selling via social media.

Some ways you can protect yourself as a buyer or seller online are:

• If someone’s message or profile looks suspicious, trust your instincts and walk away.
• When purchasing smaller items, do the exchange in a safe public place, such as a local police station.
• Avoid giving out your home address to someone you don’t know.
• Use an online payment option such as PayPal, which helps to protect you.
• If you’re the buyer, never transfer money directly into a seller’s account without viewing the item in a safe secure place in person first.
• If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

If you have experienced this type of crime, we encourage you to report it to police on 101, or by using the report tool on our website: www.hampshire.police.uk

For more information and advice, or to report fraud you can also visit www.actionfraud.police.uk