DeKalb cops probe 13 Craigslist robberies

At least 13 people have been robbed in DeKalb County since January by criminals who used Craigslist.org Internet ads to lure victims to locations where they supposedly would sell them cheap I-Phones and Sony game systems.

“Sometimes the robbers had guns,” Dekalb County police spokeswoman Mekka Parish said Friday as the department announced it had two suspects in custody.

Parish declined to identify the suspects, who will be put in a lineup to see if victims can identify them; nor did she offer more details about the victims or the locations of the robberies.

“They [the suspects] are still being questioned to determine if they will lead us to others who are involved in the robberies,” Parish said. “We know they are not responsible for all 13 robberies.”

The victims all had responded to postings on Craigslist, the free online classified advertising site, offering to sell I-Phones and Sony PSP Gaming Systems, Parish said. The buyers were told to meet the sellers at night “at various locations.”

In a news release issued to alert the public to the scam, DeKalb police advised Craigslist users to meet buyers or sellers during daylight hours, in public places, and to never go alone.

Parish said Craigslist is cooperating with the DeKalb investigation. The San Francisco-based company did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment.