An 18-year-old Florey man has been charged over the alleged thefts of goods being sold via online platforms. Police say he is on bail for similar alleged offending.
He was arrested at a secondhand goods store in Phillip on Friday where he allegedly offered a Ricoh camera for sale.
On Thursday evening a woman reported to Belconnen Police Station the theft of a Ricoh camera with the circumstances the same as two previously reported thefts of Apple MacBook computers.
Last month police were alerted to two MacBooks that had been offered for sale via Facebook Marketplace where the buyer had used fake cash transfer receipts to secure the items.
In both cases the sales were made face-to-face, however the seller was shown screenshots on the buyer’s phone as evidence of payment with no payments allegedly ever received by the sellers.
In both cases the buyer was using the same Facebook profile when seeking to buy the computers.
In a third matter in early June, the Facebook profile was again used to buy a MacBook computer, however a different man attended the sale. Police will allege that again, a screenshot of a fake bank transfer was used to “purchase” the computer.
In late May, the man faced the ACT Magistrates Court charged with similar offences and received bail including a condition not to use any digital marketplace, such as Facebook Marketplace.
He was subsequently charged yesterday with two counts of obtain property by deception, joint commission obtain property by deception, possession of stolen property and breach of bail.
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