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Read the press release here.

Fake Sales Set Up Through Social Media Ending In Robberies, Police Warn

By Lizzie Schiffman Tufano | January 2, 2017 3:32pm | Updated on January 3, 2017 10:45am
 West Siders are urged to be careful when arranging meetings via social media after a string of robberies of people lured by criminals pretending they want to buy a video game system.
West Siders are urged to be careful when arranging meetings via social media after a string of robberies of people lured by criminals pretending they want to buy a video game system.
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NORTH LAWNDALE — Police have issued a warning urging West Side residents to be cautious arranging meetings through social media after a string of armed robberies where three males threatened individuals who thought they were meeting to sell a video game system.

Last week, unsuspecting sellers who had arranged to meet with someone interested in buying a video game system were met by three teens or young men who displayed a handgun and took the victims' cellphones and money, police said in an alert.

Police are looking for more information and warning residents in the Harrison District of the robberies, which occurred in:

• The 3800 Block of West Grenshaw Street on Dec. 27, 2016 at 4 p.m.

• The 3800 Block of West Grenshaw Street on Dec. 28, 2016 at 10:35 a.m.

• The  4000 Block of West Grenshaw Street on Dec. 28, 2016 at 2:50 p.m.

Police said the robbers are described as three black males: one, between the ages of 16 and 20, was 5-foot-10 to 6-foot-1, weighed 170 to 185 pounds and wore dreadlocks; a second man between the ages of 18 and 21 was described as 5-foot-8, 150 pounds; and a third man between the ages of 19 and 20 was 5-foot-10 and weighed about 140 pounds.

If anyone has information about these incidents, call 312-747-8263. 

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