While bargain shoppers troll Craigslist for deals, criminals are increasingly prowling the site to lure them into traps, police say.

The setup goes something like this: A “seller” posts an ad for an item such as an iPad or an expensive watch — often at an incredibly low price. He lures in a prospective buyer then arranges a meeting, perhaps in a remote parking lot in the evening.

When the buyer shows up with the cash, instead of getting a great deal, he gets a gun pointed in his face and is robbed.

In recent weeks, police have seen a string of robberies — some armed — related to Craigslist transactions, said Metro Police Sgt. Eric Kerns, whose problem-solving unit in northwest Las Vegas frequently investigates Craigslist-related crimes.

“There’s a lot of it right now because people are getting ready for Christmas and buying gifts,” Kerns said.

Police urge those engaging in transactions that originate online to be careful. Don’t invite strangers to your home. Meet in a public place with witnesses, and don’t go alone.

“You just have to use common sense,” Kerns said. “For the most part, things go as they’re supposed to.”

Metro doesn’t track the number of Craigslist-related crimes because they fall into other categories, such as robberies, but police say they’re seeing more scams as the online classified-ad giant has grown.

Craigslist registers more than 20 billion pages views per month, and 50 million people in the United States alone use the site, according to a company fact sheet.

Recent Craigslist victims in Southern Nevada have not been harmed, but police point to violent crimes elsewhere as a reminder of the potential dangers.

In Ohio, police are investigating the slayings of three men they say were lured to their deaths by a bogus job advertisement on the site.

Craigslist officials could not be reached for comment.

Henderson Police detective Wayne Nichols, who has been studying Craigslist crimes for several years, led a training session last week for officers from Henderson, North Las Vegas and Metro.

The goal was to gather officers from various disciplines, including robbery, narcotics and vice, and give them a primer about how such crimes are hatched through Craigslist and similar sites, such as Backpage.com.

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