Dog Scam

The El Centro Police Department says a 23 year-old woman is short $1,400 dollars and a new pet.

Commander Jeff Mason with the El Centro P-D says the woman put in a report over the weekend alleging she was supposed to pick up a dog she purchased online.

"The Dog was supposedly held in Yuma and money was sent via Western Union and was sent to the United Public of Camaroon in Western Africa," says Jeff Mason with the El Centro Police Department.

But after sending the payment, the woman says she never heard back from the company or person again.

Commander Mason says police are able to create an investigation if a scam or fraud is committed by a reputable or legitimate company but says in this case there isn't much police can do.

"When it's a corporation or an individual that is completely fictitious from its origin, the ability to make an investigation is very limited and unfortunately in this instance this lady has learned a $1400 lesson," says Commander Mason.

Thieves are setting up fake websites and sending out thousands of emails daily looking to see who will fall for their scams according to Commander Mason.

He says people need to be very cautious and think twice about who they are buying from. "If the person lives in El Centro and the dogs in Yuma, it's a 60 mile difference but yet they're sending money half way across the world to an African continent. It just doesn't make a lot of sense... and if things don't make sense people need to realize that and either do more investigating or just completely dis- involve themselves from any contact with these individuals," says Commander Mason.

He says online theft has decreased over the last couple years, but is still happening. El Centro P-D says they receive calls regarding online scams about once a month.