A Chesterton resident was defrauded when looking to purchase a puppy in an online transaction, according to the Chesterton Police and the Town of Chesterton Facebook page.
The Town of Chesterton made the following statement on their Facebook page earlier this week:
According to the CPD, on Monday, Oct. 20, the resident advised that, in the belief that she was dealing with “a reputable breeder” whom she’d found on Facebook, she made a down payment of $100 to a person identifying himself as “Moon Daniel,” with an address in Evansville, Ind.
“Moon” subsequently told the resident that he’d made arrangements to ship the mastiff via “Pet Global Transport” but needed $400 more for a shipping crate, the CPD said. ‘The resident accordingly forwarded that sum to “Moon,” who, however, “continued to contact (her) about additional charges and reasons to send additional funds.”
The resident soon “began to be suspicious and declined to send more money,” the CPD said. “At that point, ‘Moon’ became hostile, telling (the resident) that the dog was being abandoned and attempting to manipulate the situation further to make (her) believe she may be prosecuted.”
“All communication was done via Facebook,” the CPD noted. The resident “stated at one point she did get a phone number for the breeder but the contact with intermittent and when she was able to make contact, all persons she spoke with had foreign accents.”
At last the resident contacted a family member, a former law enforcement officer, who suspected she’d been defrauded and advised her to contact the CPD.