Crime & Safety

Pug Search Leads to Online Scam, Police Say

Four township women report online fraud, Upper Macungie police say.

Upper Macungie police say a woman shopping for puppies online became the victim of a scam Friday afternoon.

According to police, the 52-year-old Blue Barn Road resident responded to an ad for pug puppies from a seller in Ohio. 

The woman paid $390 for the sale and for shipping. The seller then asked for $1,500 in pet insurance, and the woman realized the sale was a scam. 

This incident was one of four fraud cases this week reported to police.

In the first case, a 32-year-old Breinigsville resident reported that someone had accessed her PayPal account Thursday evening without her permission, and used it spend $611 on a cell phone. The buyer had the phone shipped to an address in New Hampshire.

The second case involved a 52-year-old Breinigsville woman who reported a number of unauthorized purchases on her credit card. 

Police say someone made $404 in online purchases at various retailers.

On Friday afternoon, a resident of the 5900 block of Palomino Drive reported that someone had used her PNC Bank card to make nearly $900 in purchases at a Brookstone store in Troy, Mich.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 484-661-5911.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.