A South Coast man has been convicted of recklessly dealing with nearly $50,000 swindled through an online puppy scam.
Key points:
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Steven Rootsey pleaded guilty to four counts of dealing with proceeds of an online scam
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Thousands of dollars from online scams claiming to sell puppies were funnelled into Roostey’s bank accounts
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The 33-year-old was asked to convert the money into crypto currency by an unknown scammer
Jeremadra man Steven Rootsey, 33, was asked to convert money to crypto currency by an unknown person via Snapchat last year, according to documents tendered to Batemans Bay Local Court.
Rootsey was promised 10 per cent of the funds in return.
The documents state he told police the deal originally sounded “too good to be true”.
The proceeds of a scam selling non-existent puppies to the public were deposited into several bank accounts under Rootsey’s name during July last year.
A number of victims were scammed from a series of websites and Facebook posts advertising puppies for sale and asking for money to be transferred into personal bank accounts.
There were five victims identified in court documents who reported the crime to police after each of them said they had not received their dog or further communication from the website seller.
The transactions ranged from several hundred to several thousand dollars each and were all from different account holders with references to dogs and city permits.
