A 23-year-old Eureka woman lost $650 in an apparent scam when she arranged for a horse to be transported from Texas. The woman said she hired the transportation company after connecting with the business through Facebook, Eureka Police reported.
Police were called on Jan. 28 to the Hart Farms Equestrian Center, 490 Forby Road, when the horse was not delivered. Also, a woman claiming to be from the transportation company had stopped responding to the Eureka woman’s messages, the report said.
The Eureka woman told investigators she purchased a horse in Wylie, Texas, and she hired B and S Horse Transportation of Stephenville, Texas. The woman from the transportation company sent the Eureka woman a contract and requested a down payment of $350, according to the report.
The Eureka woman was to send the down payment to a Venmo account. However, she said she sent the entire $650 fee by mistake, the report said.
On the day the horse was to be delivered, the transportation company claimed it would take two hours to deliver the horse from Texas. The Eureka woman said she attempted to clarify the delivery time due the drive time from the ranch to Wiley, Texas, taking approximately nine hours, according to the report.
The Eureka woman said the company stopped communicating with her. She also said the place she purchased the horse from informed her that the horse had not been picked up, and she needed to arrange a different form of transportation, the report said.
As of Feb. 21, Eureka Police detectives were still investigating the apparent scam, and they had not recovered any of the victim’s money or identified a suspect, Capt. Michael Werges said.