(La Porte County, IN) - A La Porte County resident was scammed in what could be viewed as a case of monkey see, monkey do.

La Porte County Police said that a 69-year-old woman made contact with a man on social media who was offering monkeys for sale and promised to have hers delivered to her Fish Lake area home from Florida. As such, he wanted a down payment of $500. She put the money on a gift card, as instructed, and gave him the numbers from the card for him to withdraw the funds. Later, the man reportedly told her the payment did not go through and, at his request, she placed another $500 on a gift card and gave him its information.

At least one of the gift cards was used by an unknown individual to make purchases at major retail stores.

The woman never received the Capuchin monkey she attempted to obtain, a breed native to tropical forests in Central America and South America.