Here is a summary of the latest police and emergency services news on the Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island.

Traffic Report

At 11pm on Saturday 20 June on Playford Highway, Parndana police stopped a car in relation to traffic matters. The driver, a 38-year-old man from Cassini recorded a breath test reading of 0.095. His vehicle was clamped at his home address for 28 days and he received a six-month immediate loss of licence notice. He will be summonsed to appear in court at a later date.

On Sunday 21 June, police received a report of a man driving on to the KI ferry several times when his licence was suspended. CCTV footage was examined, and the 29-year-old man from Kingscote was seen to drive on to the ferry on 3 June and 21 June. The man was arrested at Cape Jervis for two counts of driving while suspended and unlawful possession, as he had over $16,000 cash on him when stopped by police.

About 1am on Tuesday 23 June at Ocean Road, Hayborough police stopped a 66-year-old man from Encounter Bay for a breath test. He returned a positive reading of 0.118. He was reported for exceeding the prescribed concentration of alcohol, he was issued a six-month immediate loss of licence notice and his car was impounded for 28 days. He will be summonsed to appear in court at a later date.

Police warn of pet scam

Police have reminded the public to be cautious when purchasing items online, even pets.

There are currently a high number of Australians falling victim to a puppy scam, after attempting to purchase pets from an online website.

At first look, the fraudulent websites appears legitimate, when it is actually part of an elaborate organised scam. The website’s name and domain may change, but the tactics remain largely the same.

They play on people’s emotions as the puppies are cute and need rehoming, but in reality, they were never for sale to begin with.

Instead the scammers keep the money and the victims lose out both financially and emotionally.

Act with caution when buying online, especially if the seller makes it hard to see the animal in person. A common tactic is to portray that they are based in a remote location, too far for people to reasonably travel, with Smoky Bay used as a location in the latest scam.

South Australia Police recommend that you do your homework when buying online and do not simply rely on reviews or testimonials on the site itself.

Instead run the website’s address through a search engine and look further than the first page of results.

If you start seeing terms such as ‘scam’ and ‘fraud’ associated with the website, it should raise alarm bells.