The Lexington County Sheriff’s Department is searching for a woman who stole a puppy from a pet adoption center.

Columbia, SC…With the recent tragedies in Boston and Texas, the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs (SCDCA) is urging consumers to be wary of scammers who pose as charities.

Scam artists follow the headlines and often tailor their fraud attempts to current events in an effort to profit from consumer kindness. As SCDCA saw with the Gulf Coast Oil Spill, we anticipate scammers will contact consumers in an effort to solicit money for phony charities to benefit the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings or West, Texas fire.