A young Lavington woman sold four phantom pure-breed puppies and a designer handbag online to try to feed her two young children, a court has heard.
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Mikayla Kelly was found out when her first victim collected her package from the post office.
But instead of the Louis Vuitton handbag that cost her $1175 all she got was a plastic lunch box containing a travel pillow.
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It soon emerged that Kelly's offending did not end with that ruse.
Kelly sold a cavalier King Charles spaniel puppy that didn't exist to a woman for $1045, then went on to sell the dogs to three other people. She reaped $5755 from her offending, Albury Local Court has heard.
One of the victims of the puppy fraud had even gone to the effort to arrange for an independent dog courier to deliver her purchase to Kilmore.
Magistrate Richard Funston said the fraud was a substantial one.
Kelly, 24, has pleaded guilty to dishonestly obtain a financial advantage by deception and an unrelated charge of driving while licence suspended. She was unable to have the matter proceed to sentence as her lawyer wasn't available.
"The accused stated that she defrauded the victims in order to pay bills and pay groceries for her two young children ... she was struggling through financial hardship," police said.
The court was told that five people contacted police between December 19 and March 20 complaining of being defrauded through the online sales app Gumtree.
All had deposited money into the same St George Bank account yet never received their goods as was agreed.
The account was registered in Kelly's name.
On December 15, a woman advertised on Gumtree that she wanted to buy a Louis Vuitton handbag. Kelly replied, as "Mel Johnson", and they negotiated the $1175 sale price.
Kelly will be sentenced next Monday, June 22.
