PRAIRIEVILLE - A Prairieville woman says a scam artist used a heart-bleeding story, Amazon and a reasonably priced camper to swindle her out of thousands of dollars.

Cissy Blackwell was hoping to purchase a new camper to enjoy this summer.

"I'm ready to get on the road," she told News 2.

She looked at ad after ad online until she finally found one. It looked brand new, and it only cost $2,000. The person on the other line told Blackwell an emotional tale.

"She said my husband died, and I moved so the camper is on a lot with Amazon," Blackwell explains. "So i was fine with that."

The two sides reached an agreement and Blackwell purchased $2,000 in Amazon gift cards then sent the numbers to the woman who she thought was selling her a camper.

It turns out, the woman's story was fiction, and she wasn't dealing with Amazon at all. A closer look at the receipt reveals the name "Am-zon".

Amanda Larkins with the Attorney General's Office says it's important to see what you're going to buy in person before making a purchase.

"Don't purchase or rent something sight unseen, because the wonderful deal you think you're getting may not even exist."

Larkins also says that if you're scammed, you should file a complaint. If enough people do, it will trigger an investigation, making it more likely the bad guy is caught.

Blackwell discovered the same scam on outdoor websites targeting people who live in North Carolina and Iowa, so she notified the site.

You can read more about scams like this one and report them as well on Attorney General Jeff Landry's website.