A "snake scam" has made its way into Roseville neighborhoods recently.

Here's how it works: Burglars pose as animal control officers knock on your door and ask to check the property for poisonous snakes. While the homeowner is distracted, an accomplice steals items from the home. The scam also hit six Bay Area cities including San Mateo, Burlingame and Fremont between Aug. 10-27, Patch reported.

In Roseville, two "snake scams" were reported Sept. 2, one attempted and one successful. At about 3:45 p.m. Monday, Sept. 2, a woman wearing a brown animal control uniform knocked on a resident's door on Chancellor Avenue, near Cirby Way, and asked if she could check the yard for poisonous snakes, according to Roseville Police.

The resident became suspicious, as he had heard about the Bay Area snake scam, and didn't let the woman into his house. He called police about 15 minutes later. Officers checked the area but weren't able to locate the suspicious person. Later that day, between 5 and 5:40 p.m. a woman knocked on a resident's door in the area of Cirby Way and Inglis Drive, and told her she was from Roseville Animal Control, and that she needed to check the property due to an infestation of poisonous snakes, according to Roseville Police.

She asked that both the resident and her husband accompany her to the back yard, where she spent some time measuring a back yard shed. She then told the resident that someone would be back later to set traps.

Later the resident discovered items missing from her home, apparently stolen by an unseen accomplice while the residents were in the backyard with the fake "animal control officer."

The suspect was described as an Hispanic woman in her late 20s or early 30s, about 5'3" tall and a stocky build, with dark, shoulder-length hair. She wore a navy blue button-up shirt with a City of Roseville logo, and khaki pants. A few tips from the Roseville Police Department: