I was looking on Uncle Henry's which is a sellers/buyer book here in Maine. I was looking on their website for puppies when I came across these adorable English Bulldog Pups. The add said they were only $250.00 and I couldn't believe it because they normally go anywhere between $1000-2000.00. They then wrote back and said the pups were free to adopt, I would just have to pay $160.00 to the shipping agency. They said they would get the pup all registered and ready and I had to just wait to hear from the shippers (which they wouldn't give me the name of the shipping company). They then e-mailed me and told me they set it all up and I was to wait to hear from the company and I hadn't even told the lady that I wanted the puppy or which one I wanted. It was so obvious to me that it was a scam.
When I asked them why they wanted to give their pups away to someone so far away for free, they said they used to be missionaries in Maine and that they had to move to Sacramento, CA for their job. They also spelt words wrong and didn't word sentences correctly, which also made me curious. They were just very strange acting. Once the shipping company told me their company name, I looked it up on Bing and found all these reports. They are definately scam artists.
Luckily, I didn't give them any money and I ended it after reading up on this information. I just hope that people do their research before buying from people they don't know and cannot meet. Another thing, when the lady I was e-mailing gave me the number to the shipping agency, I called and when they answered they said "yeah?"...they didn't say "Good afternoon, International Cargo Movers, can I help you?" Just very numb acting. If something seems too good to be true, it probably is!
blackmold
United States of America#2Consumer Suggestion
Sun, October 24, 2010
What you fell for was a nigerian scam aka 419 scams. Going forward, whether buying or selling something or being promised money for work etc. check online to make sure it's not a scam. Here are a few places you can check:
Snopes A great reference place for Nigerian scams and also for emails and posts that are passed along from friend to friend without verifying if it's true. (For example, "Suzzy Smith is only 10 she is missing from Iammissing, UT. Please send this to EVERYONE! I called the IAmMissing Station Police Dept in Thisisahoax, State at 111-111-1111 and spoke with Mr. Everyonekeepscallingme and he verified it!" But When you call you find out it's a hoax, and of course 1000 other people never bothered to call and just kept spreading the urban legend.) In other words, research before you believe!
Also 419eater is another good one.
Or you could type in "inexpensive puppies scam" in google and see if anything pops up. Let me try it....
Well I'll be in 2007 (3 years ago!!!!) a warning was issued by the American Kennel Club. And see if only you'd have done a teeny tiny little bit of research, you'd have seen this as the first thing that pops up when you type those 3 words in google. "AKC and Better Business Bureau warn of puppy scam."
You lost a little money but hopefully you gained some insight into the world of scamming. Beware, research and double check before sending ANYONE money. It could have been 5k... you know those fake checks they are sending people by fedex. Yes another scam and you'll be in trouble with your bank if you cash it!