Complaint Review: kittensforadoption.us - Internet

I looked on the website, kittensforadoption.us. I responded to an ad posted on this website by a couple ( probably fake names ) Anthony and Odette Maracarian. They ( supposedly ) lived in Brandywine,MD. Their email address was [email protected]. Their ( supposed ) address was 7034 Chadds Ford Dr. Brandywine, MD 20613. Their phone number was ( 240 ) 685-2856. I saw an ad posted by them , Tracking on the website kittensforadoption.us, for three 13-week-old Exotic Shorthair kittens. I responded to their ad via the kittensforadoption.us website. They then emailed me back an email descri bing each kittens personality. The three supposed kittens were one male named Mika and two females named Bella and Shana. They included pics of the three kittens; the two females were bicolor calicoes and the male was a blue and white bicolor. They asked several questions which led me to believe they were giving these purebred registered kittens away for free, rather than selling them, because they just wanted to make sure the kittens went to good homes as pets, and did not get sold for profit to cat breeders, who would just use them for breeding purposes to make a profit.

Anthony and Odette claimed they needed to find homes immediately for all three kittens, or they would be evicted from their rented townhouse. I emailed them back my answers to all their questions. They then emailed me back and claimed I was exactly the kind of pet owner they wanted for their kittens, and asked me which one(s) I wanted. Initially, I told them I wanted the male,Mika. They then told me if I wanted one or both of the females, I could have them, too. So then I responded that I would like to have Bella as well. They then played on my sympathy, in order to get me to agree to take all three kittens. I felt badly for the remaining kitten,Shana, so I agreed to take her,too. Them, they told me that I would have to have the kittens transported to San Diego, CA, from Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C., by a pet transport shipping co., United Shippers in Washington,D.C. - tel. number (202) 681-3706. Anthony and Odette told me,via email, that the cost of shipping one kitten was $250, the cost of shipping two kittens was $410 and the cost of shipping all three kittens was $550.

I repsponded that if that was the case, I could only afford to ship one kitten, the male, Mika. They then told me they would pay the additioral shipping fee for Bella, the female kitten, so that Mika would have a playmate and not be lonely. I agreed to this. They then instructed me to send the shipping clerk, Sheroy Clarke, at United Shopping the $250 to ship Mika here, and they would pay United Shippers the additional $160 to ship Bella along with Mika. Per their instructions I sent $250 to Sheroy Clarke at United Shipping through Western Union on 3/4/15 ( tracking number  232-899-0136 ). I also had to pay the Western Union place a $24 fee to wire the $250 to Sheroy Clarke. So I spent a total of $274. Anthony and Odette then told me the shipping co. would contact me with the date/time of the two kittens' arrival here in San Diego, where they were supposed to be delivered to my home.

A man did call me from United Shippers and told me the kittens would be delivered to my home on Saturday,3/7/15, at 1:00 P.M. Even though it was a very bad phone connection when he called me, he sounded exactly like Anthony Maracarian, the owner of the kittens, who I spoke to one time throughout this whole scammer operation ( both men had very thick foreign accents and their voices were virtually identical, so now I'm certain they were one and the same man ). Rest Needless, to say the two kittens I paid a total of $274 to have shipped here and delivered to my home never arrived. When I called both Anthony & Odette, emailed them and texted them numerous times to find out where my kittens were, they never responded. When I called United Shippers and left them several voicemail messages, asking where the two kittens were, they never returned my calls. I then realized I had been scammed, so I emailed the kittensforadoption.us website three different times telling them to flag/remove Anthony and Odette's ad, so they couldn't rip off any more people with their scam operation.

All I received from the kittensforadoption.us website when I told them they needed to flag/pull this ad was a generic automated email stating that they could not be held responsible for scammers placing ads on their website and that it was the responders to their ads responsibility to check out their advertisers ads to make sure they weren't scammers. Even though I have complained three separate  times to this website and told them what happened to me, they have yet to remove Anthony's and Odette's scammer ad ( ad number 231488 ). This leads me to think this website knowingly works with the scammers, and may even receive a percentage of the money the scammers obtain when they rip somebody off. I realize it is highly unlikely that I will ever get my $274 back, and that it's also highly unlikely that Anthony and Odette Maracarian, which I am certain are fake names will ever be apprehended - ditto on the fake shipping co., United Shippers, in Wsshington,D.C. ). However, I have since researchEd the kittensforadoption.us online website and discovered there have been many, many complaints lodged against them by people who have been ripped off like I recently was, and like me, these people believe the kittensforadoption.us website is knowinly a part of this whole scammer operation , even though this website appears to be legitimate. So please investigate this website as being part of this large-scale scammer operation. They need to be prosecuted and shut down, before they rip off any other innocent animal lovers.

Thank you,

Steve