Complaint Review: Professional Pet and Animal Relocators - Seattle Washington

My wife and I started looking for a couple labrador retriever puppies to add to our family. We stumbled across an add posted in San Diego for a couple puppies who were supposedly in Seattle.

After a few brief email exchanges we were told that the puppies were ours, but that we would just have to pay for pet delivery and that the delivery company would be contacting me for payment before delivery. A few minutes later I get a call on my cell phone from the delivery service saying they sent me details on how to make payment.

I check my email and it looks like a scam email, but I click the link to make a payment. I enter my credit card payment information on an unsecured (not HTTPS) site and after clicking submit I get sent to a page basically saying that their payment engine is down and THE ONLY WAY to make a payment is via MoneyGram. Also, the MoneyGram is not being sent to the company name, or even to the same state. The page says that a moneygram needs to be sent to an "ASA STEWART in Bridgewater, Maine"

I contacted the shipping company to request payment via a standard refundable method like credit cards. I am told that I either need to send them a $700 wire today.... or that they could do COD, but that it would take another month to ship the dogs, and that I would be responsible for paying for the dog boarding.

At this point I am pretty sure the whole thing is a scam, and that the person with the dogs is really just a scammer trying to get me to pay them to ship a non-existent dogs. However I want to give the guy the benefit of the doubt.

I email mr "Dennis Toub" ([email protected]) saying that I believe that the dog shipping service is not reputable and that I still want the dogs, but that I would prefer to pick a reputable shipping company and pay the shipping fees via credit card. A few minutes later I get an email back from this guy with all sorts of "believe me, I am a child of god, I would not scam you" rhetoric, and asking me to please just take a chance with this shipping company, etc. No option to ship any other way.

I am 100% sure this is a fake pet / delivery service scam now... so I started doing some additional digging and it appears that he is using multiple pictures and accounts to post ads all over the country for pets..... with just a few minutes of searching I found listings in Houston, San Diego, Atlanta, Chicago, and a few others.

I believe the dog adoption ads are all scams with the goal of trying to convince a victim to send a non-refundable moneyGram to the scammer.

Below is the email history with scammer "Dennis Toub"... I am posting these emails in hopes that someone else can avoid being taken in a similar scam. 

-------- EMAIL #1 -------------

On 2/24/14, 6:43 AM, Dennis Toub wrote:

Hello ,

Thanks so much for the mail and interest regarding the puppies we have ..We have one male and one female puppies now available and they are 12 weeks old, they have very good temperament with kids and other pets,very playful love to play around with toys and kids,they are health guaranteed and A KC registered. They are up to date on all their shots and de-wormings and they will be coming along side with their health papers and vet records. First i wish to let you know that we are giving these puppies out because my mum just died. She is located in Seattle, WA and all of us are there now. She was the owner of this cute little babies.. Since she is now late , We can't keep the puppies here in such condition because each time we see them , we keep thinking of her .So we want to give them out to a lovely and caring home ,where they can be treated as such and keep us up dated on monthly progress..These puppies will be coming from Seattle, WA But if you would be able to come over here for the pick up ,we shall be very grateful, but if you can't come , we can make arrangements for home delivery service and they will get the puppies delivered at your doorstep. Below are just some few question we asked..

Where are you located?

Do you have any kids ?

Have you ever own a pet before ?

Have this breed of puppy before?

Why are you interested in this breed?

How soon do you need the puppies over?

Which sex are you interested in or do you want both?

We will like them to go together in the same home if possible, but will you be able to take them both?

Sorry for all the question , but we just want to be sure that the puppies are going to the right home and they will be having all the love and attention they need. We are giving each out for $350 just for the delivery fee and that's all If still interested, yes contact us back for more details of the puppies and picture.

-------- EMAIL #2 -------------

On 2/25/14, 7:44 AM, Dennis Toub wrote:

Hello,

We are very happy to read from you so soon, and i have attach some pictures of both male (Reggie) and female (Dela) for you to see and i hope you enjoy them okay, we are sure you are going to love and spoil them with love cuddle , attention and provide them with all their needs. We need them to go into a lovely and caring home, They are veterinary checked and vaccinated and have all health records till date and all papers . So we are giving them to a good home and forever home. They are very sensitive and possesses the following qualities:

-House Trained and Potty.

-Do not bark a lot.

-They eat 2 times daily ..

-They are socialized with kids and other house hold pets

-They love to be carried a lot and be spoiled.

-They love to be kissed .

-They get angry when you shout at them, so please do not do that okay.

-They are 12 Weeks old

-They bark when they see strangers.

They will be coming with all details of vaccination , DE-wormed and microchip. Since we have made up our mind to let the babies into your home Can you promise us that these puppies will be well look after and you guys will keep us up dated with monthly pictures so we can know how the puppies are doing over there with you. Since you guys are not so close to us, we shall use the Pet Delivery Carrier and they will get the puppies delivered at your home address that you will provide to us . Also we shall require all your details to do the change of ownership papers and the details is as follows

Full Names..............

House address...........

City..................

State.................

Zip code.......................

Home Number..............

Mobile Number......................

As soon as we have the details , we shall prepare the change of ownership papers before we do the delivery registration with the Carrier . Do get back to us with the details so we can prepare the change of ownership papers and do the delivery registration with the Courier. The adoption plus delivery fee will cost you $700 and that is paid directly to the Courier company and also send all the relevant papers work via the Courier service. So you will paying directly to them and not to me because my main objective is for these puppies to have a lovely family, so the $700 is for the delivery fee of the puppies to your doorstep.

Thanks.

Waiting................

-------- EMAIL #3 -------------

On 2/25/14, 12:48 PM, Dennis Toub wrote:

Hello Jeremy,

Thanks for the mail and the information you have provided for that gives me the impression that you and your family are truly going to give these my babies the love and attention that they deserve, i am also very sorry for the delay respond, it is due to the nature of my job and the death of my mom which is the reason why i am giving Dela and Reggie out for adoption without meeting you in person. Well i also want to gladly inform you that, i have just had Dela and Reggie registered under your name in full and address which you provided and the delivery agency said they will immediately contact you on how you are going to make the payment for the delivery fee of Dela and Reggie directly to them before they can proceed with the delivery of Dela and Reggie to you right at your doorstep and they also said that they will let you know when they will be arriving so that you will know when to be expecting them at your doorstep. So please let me know when they contact you and also do remember to keep me updated with monthly pictures of you and them together with your entire family so that i can see how they are doing in their new home. I AM VERY EXCITED!!!!!!!!!. I wait for your soonest mail.

Thanks And Stay Blessed

Denis Toub

-------- EMAIL #4 -------------

On 2/25/14, 4:02 PM, Dennis Toub wrote:

Jeremy,

Thanks for getting back to me with such short notice. I am sorry i have medical issue so i can't really talk over the phone because i can not hear well. I actually came back from my surgery due to my mom's funeral program and will be going back for proper medical attention after which, but you can text me and i will respond. Here is my cell phone number (206) 569-4359. I will like you to know that i am a God Fearing person who came in the internet in order to locate my puppies a good home, not to deceive nor tarnish my image. The Bible says Many are called few are chosen. Who is that person that said you will not add those puppies Reggie and Dela as a great additional members in your family.. I assure you with the word of Our Father in Heaven that you are going to get Dela and Reggie. Job said I will wait till my time come. It is mention in the Bible that "Blessed are the Hands that Giveth than the Hands that taketh "I know you might have some small fear, but please just give me the chance to send those puppies to you, so i can prove that not everyone in the world are the same. I assure you that all will progress smoothly if you give me just this one chance.

-------- EMAIL #5 - My final email TO dennis -------------

On 2/25/14, 5:35 PM, Jeremy Johnson wrote:

Dennis,

At this point I believe this entire thing is a scam in order to get a measly $700 out of me. If you were a real person and not a scammer you would have no problem with me using a different more reputable company to deliver the dogs. Instead you just spout off jesus-speak in hopes that I am religious and will fall for your scam.

Thank you for confirming that this is indeed a scam. I will now be posting the entire history of our conversations, and the conversations with the "delivery service", and will be creating a profile on the site ripoffreport.com about this elaborate scam to warn others from falling for your scam. I will also be contacting Google Apps to report that your websites http://petrelocation.wozaonline.co.za/ and http://www.professionalpetsrelocators.com/ are scams and that they should immediately be removed from the internet.

Here are a few of the reasons it is clear now that this is a scam.

1.) You know the delivery fee for the dogs before you even know where they are going to be shipped to?

2.) You act concerned about the pets well-being, however you avoid answering basic questions like what type of food do they eat now?

3.) You have posted ads on various websites using the same picture and a different name.

4.) You have posted ads on various websites using the same name and different pictures

5.) You can't talk on the phone? Yet in the picture you have a bluetooth earpiece in... Hrm.

6.) You mis-spelled your own name on our last email.... Dennis is spelled with 2 Ns... Duh.

7.) The "cell phone" you just gave me is a land line registered to Level 3 Communications in seattle.

8.) The "cell phone" you just gave me is associated with many other postings for other dogs in various parts of the country.

You are a horrible person who tries to take advantage of others and you should feel ashamed of yourself!

Jeremy Johnson