Puppy scam

[sumar]

Puppy scam
Hello, there is a scam going on at several sites selling puppies. It includes Viva Street, Click pets and Friday ads. I know it's a scam and I first informed clickpets a few days ago and they were good, wiped it out quite quickly. However, now the scammers are back on, using different names etc and yesterday I found them on the other sites and reported them there also. The sites have not yet done anything about it and while they allow the adverts to continue, vulnerable people may be fiddled out of their money. I believe the ads may be coming from America but obviously I can't be sure. Is it worth reporting this to the police or will they do nothing, as they usually do? I have emails from these people, but I don't think this will help. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated, thank you.

[carmalee]

what's the scam

[sumar]

Amazingly, some people take the convincing words of the swindlers as gospel and wait patiently for their new pet to arrive. These golden retrievers are put in as a pair, male and female, for £300. I believed this was a mistake and they meant £300 each which is reasonable for a goldie, so I emailed them. I got what was definitely a 'standard' letter back with a load of religious crap, saying they were so cheap as they were 'doing God's work'. I didn't really care whose work they were doing and said I would like to see the male (they said they lived in Manchester). I recieved a reply which was obviously from a different person saying how pleased they were and saying they were ill and had to get rid of the pups! They then said that they only wanted £100 for the pups (both of them) plus £200 for them to be delivered to my doorstep by pet courier as they lived so far away in Newcastle, and as I'd seen the photos it was such a long trip for me! Included would be lots of stuff for the dogs, including food, a brand of which I have never heard, and a pack of puppy 'diapers'! Have you ever heard of nappys being called 'diapers' in the UK? Anyway, that was that of course because I'm not overly stupid, but it's amazing how many people can be taken in by this rubbish and it annoys me that the sites always say 'we deal with scammers seriously. Please press the button to inform us if you have any doubts about our advert', Then they do nothing about it. I've offered to forward the emails which are pretty obviously full of lies, but have not heard from any of them and these people have improved the adverts, trying to make them look like professional breeders as well as changing the areas they claim to live in and the email addresses. I've not tried any of the different phone numbers they've given. It really pees me off!

[carmalee]

don't really see what else you can do - the only saving grace is, is that there are probably no dogs in the scenario and it's merely a ploy to get money. Admit it's a bit confusing as to where they are actually based - UK or USA - maybe Americans in UK even? Sorry can't be more help but there are millions of scams going about and this just sounds like one of them.

[sumar]

I'm quite pleased because I've just gone back to the 3 sites and only Viva Street still has the advert and maybe they don't work weekends so haven't got my note. I'm sure the scammers will be back though. Thanks for listening, it's good to get it off my chest!

[carmalee]

a pleasure! stay well

[Messalina]

There was something similar a few months back with a couple buying a puppy over the internet from either the Orkneys or Shetland. They sent off their money & were suprised when the dog didn't arrive.

[lankeela]

A fool and his money are easily parted... this is no way to buy a dog so anyone who loses out gets all they deserve. Go to a reputable breeder, see the mother and if possible father (or see photos/get details of him) and visit the pups at least twice at the breeder's premises. Do not buy if they offer to deliver, meet you at a services, or send by courier. Do not buy if they have many different breeds. Do not buy if you don't think the dogs look well looked after. Definitely don't buy just because you feel sorry for them, they will just be replaced by others. Its a case of supply and demand.
Stop the demand and puppy farmers will go out of business.