Truemors
Photo Source http://www.lvrj.com/news/16174502.html
English bulldogs, especially those from "champion bloodlines" and recognized by the American Kennel Club, are worth a pretty penny: upwards of $3,000 for some puppies.
So when 29-year-old Justin Gariott saw a classified ad in the Feb. 23 edition of the Review-Journal purporting to offer them free for adoption, he jumped at the chance.
"I thought, maybe I would get a good dog out of this and give a good home to that dog," the telecommunications technician said.
He sent an e-mail to the "Pastor Simpson Peter" in the ad. But what he received in response gave him cause for alarm.
"Yes i (sic) have some puppies
left for free adoption," the "pastor" replied. "But sorry, i'm
prensently (sic) in Africa on a Missionary (sic) program with my wife
at ( CAC) (sic) Christ Apostles Church here in west-Africa (sic)."The "pastor" then went on to ask, in English riddled with errant
punctuation and flagrant misspellings, for some of Gariott's personal
information in order to have the dogs shipped from Africa to Las Vegas.What Gariott had stumbled upon was one of the latest schemes out of
Nigeria to defraud Americans. The "puppy scam," as it's known, has
become so notorious it prompted a joint press release by the AKC and
the Better Business Bureau last year to warn consumers about it."I don't want anybody else to get suckered by it," Gariott said.
Several newspapers across the country, including the Review-Journal
recently, have fallen for the pitch. The ad, which started running on
Feb. 22, was scheduled to run for 14 days, at a price of $363.80. It
was stopped on Tuesday.
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (4)
at 20:15 on November 18th, 2008
I just about got scamed by the nigerian dog scammers. then a friend emailed me the info on the scam. I'm still having contact with the person that is supposed to be in nigeria. He has dropped his price from $230.00 to $50.00 and says he will ship a Tiny Maltese puppy to me as soon as he recieves the conformation that i have sent him the money.
I told him when he called me today that the only way i would send them any money is for him to ship the puppy to me first then if i recieved the puppy then i would send him his $50.00 And he keeps saying " NEED MONEY FOR SHIPPING FIRST" I say not. so if you think it's to good to be true then it is.
My children were really upset when they found out that the puppy was not going to arrive. so please take caution when dealing with online sales.
I will be going back to my old ways FACE to FACE transactions from this point on.
I found the dog on the KIJIJI web site.
at 18:35 on June 24th, 2009
me and my wife just got scammed by a person in nigeria aabout a english bull dog. He wanted 450 for a puppy. I told him i would send 250 to cover shipping and when i got the dog then i would send the rest. I sent the money Western Union to him and never heard back until 15 hours later when he told me that customs has seized the dog and would not ship the dog until they had 400 for a special permit to send the dog. I told the guy who went by the name of pastor christopher stevens that i didnt have that kind of money and that i would need my money back. He said that the dog was stuck in customs and he would sell some belongings to make up 200 so all i had to do was send 200 to him so he could ship the dog. I said no i wanted my money back and told him i know its a scam and told i would not turn him in if he just sent me 200 back instead of the 250. I have yet to hear back from him. BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
at 12:08 on August 3rd, 2009
On July31,2009 I was contacted regarding an enlish bulldog for sale for 450. in West Africa a Pastor Mike Pieterson was needing someone to adopt the 10 wk old puppies he had a boy and girl he said he purchased off of Kijijii Classifieds from Cyndi Dennis @live.com I sent him 150..western union and said I would send the rest after I receive the puppy. First there was a delay in flight now he needs another 350. for a permitt from Customer who are holding the puppy. I told him to send me the puppy and I would pay him after I recieved the puppy or he could simply refund me my money and that s that. I still havent recieved my money or my pup.Please beware of anyone claiming to be a Pastor dont trust him or her they are hiding behind a title to prey on your beliefs.
at 17:28 on July 16th, 2009
i almost fell for this scam yesterday. feb 18 2009 i sent an email response to an ad posted about an english bulldog for 800 dollers in houston. she replyed with a story about selling the dogs to a missionary couple, that moved to nigera only to find that the heat was way to hot for the dogs. i emailed them and within 10 min. my phone rings. this man i could barly understand tells me that if i sent 600 dollers through western union he would ship the dog the next morning. he just wanted to find a home for his dog. i was a little scheptical after reading his emails about his mission trip and god this, and amen that. i thought it was odd he was trying to convience me that he is a godly man. this is a good upstanding citizen right? he wouldnt rip someone off. it seemed to good to be true, but after talking with this "missionary" on the phone, i almost bought it. haveing come from a christian background i quized him on what church he attened in the stated and what denomination he was, and how he knew this girl he bought the dogs from, and he was very conviencing. i backed out at the last min. and i'm glad i did.