We've been having so much trouble finding a small to small medium size dog, so I finally posted a Want Ad for one in that size range. Well, I got a few responses but they were all big dogs which I replied to, but had to kindly decline because of the size. Tonight I got an email from someone saying they had a puppy that we were very interested in, I did ask to see a picture which he sent. it was an adorable pup. Then I started to feel pressured like in auction because he was saying he needed an EMT to hold the dog and that he needed it now! , because he had lots of people interested. I can understand that, but I've never dealt with E-transfers and told him so, and asked him if we could pay directly when we picked up the dog, and he said sorry No! I told him we were honest people and my word was good. if he had so many interested people he wouldn't have lost because we would come and pick up the next day? Like all I seen was a picture of this pup, I don't know if it actually exists and he's asking me to send a method of payment I am not familiar with to hold the dog? (i know we're a little primitive that way) Does everyone who sells dogs now expect payment by E-transfers? Why is money not good anymore, like before, we would get an address and go and pay for it ,and pick up the dog and take it home. and it was a secure method for the seller who could be assured he was getting paid. Does anyone accept cash these days? If all pet owners deal with E-transfers, I don't know if we will ever get a dog? Oh well, guess that one was not meant to be!
Oh this is such a familiar scam. Normally its that they offer you the pup for free if you will just pay transport..You transfer funds by westion union and wave goodbye to your money...
For sure. Weird money transfer methods and pressure to PAY PAY PAY RIGHT NOW are huge red flags. Now I did get my older boy through Craigslist, but when dealing with someone claiming to rehome on one of those sites I'd never pay sight unseen. Money exchanges hands when I'm physically there picking up the dog/pup, end of story (which also gives me a chance to better evaluate whether they're legit or a commercial breeding operation/broker).
Seems this fellow totally ignored my question when I asked where he was located? What is it with them, pay first,, check out later? I don't know if that is because of Covid and the demand for dogs rose like toilet paper sales, so Pet sellers and breeders feel they have to act fast so a person can't even see their dog before they transfer money? He wasn't the first, I dealt with a woman who refused cash as well. It doesn't make any sense to me as to why?
I never got contact from anyone today so I think my Ad is falling too far behind? It's a fast moving site. Will have to get my husband to drive me to the shelters again and see if anything new has arrived there.
If you google puppy scammers you get tons of recent reports this is just one..They all operate on similar lines ie; get your money for a non existent puppy..
A pet seller/breeder 'acting fast' to the point where they can't show you the puppy isn't a pet seller or breeder. They're a scam artist. The intense pressuring for you to pay ASAP before you can think too much about how suspicious it is is classic - and yes, there may well be more scams like this out there because of the current demand for puppies/dogs.
It's a good idea to run any photos you do get from these kinds of sellers through a reverse image search like tineye.com. If the photo pops up elsewhere on the internet, they've probably just ripped it from some website and it's more proof the puppy doesn't exist.
You know,, now that I think about i, it was too good to be true, He was offering me a dog that I wanted and at a super price. He contacted me at night, so even if I wanted to see the pup, we would have had to wait until next day anyway to drive out and see it, .but he wanted the e-transfer the night before. What's too good to be true usually is too good to be true!
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