Puppy Scammer News Article

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Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 6:09 am

The following news article appeared in "The Advertiser", February 7th 2007.

I realise some journalistic licence may have been applied but I was of the opinion wire transfer was the favoured payment modality.

Fortunately there is some method of redress available to victims, though they are unlikely to see any of their money again.

I hope to see more warnings in the print media both here and abroad relating to AFF scams.

EDIT: Spelling error Embarassed

Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 6:14 am

I agree... more advisories would be nice as they seem hard to come by, at least around here (as I haven't noticed any really on 419 scams in particular).

BTW: The scam sure reminds me of something I read in the Trophy Room pertaining to dog meat.. Rolling Eyes

Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 12:14 pm

I bet that was not written accurately, I am sure it involved Western Union, there is some recourse with checks, not WU though.

Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 12:22 pm

It would be nice to see the media doing something useful for once........

But dont hold your breath Wink

** SUSPENDED ** Joined: 26 Mar 2005 Posts: 1267

Quote:

I was of the opinion wire transfer was the favoured payment modality.

Some of them are check scammers, but there are quite a few that use the WU/MG modality. I had one going for quite some time now that loved wu/mg and the next one I picked up was a check scammer that sent some checks to some non-existent city.

All depends on the scammers, you can find a crap load Here

Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 2:02 pm

One idea i considered was entering a petition in to the e-petition section of the 10 Downing Street website, to raise awareness of 419 scams. Not sure how successful this would be though.

While i mention this, found a few rejected petitions there too, which i thought were funny: People said "I petition the Prime Minister to...."

Quote:

stop turturing by microwave, electromagnetic weapon

oookay....

Quote:

Force terestrial television newsreaders to wear underpants on their head

Could be amusing....

Quote:

ban broccoli as an edible foodstuff and reclassify it as a toxic substance

That one i agree with!

Quote:

impose a maximum weight limit for women wearing stiletto heels as they pose a massive threat to other members of the public on dance floors and in crowded bars nationwide.

Can't say i have had that experience myself..

Quote:

abolish cat flaps in living room windows (like my neighbours)

..and the Prime Minister is meant to do what??

and my personal favourite:

Quote:

Bring back the A-Team

Right on !!!!

But seriously, i think a petition here might help or at least gauge support?

What do we think??

Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 2:21 pm

^

Nothing ventured!!

Has to be worth a try.

Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 2:30 pm

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the scam doesn't really involve any actual puppies, does it?

I guess if people think actual puppies are involved, it helps sell papers. Seems pretty misleading to me.

Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 2:33 pm

Methinks the journalist got some of the facts wrong. I've yet to see a Cameroon or Nigerian pet scam that involved the buyer sending a check. They've all been WU payments so far. Sure, I've seen one where the scammer claimed the dog was in a Western country with his sister, but he was in and needed to be paid in Nigeria. He kept making up excuses as to why the prospective buyer couldn' t visit the dog and meet it before buying.

Most of the scams I've seen actually claim the dog is in Nigeria, but the owners are there on "Christian mission" and the poor baby can't stand the heat, or they don't have time for it, or some such bs. They usually lay it on thick about how much they love the little darling and how it's "suffering" there. Cameroon pet scams usually claim the person is a breeder and looking to sell the animals from the get go. Funny, they all are AKC registered. Even the cats...

The tons of fees are for shipping on the plane, and food and care, and insurance, and then money to clear customs and not be quarantined, of course...

As an aside, why on earth do people want to buy common pets on the internet, anyway? Especially dogs and cats? I mean, I could understand finding a specialized breeder online, if you were interested in a particular pedigree or breeding the animals yourself, but why would people look for non-exotic pets online? It's not as though most countries have a shortage of dogs and cats of all breeds. Why would a person want to put an animal through being shipped around from country to country like a piece of luggage for hours or days, then probably being stuck in quarantine, when you can drive probably an hour, max, to your local pet store or pet rescue and adopt a pet? Or at worst, fly a few hours to a breeder in your country? I just don't get the logic, there. I mean, I order all sorts of things on the internet. Foodstuffs, clothes, shoes, electronics, sure, but I kind of draw the line at living things bigger than sea monkeys.

** SUSPENDED ** Joined: 26 Mar 2005 Posts: 1267

@SamV - No, the puppies are non-existent.

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 7:28 pm

Nice puppies for sale cnn link (I did a search, honest!)
http://tinyurl.com/2tmet8

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 7:56 pm

Not only puppies, my friend stumbled across the same deal with cats.

I wonder how well mogwai's will sell?

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 9:37 pm

Cats, dogs, monkeys, freaking pet beetles, even.

I think they've tried it with everything but Mogwai.

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 9:56 pm

For some reason, that news article picture looks chopped. Confused

** SUSPENDED ** Joined: 26 Mar 2005 Posts: 1267

They'll even sell TSnerd if they have too!

No, I'm joking.. However, scammers will dive so low that you couldn't even imagine what they'd sell. I've seen "rare birds", monkeys, dogs, cats.. etc. Anything the scammer will think of that could possible attract a buyer.

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 10:34 pm

ironman wrote:

For some reason, that news article picture looks chopped. Confused

The government office (OCBA) phone number was obscured so they might not fall victim to prank calls. Other than that, the scan is an accurate copy of the original news paper article.

Some image processing performed by the scanner software (re-calibrate and de-screen were performed during the scan). I think it did a white balance too....

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