# Flake Callers for Puppies....



## wishpoo (Sep 12, 2009)

I think that it is obvious that person who is inquiring has English as a "second language" , and I even know exact nationality, but that is not important. What I am trying to say is that that person may not be understanding what you are asking her to do, or is not familiar with a proper procedure before a puppy sale. She might be completely ignorant of how puppies are sold here or maybe she never had a chance to contact good breeder before. Could be that all of her friends bought puppies from some puppy-miller on some generic site and she thinks that it is the way to do it.

I know that it is annoying, but maybe you can try to educate her about the whole process. She might not be a perfect home for your puppy, but you might want to prevent her possibly buying from a puppy-mill. :noidea:

If I was a breeder, I would take time to do it :act-up::typing:


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## Yaddaluvpoodles (Mar 20, 2010)

Could be that all of her friends have bought puppies like this... don't have a single puppy to show for it, but do have a bit of someone else's money in their bank account.

Heck, could be "she" isn't even a she!

This is one of the most common types of breeder scams.

Any doubts about this being a scam? Do a google search for the following terms: Puppy buyer scam send check shipper


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## Yaddaluvpoodles (Mar 20, 2010)

I just came across some excellent information regarding the abuse of TTY system to commit fraud.

The IP relay scam - Fraudwatchers


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## wishpoo (Sep 12, 2009)

Sheeeeeeesh - crazy world we are living in :afraid:, aren't we ??? :angry:

Definitely "off-sounding" letter :alien2: LOL , but somehow I always try to give people benefit of a doubt ; ), maybe I am just too naive in that respect.

If your gut feeling is that it is a complete scam - it most probably than is. You certainly read a ton of buyer's letters and by now you probably have a correct hunch about it .


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## Yaddaluvpoodles (Mar 20, 2010)

Actually, I've read very few buyer's letters. It is rare that I breed. This is the first time in several years I've had puppies available.

I, too, try to give people the benefit of the doubt. But this email looked like it came right out of the "All You Need to Know to DeFraud a Breeder" book for dummies..... (kidding).


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## Yaddaluvpoodles (Mar 20, 2010)

Just in case this happens to someone else here anytime soon, here is the contact info of where to report it: 
The FCC is working with IP Relay providers to prevent, or at least reduce, the misuse of this important communications service. To file an IP Relay complaint with the FCC, call 1-888-225-5322 (voice) / 1-888-835-5322 (TTY) or go to Filing a Complaint . To report fraudulent IP Relay activity, contact the Federal Trade Commission at 877-FTC-HELP or Federal Trade Commission . 

So, in hindsight, I couldn't have gotten the callers name, but the TTY operators do give their ID numbers and it may have been helpful if I would have written that down.


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## ArreauStandardPoodle (Sep 1, 2009)

Thanks for posting this Darla! I have had the same email sent to me, one day I received it, nearly word for word, three times from three different email addresses. There are people out there who know every trick to take advantage of others. The checks ans money orders are fake, but by the time a breeder discovers this, their pup (if they fall for this) are out of the country.


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## Olie (Oct 10, 2009)

When I was trying to sell Jewelry on Craigs List - this is EXACTLY the same type email responses I was getting. Same type of grammar as well. 

My BF often sells electronics (only local) and the wording is oddly familiar to the scammers he got from craigs list.


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## faerie (Mar 27, 2010)

it is a scam.


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## jonny cash (May 11, 2010)

faerie said:


> it is a scam.


yes it is!


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## Skye (Feb 19, 2010)

jonny cash said:


> yes it is!


This is what I thought immediately as well. Geeez, what's next?


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## Poodle Lover (Mar 24, 2008)

Most definitely sounds like the Cameroon puppy scam and it happens a lot to puppy buyers. Here are a couple of links.

African Puppy Scam Bites Victims

African Puppy Scam | UCAN


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## Feralpudel (Jun 28, 2010)

This looks sooo much like the scam emails I routinely get when I sell anything of value on Craigslist. I just ignore them. Interesting twist with the TTY relay system; thanks for the info, Darla. 

I think all these scammers learned their English at the same school, LOL.


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## wishpoo (Sep 12, 2009)

This is just horrible and I thought I saw it all by now 

Just unbelievable 

So, what do you think happens with puppies : ((((( ??? :afraid:


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## cbrand (Aug 9, 2009)

This scam is as old as the Internet itself.


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## wishpoo (Sep 12, 2009)

LMAO

I am obviously oblivious to those , or I am much younger than internet  LOL

Joking to the side, I do not ever get any spam or am ever selling anything over the net :noidea: - maybe that is why I never encounter those :adore:


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## poodleoodler (Nov 7, 2010)

what a scam. did you google the address? Trying to trace email address - [email protected]? - Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers

apparently somebody else felt the same way!


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## Yaddaluvpoodles (Mar 20, 2010)

wishpoo said:


> This is just horrible and I thought I saw it all by now
> 
> Just unbelievable
> 
> So, what do you think happens with puppies : ((((( ??? :afraid:


Not a thing! The puppies remain with the breeder. It has nothing at all to do with puppies! it has everything to do with money. They don't want puppies, they have no use for puppies. What they see is an opportunity to try to get someone's money. 

They send out the payment for above the amount, the victim deposits it, then sends back the overage. End of story. Well almost... the REST of the story is... the payment in whatever form turns out to be counterfeit or, if a check, written on a nonexistant account. The breeder is out their own personal funds. The scammer gets paid (it does happen, that's why they keep using this scam). And the puppy will hopefully go to a happy home, blissfully unaware of the nastiness surrounding it.

Having puppies and getting them safely into good homes isn't always smooth sailing.


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## NOLA Standards (Apr 11, 2010)

My favorite scam letter was signed by "Kevin Mike". The two first names of my best friends' *EX *husbands.

The would be scammer could not have deliberately picked 2 worse names to sign his/her letter with!


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## Yaddaluvpoodles (Mar 20, 2010)

Just got another one... this one with the email address of [email protected]


He used the same exact wording as the person I spoke with (through relay) yesterday. Sounds like they are working from a script... with one exception. The person today was quite persistant in trying to obtain my address.

I remember a few years ago when red poodles were a fad and it was the year of the dog in China and they were considered good luck. Many people with red poodles removed made most of their contact info unavailable to the public. I'm starting to understand that sentiment!


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## Yaddaluvpoodles (Mar 20, 2010)

Ahhhh... this guy is so nice!

from	Russ Jacob <[email protected]>
to	Darla Dehlin <[email protected]>
date	Sat, Dec 4, 2010 at 7:10 PM
subject	Re: Hello
mailed-by	yahoo.com
signed-by	yahoo.com

hide details 7:10 PM (2 hours ago)

Hello,

Thanks for your Precious email you sent me and i will like you to reserve me 1 Male pup as a present for my son B-day and also to let you know that payment will be by cashier's check or money order In view of this I need you to email me any information that may be required to send the payment as I do not want to send the Payment to a wrong location lest they get into the wrong hands.
Regarding the shipping, I have a company that takes care of the pickup of my consignments for me and ship to my destination in anywhere in the U.S.A, you do not worry about shipping, the company will send down a representative to arrange the sales documentation and the pick up from your end for onward transfer to my destination.
I also want to alert you on the fact that you will be receiving an overdraft payment, which will cover the money for the pickup (pickup and shipping to the final destination) as well as the money to be paid to the company that will take care of the pickup and the documentation with you. So please, as soon as you receive the payment, go and cash it immediately,deduct the money that occurs to you, and send the balance to the Head Office of the company that handles the shipment via Western union Money transfer The payment will be in your name to make it easier for you to receive payment, please reconfirm your details one more time.I will give you the details of the company that will be shipping it as soon as we seal this seal.
Once the money is received by the shipping agent , the shipping agent will contact you immediately to arrange the documentation as well as the pick up immediately.
So in view of the above, here are some of the details I will need for final issuance of the check or money order to you.

(1) Full Name.........
(2) Mailing address....
(3) Your direct telephone both home and cell
{4} Acceptance of my offer.....
(5) Final asking price..........



Once you get back to me with all the above, the payment will be issued out immediately and it will be sent to you Hope to hear from you immediately Looking forward to your swift response,Finally Am making you a promise that the Pup will be taken Good care of and all the time and will make it just like a child and nurtured like my friend,companion,never lacking any care and love from me at any point,I will also send you pictures from time to time for you to see what love i it gets from me.
Hope to hear read from you Soon..



Regards
Mr Russ Jacob


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## wishpoo (Sep 12, 2009)

OH my LMAO

And to think that I "would take time" to "educate" Cameroon gangsta of how to "properly" buy a puppy :bump2: - just hilarious !!!! 

I am sooo NOT street smart :clock: LMAO 

Silly Wishpoo , never learned to take "pink glasses" off when people are in question, no matter how many times she was proven otherwise :bike:


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## Yaddaluvpoodles (Mar 20, 2010)

That is too funny Wishpoo (new title the Gangsta Teacha!) :cheers2: Uhhhhh... I included the emails.... you could contact them if you really need something to do <VBG>

On the rare chance I may get a legimate call through TTY, I always take the call, treat the caller with respect.... and then wait to see what develops. Many breeders won't even accept the calls anymore as they can be quite time consuming.

They sure could have suckered me in... except I know someone who did get suckered and thankfully, they shared the information with me.

I posted it here to try to protect others from getting suckered.


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## Trillium (Sep 1, 2009)

Good for you for passing on the info. I've seen the same type of thing almost word for word when my husband was selling a car. Fortunately we'd heard of this scam too. You sure do have to be careful these days.


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## Jacknic (Sep 14, 2010)

This may not be an othodox way of answering this email but this is how I do it.

Dear Sir,
I am SO excited you are interested in one of my puppies, I will bath him up as soon as poosible and have him ready for your carrier. Here is my information and will look forward to your MO arriving.

1234 Bite Me Drive
Iamnotstupid, American
45678
I will pray for your soul that you stop trying to scam innocent people.

I have actually received email back telling me how rude I am!!! LOL


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## Skye (Feb 19, 2010)

Jacknic said:


> This may not be an othodox way of answering this email but this is how I do it.
> 
> Dear Sir,
> I am SO excited you are interested in one of my puppies, I will bath him up as soon as poosible and have him ready for your carrier. Here is my information and will look forward to your MO arriving.
> ...


:aetsch::rofl:


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## Lilith (Sep 29, 2010)

Jacknic said:


> Dear Sir,
> I am SO excited you are interested in one of my puppies, I will bath him up as soon as poosible and have him ready for your carrier. Here is my information and will look forward to your MO arriving.
> 
> 1234 Bite Me Drive
> ...



I LOVE it! I'm not a breeder, but I've seen these scams a million times (in fact, I had a scammer offer me a labradoodle when I was first starting my hunt for a puppy - he was advertising in the South Africa classifieds). Will totally be using your style of reply next time. 

Oh, and I have friends who have lived and worked in Nigeria and Cameroon. They tell me of times when they sat in internet cafes in the cities that were absolutely full of young men writing up these scam emails. They're hired out by people who set up the fake companies and rip off account numbers and paypal accounts and whatnot to send letters as far and wide as possible - there are always a few who have never received such a letter and thinks it is legit. These are actually huge scam rings, not unlike mafias, and folks have actually run into danger by trying to track them down. And apparently a big reason Cameroon is in the game is because SO MANY scams came out of Nigeria that transactions originating from that country have been banned on a lot of internet sites. I'm guessing Cameroon might be next!

Puppy Scam Alert


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## Jacknic (Sep 14, 2010)

It is the same group of guys that set up fake ads on puppyfind. They either:
A.) have absolutely gorgeous puppy pictures and list puppies at $300 including shipping?????
or
B.) For some reason have a weimaraner puppy listed as a poodle???????
If shopping on puppyfind always click on link to see other ads, they will have
about 20 breeds of puppies listed for $300.
If you find them and notify puppyfind they will remove them pretty fast.
I always have to wonder WHO falls for this stuff? Terrible to think people would!


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## Cdnjennga (Jul 30, 2009)

Jacknic said:


> I always have to wonder WHO falls for this stuff? Terrible to think people would!


Sad to say I think quite a few people! One of my best friends came very close to getting scammed when she was looking for an apartment in Montreal. Luckily she knows cynical old me, and shared the info with me, and I knew right away it was a scam.

The scammers often appeal to people's desire to "get a bargain" or something that really should be obviously too good to be true. In my friend's case, they showed photos of an amazing looking apartment for an amazingly low price and described a situation where it just might be a plausible thing. It's once they start mentioning money orders or Western Union that you should be very, very cautious!


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## Yaddaluvpoodles (Mar 20, 2010)

Wow! 

I guess anything for a quick buck. 

I almost responded to my TTY "friends" with an email telling them how sorry I was for whatever situation caused them to compromise their honesty and integrity... and let them know that as long as they continued to take advantage of people, they would never have true success in the world, that whenver something bad happened to them, that I hoped that they would consider the people that they had caused bad to.... but one of my friends told me it sounded like a "curse" and they might decide that they would have to do something bad to me to get rid of the curse. So.... I just don't reply once I've determined it's a scam.


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