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Need help identifying a Craigslist pet 'scammer'. Can someone please read this & help me?

I responded to an ad for puppies on Craigslist. The ad stated must go to a Christian family who would take excellent care of the puppy, and as long as that term was met, then the puppy was free. It never said what breed, only to contact them for more info & pics. So I contacted them with this email: I am interested in the puppies. Can you please tell me what breed they are, and a little more about them? Also, I would love photos if you could possibly send a few to this email, and tell me where you are located? I am in the Denham Springs area. I am happily married & we have 3 children. We are looking for a puppy to keep inside as a family dog. We have lots of love to give, & she would be spoiled rotten! Hope to hear from you soon! Kindest regards, (my name) I then noticed the ad was removed from craigslist. (which was this morning) I just received a response, and this was the email: Calvary greetings to you and thanks for the interest in my lovely baby. Her name is Emily, She is still very much available for her new home, She is such a playmate for kids and other animals, 12weeks with 4 days old now,She weigh 15Lbs right now and at full grown 50/55Lbs. She is Calm and Quiet and very playful too, She is AKC registered and her shots are given up to date. will come to you complete with her veterinarian health record, registration papers, a blanket that smells like "home," and several feedings of her food. Want you to know that she is Free "BUT" but for only someone who will provide her with a sweet, loving home, all we desire from you is love and care for her and not to make her feel like she is not with us anymore because my girls really adores her so much, we will also need an assurance from you that we can come and visit her anytime to see how she is ferring with you. Right now we are in the Christian Missinary home with my family so that's where we will be shipping her to you from all you need to provide me is your name:- , City:- , and your nearest airport to have her delivered right to you. And all you will need to pay is her shippment fee, which i will let you know after i find that out from Express pets delivery they can have her delivered to you next day. Please if you know that you are not going to take very good care of my baby or you will not be able to have time for her please don't bother getting back to me as my daughters will not forgive me for that. After we have shipped her to you I will let you know when we will be able to make it to check on her while she is with you, we just need a loving home for her. Will await to read from you Asap, Susan And attached was a picture of what LOOKS like a purebred english bulldog to me. I find that too good to be true. Plus she never mentions the BREED of the dog. My husband's been wanting a bulldog, and I'd take it in a heartbeat if this was in fact not a scam. Someone please reassure me this is a scammer? And where can I report it??? Does this go on often on Craigslist? Here is a link to the puppy I was sent photos of! http://i431.photobucket.com/albums/qq34/faeryfantasy/Emily.jpg Ok, thanks everyone. That's what I was afraid of. :-( I know the 'going price' for those puppies, so it kind of sent up a red flag when I opened the photo and saw that gorgeous pup staring back at me! Thanks for the suggestions - I am going to send a response right now asking to come pick the dog up in person. Will let you know how that goes, but I doubt I will get a response back since this goes on all the time. Pretty sad!

Public Comments

1. Oh yes this is a scam. It was probably pulled from Craigs list because they discovered it was a scam. I'm so sorry but this scam has been around for years. They will tell you what the shipping fee is and then they will reply with oh something has happened and they need more money ect. They may even send you to the air port to pick up a dog that never arrives. All of a sudden they are no where to be found and your out your money and your heart is broken because you don't have a dog either. You were very smart to check first this way you have just saved your self a ton of money and a broken heart too. ADD: Oh dear! That picture I've seen before and I am positive that one puppy has been show here many times before. It is a stock photo of a bull dog puppy. They do not own this puppy at all. :(
2. Yes, it is a scam. There is no puppy, all they want is a "shipping fee" that goes right in their pocket.
3. DO NOT DO IT! That pic looks like it is off a breeders website...check around I bet you find the "free puppy" posted on someones website. Sorry but good luck in finding a dog.
4. This is a SCAM Run away from this persons ads. SCAM. Look up Nigerian bull dog scam. There are thousands of these on the webpages. You will NEVER get a dog. I repeat, DO NOT SEND ANY CHECK NOR MONEY ORDER NOR MONEY TO THIS PERSON The give away word here is "LOVELY" Not just on Craig's list but hundreds of other free advertising all states. These people are trying con everyone out of money. Fact.
5. an english bulldog shouldn't really be that big at 12 weeks.
6. It's a scam, it happens a lot on Craisglist and in other online and offline classifieds. Craigslist has a link at the bottom of this page to contact them: http://www.craigslist.org/about/help/ Since the post was already deleted, they may not do anything beyond perhaps banning the IP address that posted it, but I'd send them an e-mail anyway. Good for you for recognizing this as the scam it is before sending these people $. Many people send the 'shipping cost' and wait at the airport, never to receive the puppy.
7. well i would ask for a visit to see the dog for your self if they can visit you you can visit them. so ask if not (they wont let you) i would be suspicuos and be more concernernd
8. I agree that it more than likely to be a scam. Just for my own curiousity I would send an email saying that I am happy to come and pick the puppy up from anywhere. If they are happy with this could they let you know where you can pick up the puppy. I doubt you would get a response but it would be interesting.
9. I would get a puppy from a credited breeder, or a local shelter. Shelter dogs or puppies make excellent pets. Often the shelter has them vet checked or may even offer shots, etc. This sounds like a scam to me. I got my dogs shipped, and I was required to use paypal for payment-which is safest. I wouldn't take this dog, in case it is a scam, or the dog may be sick. I knew the person's name, phone, etc. She gave me pictures of the dog, her e-mail. She wasn't the only one we have gotten dogs from. You can also look on Petfinder.com for the perfect pet for you. Good Luck.
10. Definitely a scam. I don't know about Craigslist but when I tried to place a dog through petfinder.com I got lots of similar responses from people claiming to be foreign missionaries, international businessmen, etc. All claimed they were interested in my dog and wanted bank information so they could transfer money into my account to pay for the dog. Stay away from this. The message you got doesn't say where the dog is now or why the dog is being given away. The only thing this ad was designed to do is take someone's money and there is no dog.
11. Interesting because when we had our puppy shipped to us from Georgia to NJ by the breeder it was sent COD. We had to pay the cargo airline fee upon pickup, directly to the airline, not send it before... The puppy was what we had to pay for ahead of time.