Money Scam That Pray on Dog Breeders

You are probably aware of the many emailed and phoned money scams: You've won a sweepstakes that you've never entered or a relative in a foreign country has left you an inheritance. While these scam sound ridiculously fake, there is a scam targeting dog breeders that may appear to be real.

This scam will act out in one of two ways. It begins like this: A potential buyer will contact you to purchase a dog or puppy in email or by phone. This person will agree to the price of the pup and if they are far away or in another country, even shipping arrangements.

If this is the money laundering scam, they will give you the money weeks in advance but add on extra money. They may or may not tell you about the extra money beforehand. When they come to get the pup or when you ship it, you give them the pup and the difference between the pup's asking price and the amount they paid. Through this transaction, you just disguised illegal funds by making it look legitimate. Furthermore, the pup you just sold will most likely be discarded or unclaimed if you shipped it.

If this is a money theft, you get a check or money order when they come to pick up the pup/dog. As with the money laundering, the amount of the check/MO is more than what was agreed upon. The scammer will tell you it was their last check or they can't go and get a new money order. You then are asked to write a check for the difference. When you go to cash the check/MO, you find out it is fake and you are not out your pup/dog and your cash.

The emails can come from legitimate email services like Yahoo!, Gmail, or Hotmail and but many are written in broken English or with poor spelling. If you receive one of these emails or a suspicious phone call, you should also contact the police to let them know of this potentially illegal activity.

Below are two examples of what money scam letters look like. If you happen to get others, please send them to us and we will post them here.

Thanks very much for the mail,I can understand you very much concerning in interested in your pet,you really sound good and i will love to both any pet you have for the price is okay with me $850 and i will want you to get back to me with your details below so that i can issue the the payment ..hope you have a contact home address if so provide it and send the payment to you once you give me your address..

Here is the address you have to provide for me..
Full Address.........
City.........
States...
Zip/code...
Your phone number.....

I have inform my secretary today immedaitely you provide me you details to issue the check of $3000 because my shiper that will come for the pick up and i dont want you to be worry for the pick up for the pet okay. immedaitely you recieve the payment in your bank you will send the rest of the fund to my shipper in the spain because right now they are now in spain.

I will want my daugth to have it for birthday and i dont want to fail him so that is why? and also i have some goods that i want my shipper to pick for me after they come for your pick up. please kindly contact me back with the details immedaitely and let me know more thing i have to know when you get the pet.

Thanks
Kenny

Here is another:

Hello, It's has been my honourably pleasure to write you.i am highly intrested in your advertised (Puppies) so i will like you to get back to me with some pics of it and the final price including the present condition so that payment can be remited to you as soon as possible.Thanks my timely response will be appreciate as soon as possible.
Nick.

How can you prevent getting scammed?

1. Never accept more than the agreed upon price.
2. If you accept checks or money orders, ask to see two forms of identification. Scammers may have a fake form identification but they mostly likely won’t have a credit card or bank card with the same name.
3. If you are shipping the pup/dog, verify the name and address on the Internet.

Christie Bliss
VersatileDogs.com

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