[smelcerk]

Originally Posted by kaydelongpre

That's a common scam they've been doing for a while. Somebody tried it on me recently and I realized just before sending him money it had to be a rip-off. I had the emails from this guy though and his number so I tracked his IP address & mobile phone info. We reported him to the IC3 but I was scared he might keep ripping off people in the meantime, especially considering I don't think the IC3 even takes small profit internet scams that seriously. So just in case I did some investigative work of my own to keep other people from getting screwed. With his IP & phone# I could see the service he uses for phone & internet and the town he lives in, also googled the IP address and found other scams he was doing including listing cars, advertising investments with gold mines, etc. Then had my husband give the a**hole a call from his work phone informing him that he was with the IC3 and they were actively investigating his fraud activities due to many reports, and that they had files on his puppy, gold, and car scams, and Google Fiber, Metro PCS, and the Gulf Shores PD (his hometown) were watching him very closely and that he would be arrested for fraud if the postings continued or if any of the customers they contact from his email/phone records tell the IC3 he successfully scammed money off them.
The guy was scared sh*tless and when I texted again saying I was ready to pay, he admitted being fake and said he didn't have anything to sell anymore. Had a friend email him about the ad too and she got the same response. All his ads were taken down and haven't seen a single scam come up from his IP. So I think I may have saved at least a few people from getting disappointed and scammed. Took some effort but I couldn't stand thinking that there were kids and elderly people out there waiting happily for a doggy that would never come

For future references, always look to local breeders you can meet in person first. If you're getting from anyone online, look for reviews, Vet references, etc. Good luck. So sorry you had to go through this. Definitely report it to the IC3.

Woo Hoo! You are brilliant.