[News] Yorkie Adoption Scam
 

MyFoxNY.com -- One of the most popular breeds of pooch in America is now at the center of an international scam designed to steal your money. It's about as low as it gets. Fox 5's Mary Garofalo has this exclusive report.

Video!

http://www.myfoxny.com/myfox/pages/H...Y&pageId=1.1.1

I'm so glad there is now a video out to expose this. It's great the news got hold of it.

very good info thanks for sharring, i feel so bad for that nice couple, i hope they are able to get there baby. scammers make me sick:thumbdown

I see those ads all the time on the Louisiana free online classifieds.

This is so sad, so glad you guys warned me about it! I found a ton of ads like that in the Houston Newspaper. Same exact story missionaries sent to Africa. It's terrible I feel so bad for that family!

Did anyone ever find out who Sharon Jones is and where she is from?

how sad....the only question i have is what did the news people do after receiving back all the email messages. did they try to find where these people were? are they going after them? it seems they did a story but didn't do anything to stop these people.
this is what we need.

i think i am going to set up one day and email all of these people....then advise them i know it is a scam. maybe if they know someone is out there looking for them, they will stop.
these people have to be stopped!!!!!!!

I watched a similar broadcast on my local news, and they said there is NOTHING our AMERICAN government can do about it, because the MAJORITY of the people are in Africa and I forgot the other country their doing it out of. It's kind of like when people do a crime here they run to Mexico for cover we'll thats how it is there, they are untouchable by us and THEY know it. Different countries different laws.

All I know is we need to work with Africa and put some new laws into affect.

Unfortunately I think Africa has bigger problems to worry about rather than worrying about puppy scams. :(

This sort of thing makes me so mad. Also I feel a little angry at the buyers as well, they should research beforehand and know that "if it's too good to be true... it probably is". I wish there was something someone could do to stop these scammers. I know some states have laws like, puppy lemon laws, but I don't think they do enough.

I've e-mailed several "breeders" the past few days trying to find a Yorkie in my price range. Since most good Yorkie breeders are charging more than my sweetheart will let me spend on a new puppy right now I decided to look on sites/ads I normally would never look at when searching for a pet. What I've found on many of these sites like Yahoo is that out of all the breeders I contacted (which were quite a few) only one was not a scammer. I reported a few that I found on Yahoo, but I don't think Yahoo's even doing anything about it since I never received an e-mail back from them saying they would investigate it or remove the ads from those poster.

Sometimes these "breeders" don't ever mention Africa even though they are from there. I ran into a few of these but after they'd give me their phone numbers I'd do a search on their area code only to find that the phone number links them back to Africa. It really is sad and I feel so bad for those people that fall for it.

However, I've heard that you can use an escrow service such as www.escrow.com to protect yourself a little better if you absolutely must purchase a puppy online. This will allow your money to go to a secured trust account where they will make sure the money is actually valid (protecting the seller) and then give the seller the ok to ship the puppy. Once the buyer receives the puppy and has it vet checked or when the agreed amount of time to have the puppy vet checked expires the escrow company will pay the seller. The escrow service will charge a percentage, such as 4% of the cost of the puppy, but I think that would be worth it compared to hundreds or thousands that you'd lose to a scammer. It sounds like a win/win situation to me. Has anyone tried this by any chance?

Beware
 

Just to inform yorkie lovers of someone who may go by the name Christine Jose. I sent her the money for a yorkie and never received the puppy.
Her email address chritinejose01@yahoo.com
she had me send payment to 530 N. Braeswood Houston TX.
Zip Code:77096
If anyone has any ideas how to find her please let me know.
Thanks

i never realised these people were actually from africa. i thought they were just saying that.

desiree....good for you for knowing these were scams.

WOW it is good that it is getting tv time now.

Great Story. Hopefully the news will help others from being scammed.

I saw her name on the ytca page

Its good that word about these scams is getting out there...

My friend almost got scammed trying to buy two english bulldog puppies.

:( :mad:

I actually responded to one of the ads but it wasn't for 600 and luckily when I saw the silly story... I thought these people are crazy. Who are they kidding.

I feel for the couple too. I hope they get their yorkie one day.

When I bought my dog, so many people tried these scams on me

Yorkie Scam
 

I literally emailed around ten people claiming to be giving away free puppies. I knew already that it was a scam - for nothing is free. I did, however, out of curiosity want to see what they would say.

They all had improper English and for the most part refused to capitalize the first letter of each new sentence. They also replaces periods with commas. Also, they all seem to come from "Kameroon" or "Cameroun".

Look out for those things! Hope they help.

I would contact the police in her area if she doesn't respond to your mail/calls, won't return your money, and doesn't send you your puppy. Since you actually sent the payment to a U.S. address you have a better chance of getting this resolved than those people getting scammed from Africa. Did you send her a check by any chance? Good luck! Let me know if you need any help I'd be happy to do whatever I can to help find this person. Did she give you a phone number? What's the area code she gave you if so? Good luck!

I was scammed in feburary, by these people that supposedly worked for red cross and was going to be shipped to africa on something and needed to sell the puppy. I was so in love with the puppy that I sent the money. Later on they wanted more money with the excuse that since Im from Puerto Rico they needed to give the dog a shot or it will die, once recieved. i told them that i was going to give them more money and to send my money back. Im still waiting for the money. I know it was a scam and you know what i wish for them.
THE people who scammed me where from Florida, Jacksonville
email addresse olordivine@yahoo.com
When I checked later the phone number was from illonois, I was so blinded with the puppy that i just went stupid.
so people watch out.

Thanks for posting that, video and all. I'm so glad these horrible people are being exposed. It's terrible for those who have been scammed, but the scammers are collecting loads of bad karma, don't worry!

I replied to a local newspaper ad for a Yorkie and got a similar bocus email reply. He said he was a minister and was leaving for a misionary trip and needed someone to adopt his Yorkie. Something told me that something wasn't right...I never returned his email.
Thanks for posting this thread; hopefully, others will see it and not be scammed.

I had the same story but mine was from canada....it was a scam also.

wow!
 

So out of curiosty I looked through my old sent mail to find the series of replies I got from these sick people.

I can't believe my strong desire for a yorkie almost got the best of me.
Thank goodness I came to my senses though and realized it was a scam and I was much better off being patient.

Here's the text of one of the emails in very broken english if anyone is interested.

Hello Toni,
>
> Top of the day to you, i will be very glad to sell to you
> if you promise to take very good care of her and if you will be
> sending me her pictures every 2 weeks,also want you to know that
> i am
> selling her due to the mission work before us here in west africa
> and
> i wont have time to take care of her any more,that exactly why i
> am
> giving her to you for free, you will paying 300 dollars for the
> puppy
> shipping and other travelling
> document to avoid any delay at the airport.She will be taking
> care of
> in the plane.
> I want you to know that, her name is annie,she is potty
> trained.She
> like to play around with kids, and she also get along with other
> animals.She is up to date and currently on her shots.
> I want to let you know that she is 100% healthy okay,and looking
> good. I know how you feel and how much
> you love to take annie in
> the mist of your family but i want you to be rest assure that you
> will
> get lara and she will melt your health when you see her I will
> ship
> her thru Express Pets Delivery which i used in
> bringing her down here on next day delivery to you.Let me hear
> back
> from you, so that i can make all neccesary arrangement for the
> shippment to you,she can be to ship to all major state in usa. So
> i will like
> to know when you will be able to pick her up
> at the airport,i accept westernunion or moneygram for payment
> method,
> and when you will be making the payment.Also recomfirmed me your
> full
> name,your address, phone number and nearest airport for
> delivery.I've
> attached you her current pictures.
> Thanks and God bless you........
> Pastor Thomson
>

I think it's terrible what these people are doing, and I am glad that it is getting out, so people will be more aware.

However, I feel badly for honest breeders who are *not* scammers, and sell their dogs or advertise via the internet. Like another member posted above, I had to look online for my baby becauseI couldn't find a breeder anywhere near me! I combed SOOO many webpages, and just about every one was a scam! BUT one wasn't, and I recieved my beautiful baby boy. I don't know what I would have done had my breeder not advertised online, or if he refused to ship the puppy. I don't think I would have a baby right now. Also, my ex-husbands late grandmother bred dachshunds. She was a very good breeder, but in her old age she depended on her children to take care of the dogs and help place them. The easiest way for her was the internet.

I guess what I am saying is, be careful! There are some really good breeders, and the internet can connect you with them, but reeeeeaaalllly do your research on whom you are sending money to, and why. A really good indicator that it is an okay breeder is that they have pictures of the puppies playing in the home, pictures of the parents, are they willing to email pictures, can you get references from other customers from them, are the puppies overpriced or super cheap (they shouldn't be), CAN YOU REACH THEM BY TELEPHONE, is there an address and phone number, do they invite you to come and visit the facility and/or pick up the puppy.... The more contact they make available to you, the more likely they aren't a scam. I took a risk and bought my puppy without ever seeing the breeder's home or the litter in person. That was my choice, and had I not been so picky about who I bought from, then it may have been disasterous. I say if you aren't 90% sure that it isn't a scam, it probably is a scam!
-O

Nigerian scam
 

I totally agree that this is a mean thing to do........ but........ this scam has been around for some time now and has gotten lot's of coverage. They tug at the heart by saying they are missionarys. I know of 3 people who have been taken in by it. I guess I just don't understand how anyone could be so gullible. The broken English in the ad is always a dead give away. They are run in every state. The FBI says they can't do anything to stop them. We have hundreds of honest rescues in this country, who adopt out at a very reasonable price. Please, Don't buy or breed with so many homeless in need. Adopt a rescue!

When i was scammed, the people who did it wrote very good english, so not all of them have bad grammers, there where no comas o semi colon or nothing. so the grammer is not a give away that your being scammed. This other person i was talking to had very bad grammer, to the point that he didnt know that a woman was talking to him and not a man through yahoo messenger.

That's so sad!!! Thank you for sharing the video.