Cyber scams cashing in on puppy power

Despite my issuing ongoing warnings about internet puppy scams, many in the market for a specific breed of puppy go online.

Despite my issuing ongoing warnings about internet puppy scams, many in the market for a specific breed of puppy go online.

Published Sep 25, 2012

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Pretoria - The internet brings the world into our homes, which is mostly a good thing, but if money is involved, and you don’t switch your mindset to super-suspicious, you’re a sitting duck for the growing number of fraudsters who earn their living off the gullible.

Sorry to say this, but when it comes to doing business online with a company or entity that doesn’t have an established track record, you really should assume the worst until provided with solid evidence to the contrary.

Never buy a puppy over the internet from a breeder.

Despite my issuing ongoing warnings about internet puppy scams, many in the market for a specific breed of puppy go online, click on a photo of the most adorable little bulldog or Pekinese, turn to mush and then are led by the nose by the fraudster posing as the puppy seller – or donator – who gets them to transfer money into their accounts for a dog that doesn’t exist.

I recently heard from two women in the space of a week who did just this.

The first began like this:

“I recently went in search of a bulldog pup online.

“I discovered a website called getpuppies.co.za and began browsing. I found a pup which stole my heart. Overcome by compassion, I contacted the seller – who goes by the name of Stephan – via e-mail, he then sent me the price and pictures of the pups.”

She was told to transfer R1 500 to a Z Dube, and when she questioned the name, she was told that Dube was “Stephan’s” labourer who would be arranging for the puppy to be couriered.

Then came the demands for R3 200 for the rental of a special crate in which the puppy had to be transported, failing which it couldn’t be sent to her.

That was a classic internet scam: withholding goods – lottery winnings, a tax refund, a puppy, often free – and then making delivery of the fictitious goods dependent on the payment of further fees: taxes, courier fees, and the like.

The same week I received a similar e-mail from a surprising source – a state vet, who asked to remain anonymous.

She began by saying she was an avid follower of Consumer Watch and considered herself to be “a cautious consumer” and then went on to describe how she got scammed anyway.

Adopting from the SPCA was not an option as she lived 150km from the nearest branch, making the “yard check” impossible.

So she decided to buy from a breeder, despite her “natural suspicion” of breeders.

“I fell in love with a little Havanese puppy and contacted the breeder, Brendon Erikson.

“He was very helpful, e-mailing me pictures of each puppy in the litter, as well as the bitch and sire of the litter.

“I stated which one I wanted; a little brown pup called Lilly.

“We chatted about costs and travel arrangements over e-mail and I did what I thought was a thorough background check.”

That included contacting the Kennel Union of SA to check if the breeder was registered. He had had another breed of dog registered, and as the vet wasn’t interested in pedigree she didn’t worry that neither of the parents of the dog in question were registered.

Kusa had no negative reports of the breeder in question.

Fraudsters don’t use their real names. They could easily use the name of a registered breeder.

If the vet had Googled the name Brendon Erikson, she would have seen, in the first hit, posted in June this year, a scam alert about someone using this name to sell puppies online.

The vet also contacted three different courier companies that transport pets in order to compare their transport costs to those quoted by the breeder – they were similar.

She should instead have asked for details of the courier company the breeder claimed to use, and called them to find out if they existed, and whether they did business with the breeder.

She asked the breeder for a copy of his ID and proof of residence. Easy to fake.

She also chatted to her bank on how to avoid internet scams, and insisted on speaking to the dealer directly.

“Although he had a weird French accent, one cannot really discriminate because he may – or may not – be Nigerian.”

She then asked him to fax her the puppy’s vet books. He didn’t, which should have been a major red flag for a vet.

But she went ahead and paid the “final” fee of R2 500, with the delivery date agreed as September 10.

That morning, true to scamster form, she got a phone call about the transport arrangements.

An additional R3 550 was said to be needed by the pet courier company for “energiser vaccines” and the hiring of a crate.

It was then that she discovered – too late – that the pet courier company didn’t exist and the man claiming to be from that company “sounded suspiciously the same as the breeder”.

She refused to send more money, and the man refused to send her “Lilly”.

“I argued all I could, then started to believe that Lilly didn’t exist at all…”

She then couldn’t get hold of Erikson and reported the scam to her bank in the hope that she’d be refunded – unlikely.

“Mostly I am upset because I had set my heart on sharing my life with this cute little treasure, Lilly.”

The scamsters tap into animal lovers’ psyches by using this same flowery, cute language in their e-mails.

With the internet crawling with these predators, you really can’t afford to buy a puppy in this way.

Visit an SPCA, even if this means a bit of a drive – you may be surprised by the many treasures you’ll find.

And that’s not all…

The internet scamsters also claim to sell some rather obscure things on the internet.

Coleen Malan of Pietermaritzburg, who does wedding decor, recently went online to source ostrich feathers for a wedding.

She went into the Alibaba website and found Ostrich Paradise. She corresponded with “Mewah Edison” via e-mail for about three weeks and received a professional-looking invoice, before placing the order for 1kg of burgundy feathers, paid for by her client – R830.

“Edison” claimed he was out of stock, and then promised to refund the money, but finally he apologised to Malan and admitted that it was a scam.

Be careful out there in cyberspace; be sparing with your trust. - Pretoria News

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