New York, June 6, 2007
Beware Of Internet Puppy Scam
Cut-Rate Pedigreed Pups Are Too Good To Be True
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Play CBS Video Video Online Scam Targets Pet Lovers "The Early Show" consumer affairs correspondent Susan Koeppen reports on an online scam that tries to lure pet lovers into buying puppies from Africa.
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(iStockphoto)
In recent weeks, an e-mail plea has blanketed the Internet, similar to a classified advertisement that has appeared in newspapers all over the country, offering high-end pedigreed puppies for bargain basement prices — $200 for a Yorkshire Terrier that would normally sell for up to 10 times the price.
The e-mail pleas and classifieds say that the author is a dog breeder who is on a religious mission in Africa and needs to unload the puppies — to good homes — as soon as possible. Those interested are told to send their money (to cover shipping and handling) to an address in Nigeria and the dogs would arrive in several weeks.
Not surprisingly, the puppies never arrive.
Joy Schick was hoping to add a Yorkie to her family when she spotted a classified ad in her local Florida paper. "I found one for $450, which almost sounded too good to be true," she told The Early Show consumer correspondent Susan Koeppen.
She sent an email, and got an immediate response from the owner, who was in Africa, asking Joy to send money to pay for shipping the dog to the U.S. "But he wanted me to wire the money and I delayed doing it before I checked out a few more things and then I decided it was a hoax."
She eventually did get her puppy, Fred, but she purchased the dog from a local breeder. "To take advantage of people who are looking for someone to love — it's just not right," Schick said.
Koeppen herself made contact with the scammers: "When I got online requesting information about puppies, it didn't take long for me to get several e-mail responses — all of them from people with puppies who needed good homes — all of them happened to be on a mission in Africa," she reported.
Reputable breeders like Christopher Vicari say the Internet scams have been going on for a while. Vicari, who breeds sweet-faced, snowy white Maltese, says the scammers are so bold, they actually swipe photos of his dogs from his Web site and use them as part of their sales pitch: "This is common," he said. (Vicari has posted some general consumer guidelines for Maltese breeders on his Web site.)
According to Claire Rosenzweig, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau, "The scammers who do reach out in this way are out for one thing and it's not to give you a puppy. There never were any puppies there never will be any puppies because the scammer will walk away with one thing — your money."
The American Kennel Club, which represents reputable breeders all over the country, and the BBB have issued a warning about the scam.
Among the guidelines they suggest potential puppy parents should follow:
Koeppen also had some common sense suggestions on how not to get scammed:
The Maltese that appeared on The Early Show plaza were provided by Gold Star Puppies, www.goldstarpuppies.com
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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- I almost got scammed yesterday.....I fell in love with a picture of a white lab puppy 14 weeks old.
All I had to do was pay via western union 120 for a temp regulated crate, and two men would pick up the dog and personally deliver it to me. My gut said something was wrong, so I had western union overseas talk to me, and she said listen to my gut. I called the number that Dr John Wood gave me.....he was from Cameroon, let puppy at the pet services at the airport, gave me the name and phone # of the Kenya Airways..I called and got a woman out of bed, whose name is Mona (got out of bed) gave phone to husband, who was rude.........catch ya!
last email I sent was keep your puppy. Very sad that these people can tug at animal lovers heart strings - Reply to this comment
- As a Maltese Show Breeder whose pictures have also been stolen for these scams, I was thrilled that the Early Show was doing an article concerning this. However, I was totally disappointed when reading the story, that they would advertise for a less than reputable so-called Maltese breeder, by announcing to the world the less than reputablae kennel name and website that had produced the Maltese puppies that were being held. This truly did not help to make the article more creditable and in fact ruined it for me. At least, the interview with an honest to goodness show Maltese breeder was a good thing.
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- I can't imagine actually paying money for a puppy that I couldn't see FIRST. I also like seeing the parents and the puppy's history. I don't know how much Yorkies are supposed to go for but I know we got a beautiful golden retriever for $300 from a local breeder.
Part of why we "chose" him was because of his outgoing, lovable personality. If you "order" one how would you know that it's even "compatible"? - Reply to this comment
- To protect our business all of our puppies pictures have our logo embeded on them. Before we did this we were contacted by a person that seen one of our dogs being sold from another person claiming it was theirs. It is frustrating to people to use this scam and using our puppies.
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- Most importantly, do not buy puppies from overseas. For one thing, there is no way to find out if the puppy is healthy or if it even exists. For another, US live animal quarantine laws often require animals to stay in quarantine for months until they have been tested. So if someone from another country says you will get puppies within weeks they are lying. And for a living being--why would you buy them like a piece of clothing anyway? Animals have personalities and quirks--people who can choose an animal without considering compatibility--probably should not have an animal in the first place.
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- The internet has been around long enough that people shouldn't be falling for scams. People need to grow some gray matter between their ears!
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