Urgent Warning: Bulldog Puppy Scam

Awww this Bulldog puppy is just too cute and probably why these criminals are using these puppies in their latest Nigerian scam.

Yesterday we received an e-mail from a lady asking us for help in finding homes for 5 Bulldog puppies and their parents.  She stated that her mother in law had passed away who she was very close to. 

You know us and so we quickly contacted a few friends to see if we could help.  After a few minutes we though this sounded to good to be true, so we started searching the web, to see what we could find out.  The name in the e-mail was Dorothy Thompson and since we have two members also named Dorothy we initially figured it may be one of them but after searching through our e-mails we realized we had no member with that last name.

What we found on the web after searching her name shocked us!  This is a new type of Nigerian scam going  around the web.  They are targeting all pet lovers and also targeting all pet sites.  How heartless are these people, to try and rob people by stating they need help because someone in their family is dead?!  There are some sick, malicious people in this world that would steal from a baby in a second, if given the chance.

Here is the original e-mail we received so you know what to look out for;

Hi,

I am looking to place a litter of 5 adorable bulldog puppies and also the parents, they belong to my late mother in law who I was really close to and she passed away unexpectedly, these puppies are so cute with correct conformation and excellent dispositions with shots and worming up to date. They do the funniest things. You just can't get enough of their playful antics. And they are growing so fast, contact me immediately if you are interested in them.

Have a nice day,

Dorothy.

This was sent from the name Dorothy Thompson and the e-mail was dorothy2@2itb.com
We replied to her originally and stated we would do everything we could to find these pets a home and we got this response from this sick person or persons;

Hi, I am so sorry that I have not gotten back to you until now, your email was found in my junk folder, the parents of the puppies are from a champion blood line and puppies and adults are of show quality, these are full blooded english bulldogs and I need help placing  puppies and parents, my moher-in-law's death was unexpected and she left no instructions, I am doing this in good faith to find these cute babies a permanent loving and caring homes, I am located in bangkok and I am a  nurse practitioner and put in a lot of my time at work and so can't afford the time and space needed to care for the dogs, they are 12 weeks old and have their complete shots and worming, I am asking for a small re-homing fee of  $150 and shipping is $350 depends on your location. Pictures will be sent upon request. Looking forward to hearing from you...Thanks..Dorothy.

After researching it more they sometimes state they are from Nigeria, Bangkok, Brooklyn and so on.  So please everyone pass this along to help warn people about this latest scam.  What will they think of next?!!!

We did find some good news about one of these scammers being caught in Manhattan over a year ago.  Unfortunately they have this individual replaced with quite a few new middlemen here in the US, who are still working the scam. 

Law enforcement officials have filed a criminal complaint against a Manhattan woman who is alleged to have fraudulently advertised free pure-bred puppies on major Web sites.

Janet Goris, 33, of the Lower East Side, was charged with luring four prospective dogs buyers into sending her "shipping and handling" payments of between $300 and $400 in exchange for baby English bulldogs, the Queens district attorney's office said.

"It is doubtful that the puppies even existed," the Queens district attorney, Richard Brown, said in a statement.

Ms. Goris allegedly told investigators she sent 90% of the profits from the puppy scam to accomplices in Nigeria. She placed advertisements on Web sites such as Yahoo Classified and livedeal.com, where she posed as several different religious figures, sources said. She was arraigned on charges of grand larceny and conspiracy and released without bail Friday, the Queens district attorney's office said.

A victim of the alleged scam, Jenny Chavis, 30, from Sebring, Fla., said the advertisement she found on Yahoo Classified claimed the puppies belonged to a traveling evangelical minister, the Reverend James Collins, whose mission helped find homes for the baby bulldogs.

"I have four children who were so excited to pick the dogs up from the airport," Ms. Chavis said. "I cried for days."

Ms. Chavis said she was instructed to wire $400 to a Western Union branch in the East Elmhurst section of Queens. After the funds were processed, a man who said he was Rev. Collins contacted her, she said.

"He asked for another $200 to get the dogs released from Customs," Ms. Chavis said. "That's when I knew it was a scam."

Officials are continuing the investigation in hopes of digging up more details about the alleged scheme, sources said, including the identity of the man who claimed to be Rev. Collins and possible ties to organized crime in Nigeria.

Ms. Goris will return to court later this month, the Queens district attorney's office said. If convicted, she faces up to four years of prison.

One down and another 100 or more to go! 

If you have been the victim of internet fraud or any cyber scam you can go to www.ic3.gov to file a complaint.  It is a joint task force we worked with concerning eBay thieves and scams several months ago, including the FBI, NW3C and the BJA.  If we just ignore these scams then we allow the next person to possibly become their next victim.

Thank you all so much and God Bless.

Comments

[K. Limbaga]

Aww...that Bulldog puppy pic is too cute! Just got the same phony puppy adoption email today in my spam.
I've also been getting a rash of bogus bank account alerts for two weeks now. These crooks cast a lot of lines and hope for one bite. Nothing to do but ignore them.

[Charlotte]

hey guys,

i think this is happening to me right now i went to go look up puppies for sale and stumble upon this website: http://www.oodle.com/view/Akc-English-Bulldog-For-Esther/1259751883/usa/...and the price for the bulldogs are $400.00 and so i emaild inquiring to see if there are anymore left and i guess she posted this 3 weeks ago and had said someone else bought them, but the guy who bought them left the country and now wants someone in America to adopt becuase the weather out in south africa is too hot. and left me the email address so i inquired on it and emailed him and he wants me to send in western union and then hell tell me the shipping instruction which the two puppies(both male and female) will get shipped delivered to my home. and he even called me to confirm internationally. and then i started thinking more and more so i asked again if i can get another picture of them but he says hes too busy and he assures me cuz hes a man of god that we are in a right path. so i wanted to get the two puppies real bad but i think it is too good to be true.

[Darrin & Josy]

Wow these thieves will stop at nothing to try and scam people nowadays. They are using the puppies because they know most of us animal lovers will try and help or adopt the little fellows. We are so glad you found this post before sending those thieves any money.

We can only imagine how many people have unfortunately fallen prey to schemes similar to this one.

If you are thinking about a puppy try Petfinder.com
They have a huge and reputable list of dogs and cats that need a loving home. They also have lots of puppies to!

Thank you so much for sharing your e-mails & story with us. Have a wonderful evening and God Bless.

Josy & Darrin

[israel]

almost happened to me

From: Israel Olvera [mr_olvera@hotmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2008 8:40 PM
To: bolaantonio@yahoo.com
Subject: RE: bulldog puppy for sale

I tell you what…. How about we use my service

http://www.airanimal.com/

give me the address where the puppies will be picked up

I don’t know about a company that makes you call Cameroon or the UK with the name USA
on it.

From: Bola Antonio [mailto:bolaantonio@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2008 4:32 PM
To: Israel
Subject: RE: bulldog puppy for sale

hello,
i am very happy to read from you that makes me feel safe that thge puppies will be going to a
good and loving home .here is the name of the shipping company i will be using pet-air-usa you
can call them via their number and talk to the managing director directly
01123779137153 dail as you see .as soon as all is set i will be waiting for your infos .
thanks

--- On Wed, 11/5/08, Israel wrote:
From: Israel
Subject: RE: bulldog puppy for sale
To: bolaantonio@yahoo.com
Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2008, 12:11 AM
I've always had dogs in my life since like 8yo i had a pit bull , a bull terrier, a chiguagua i actually
was in the market for a toy Doberman, a bull dog was my second choice. don't worry we have a
dog park 20 mins away walking distance so plenty of exercise everyday, my friends mom has
bulldogs and shes real cool with me so im sure anything comes up she will be a great resource. i
actually emailed her last night asking when they would have a litter again

before i give you my info

what company are you using to ship the puppies?

i have a couple of questions for them

Thank

in this day and again if scams i want to verify first.

thanks for your cooperation

Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2008 14:13:17 -0800
From: bolaantonio@yahoo.com
Subject: RE: bulldog puppy for sale
To:
hello,
thanks for getting back asap .as i said in my first mail i will be doing the shipping and all you will
need to do is to pay the shipping of the puppies .are you taking both ?if so then you will be
paying $200 to the shipping company .all i need from you to do the shipping is to get back to me
with your full names ,phone number address and the name of the closest airport to your location
so that i can have the puppies shipped from here .asa soon as you get back and i do thew shipping
the shipping agency will use the details and contact you to give you the details of the puppies
flight and the paymant details of the delivery.
but first you will need to assure me that you wil take care of the puppies and give them all the
care they need .thats why i am not selling them i am just looking for a home .
thanks and get back

--- On Tue, 11/4/08, Israel wrote:
From: Israel
Subject: RE: bulldog puppy for sale
To: bolaantonio@yahoo.com
Date: Tuesday, November 4, 2008, 7:01 PM
so how can we make this happen??? the ad states LA as the location you're telling me they'll be
coming from Alaska??

ok so what are payment/shipment details??

Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2008 06:28:53 -0800
From: bolaantonio@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: bulldog puppy for sale
To:
hello,
yes,the pups are still available and looking for a good home with loving parents.my puppies are
potty trained , vet checked and AKC...they are so playful as they get along with kids and other
pets ... i just moved into a new and non pet apartment and so i have decided to adopt these little
babies to a nice and caring home where they will be well loved and spoiled . They will come
with all their papers needed . They are also 12weeks of age male and female . i am
inAnchorageAKand the reasons for me giving out these my puppies for free is because i just
moved into a new non pet apartment and so my landlords is not happy with me keeping my
puppies he says he kids are allergic to cats and dogs so he say before the end of the week i need
to get reed of the puppies .....i really love my puppies and i am looking for good home for them.
if you can afford just the shipping and delivery fee of $100puppy and $200 for both, which you
will pay the shipping/Delivery company directly so that they handle the shipping Delivery of the
puppies to you .. note that you will pay the company directly and not sending the money to me
.They will come with some toys and food stuffs . email me if you are interested so that i brief
you more on the shipping and delivery of the baby puppies.please i am not out to sell the puppies
but i just need a loving and caring home for the puppies that's why you are paying the
shipping/delivery fee directly to the shipping/delivery company .please if you can give my
puppies a good home then feel free to contact me .i really want them to go to a good home .
thanks and get back







--- On Tue, 11/4/08, Israel wrote:
From: Israel
Subject: bulldog puppy for sale
To: bolaantonio@yahoo.com
Date: Tuesday, November 4, 2008, 8:24 AM
I saw your ad
http://www.oodle.com/view/lovely-english-bulldog-puppies-for-sale-/1087871230/la/

are the 100 or 250 the ad is abit confusing. I am definitely interested let me know if you have
them for sale. Preferably the white one.

Thank You


Israel

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