Common Puppy Scam! "Free puppy, just pay for shipping"

[bullmama]

Puppy scammers are clever. They come up with some great stories to get you to send them money. They are clever and cunning, I have met people who ended up loosing $1500 to one of these scammers.

Commonly, they will say someone in the family died or cannot care for the puppies so they must get rid of them and just want great homes. They may say they have two, and don't want to separate them.

#1. Noone would ever GIVE AWAY English Bulldog Puppies for free! Would you?

They will tell you that the puppy is free, they just need you to pay the shipping costs.

Again- NOONE would give up an English Bulldog Puppy for free. Is NOT going to happen.

Please, do not fall for this scam. I know of several people who have fallen for it (unfortunately), and if you are one of them, please tell others and share your story of heartache!!!

Also watch for bad English grammar, since they are usually from out of the country.

NEVER WIRE MONEY!!

 

[sheshistory]

I have not fallen for this scam, per say, but my husband got fairly far into the pursuing one of these "offers" and it is frightening the lengths these people will go to get your money.

For those that do not know, my husband and I were the proud parents of two male bulldogs, 4 and 6 years old, and in a tragic moment, our 6 year old bulldog was taken from us, unexpectedly. It left us heartbroken. Like most bully owners, it felt like we lost a child and we had an incredible amount of grief that my husband channeled into finding another bulldog to welcome in our family.

He was sad and desperate and started answering ads in the newspaper for bulldogs, one of which was being sold "for the cost of shipping." These people gave their (probably fake) first and last names, phone numbers, photos of the puppy, and one heck of story about falling on hard times and "just wanting the puppy to go to a good home." They literally said (after about a 5 minute conversation with my husband) "we can ship her out today." I guess the saddest part of this was that my husband was actually hopeful that this was legitimate and there was a puppy out there that needed us. He called me and told me about it. I told him it was a scam. In his heart, I think he knew it was too good to be true but he was desperate and it goes to show the way these people pray on people's emotion. My husband had told them our story and, if they were legitimate, they probably would've told him to wait a little bit to get over Bentley's death instead of offering to put the puppy in the mail that day.

After my husband came to his senses, he declined their offer and they even had the nerve to call back and ask if he was sure, the puppy really needs a home.

If it looks too good to be true, it is. Every time.

 

[Ann Farley Hamilton]

Have you ever thought of a rescue? I know there are a lot of bulldog rescues in AZ and a lot of bullies needing love and good homes. I had 2 Rocky 8 who was a rescue and passed on 0/13/2010 and Mack 4 who I got from a breeder as a pup.

 

[Gertie's Mom]

Yeah, I've always heard, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!". Thanks goodness your husband didn't send them any money and you waited for litlle Truman to join your family.

 

[sheshistory]

Have you ever thought of a rescue? I know there are a lot of bulldog rescues in AZ and a lot of bullies needing love and good homes. I had 2 Rocky 8 who was a rescue and passed on 0/13/2010 and Mack 4 who I got from a breeder as a pup.

After working with a few local rescues, my husband got too anxious and upset with the process so we got a puppy, Truman.

 

[LoveMyBully82]

My husband almost got caught up in a similar scam b/c he was so anxious to get me a bulldog puppy for my birthday. There were several red flags in the whole thing. The "pet airline" they were flying the puppies on didn't exist (we did our research). The number they gave him to call only took messages and they prefered to text/email instead of talk. When he actually did speak to someone from the fake airline they told him that he'd have to pay via western union (the one untraceable way to send money!) and he couldn't pay via credit card. After all of these suspicious signs we did some research on the internet and found that these people are not only running a bulldog scam, but they do it w/ other breeds also! I had read not to buy a dog (or any animal!) if you haven't seen it in person, seen its surroundings/living conditions, and w/out seeing their paperwork, so really you shouldn't go ahead and pay someone when you have no proof that the puppy actually exists!

 

[sleet]

A similar scam is still going on out of Fla. They run an ad asking for $270 for a bulldog puppy. The name in the ad changes, but has been Jackie more often than not. When you call her to find out about this puppy, she says they are AKC registered but you need to send them money through Western Union to Pay for the flight and the Shipping crate. It's some special crate that has to be paid for upfront so they want the shipping fees, the airline fees and the $270 for the puppy. When you try and find out which airline, time of arrivals etc., they disappear. They must be getting into someone's wallet too keep running the different internet ads. So sad for someone that really wants a dog and not everyone can afford $4,500.00 for a pet.

 

[Alicia M Kouw]

A similar scam is still going on out of Fla. They run an ad asking for $270 for a bulldog puppy. The name in the ad changes, but has been Jackie more often than not. When you call her to find out about this puppy, she says they are AKC registered but you need to send them money through Western Union to Pay for the flight and the Shipping crate. It's some special crate that has to be paid for upfront so they want the shipping fees, the airline fees and the $270 for the puppy. When you try and find out which airline, time of arrivals etc., they disappear. They must be getting into someone's wallet too keep running the different internet ads. So sad for someone that really wants a dog and not everyone can afford $4,500.00 for a pet.

$4500 is a lot!!! I went through a breeder and I highly reccomend her to everyone in MI!! They are great ppl and I wtill am in contact with her several times a week!! My babies were not that much together....

 

[sleet]

]Glad to hear that. I'm very happy with my little rescue girl. She's worth a lot to me. even if she wet her bed last night!

 

[Sybil76]

I'm one of those people who fell for that scam....don't do it. Totally regret it and glad I only lost 300 and nothing more. Then came my Tess!!!! Worth the wait.