Pet shipping scam. Beware

Last night, I responded to an ad on Okinawa bookoo for a pair of yorkie puppies. At first, everything seemed normal, but then in the 3rd email, the puppies are suddenly located in Scotland and the owner is willing to part with them for free, if i just pay for shipping. This is where I recognized it as a scam. I'm lucky I did. Many people don't realize until after money is sent and no puppies are delivered. Luckily, they only got my email address and I didn't give them the other info they were asking for. They followed everything in the next paragraph exactly...I'm disgusted that people would prey on anyone, let alone a site that caters to a military base. Hopefully no one else responds to this ad.


From Yahoo Voices :

"Another such scam is based on pet adoption. The scammer first posts an advertisement offering pets for sale at a ridiculously low price, most often using stolen pictures from other websites and respectable breeders. When a victim responds to the ad and questions the low price or reason for giving up such an expensive pet the scammer first explains they've recently moved where they can't keep the pet. Maybe they don't have time to properly care for or have too many other pets. Often they will ask for follow-up holiday photos and a continued line of communication so the victim does not expect a scam.

The scammer and victim exchange emails, id's and phone calls to prove their credibility. The scammer offers to ship the pet and asks the victim to only pay for shipping or drops down the original price. Scammer then asks for untraceable money grams, western union, or money orders for payment. After transfer of money, the victim doesn't receive the non-existent pet and when the victim does hear from the scammer again its only for more money to be sent for various reasons such as airport holding of the animal for quarantine or unexpected vet bills, until the victim finally just stops sending money."

My actual correspondence:

I understand you.But I assure you,to leave the stress to me,The agency
is very efficient and will take only a few hours for the puppy to
reach your destination.Trust me.I used the same service 2 weeks ago to
send one of my Siberian Husky pups to a family in Bangalore who
adopted the Pup.I may also give up Kylia up for adoption to you too.If
the finance is the problem,we can both share the financial burden in
the transportation of the pups.All I want is the well-being of the
pups.Are you ok with that?

On 8/19/12, Sapphire Edwards wrote:
If you haven't found a home when you return here, I'd love to care for one.
But I'm not comfortable traveling all that way or with a delivery service. I
hated flying my puppy over here, it was the most stressful experience for
him and me both. Thanks for the correspondence tho. I hope you'll find them
loving homes.

Sent from my iPhone

On Aug 19, 2012, at 4:44 PM, andreano bonavista
wrote:

I am not sure.I have already requested for release at my place of work
so that I could be near my mum.Her condition is getting worse and so,I
need to be closer her during these moments.Hence,since I'll be mostly
occupied with my mum,I will barely have time for my pups.That's the
more reason I'm desperate to give them out for adoption to better
family who can take proper and full care of them.I have seen that you
have a good heart and environment to bring them up in the best of
health and state of mind.But If you are not contented with this
situation of things,you should let me know so that I could continue in
the search of a proper home for my pet.
Thanks for everything and God bless
my regards to your family

On 8/19/12, Sapphire Edwards wrote:
Are you coming to Okinawa eventually?

Sent from my iPhone

On Aug 19, 2012, at 3:29 PM, andreano bonavista
wrote:

Hello Mrs Edwards,

Thanks for the reply and answers to my question. I will recommend
you adopt Jessica.,She's my sweet female princess.Well trained and
lovable to other dogs and kids.Attached to this mail is her picture
with Kylia,my other pup. Please i am also very
sorry for the late reply. All the same, I wish to let you know that,
what i need most for now, is a loving and
caring home for this puppy. That is where they shall be spoiled
with love and beautiful things . From the way you sound from your
mails , it tells me that my puppy shall be well cared for in your home
, as such i need not ask you to promise if you are going to take good
care of the puppy or not. I want you to know that i am not asking for
any
money for this puppy. As i know you would always be there for the puppy
How ever what i ask of you is to promise you shall send me regular
updates on how the puppy is doing and some pictures as well . I am
currently in Scotland with these puppies TO TAKE CARE OF MY
SICK MUM AND I DO NOT KNOW WHEN I WILL BE BACK UNTIL I DEEM HER FIT TO
GET BACK ON HER FEET. Sorry for the distance. So please when would you
like to or intend coming over for viewing and pick up? . Well if you
think
flying this long over here would be a little stressing for
you , then i can help arrange for a home delivery to your home . It
is going to cost you £300 for the puppy to be delivered directly
to your home
, which you shall be making the payment upfront and directly to the
delivery
company. So if that is OK by you then all you need to do is send me
your full contact and delivery details , which i shall use to process
the change of owner documents of the puppy to your names and also
have it registered with the delivery company for delivery to your home
.
The information i need is....

Your Full Name...............

State.........................

City..........................
Your Phone Number.............

Your Post code......................

House Address.....................
I understand you might be concern on the puppy's welfare
traveling this long to your location , considering it's young nature.
How ever i wish to let you know that, the puppy's welfare will be of
optimum priority

On 8/19/12, Sapphire Edwards wrote:
My husband and I are 23 and live on Kadena. We have one fur baby.
He is a male Pomeranian and will be 3 in November. We've had him since
he
was 6 months and trained him ourselves. He is fixed and up to date on
all
vet care. We take him to the vet on base, but in the states we used
Banfield. He also goes to the groomer every 6 weeks and I'm strict
with
what
treats I feed him because rawhide upsets his tummy. He's spoiled and
very
loved. We want a companion for him. He's really friendly to other
dogs,
but
is skittish around bigger ones. That's why we want another small breed
puppy, and one young enough we can train ourselves.
I'd like either a male or female. Which would you recommend since we
have
a
fixed male?

Sent from my iPhone

On Aug 18, 2012, at 9:52 PM, andreano bonavista
wrote:

Hello there,
Thanks for Contacting in regards to my lovely puppies which are still
available.I have one female and one male.So,if you can get back to me
with the exact sex you will want to take home so that i can get back
to you with photos of the sex.They are well raised,potty trained,vet
checked,have Health Guarantee, playful with kids and other home pets,
very good companions and they love a lot of attention.They have a
weight of 1.6 lb at 8 weeks ,they are pure breed,really in need of a
home. Before giving them to any home i will need to know who? where?
and the environment which they are going to,please sorry for asking
but really must do so,because some breeders pretend to be pet lovers
and get puppies from
people to make money without taking care of the puppies.So i will
need
you to answer these questions if you don't mind
am offering this babies at $200 each

1 Have you any pet-care experience?
2 Where are you located?
3 Are you a breeder?
4 How old are you, are you married with kids and
what do you do for a living?
5 When are you ready for this puppies and Which of the sex do you
want?
7 Give me a Brief Description about your Environment?
8 Do you have a vet doctor?
9 Why are you so interested in this breed, what do you know about
them, what do you admire in them?
I will be waiting to read back from you.

Regards


On 8/18/12, Sapphire.edwards21@gmail.com
wrote:
===============================================
Yay! This is a message from a user on the wildly fun Okinawa
bookoo.
Note the notes at the bottom of this note. Noted? User message:
===============================================

How old are they? Are you asking for an adoption fee?

Link to item:
http://okinawa.bookoo.com/item.jsp?itemId=28755667

Title:Two gorgeous Yorkie puppies remaining for adoption
Price:


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