NOT SURE IF I AM GETTING SCAMMED!! NEED YOUR OPINIONS

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Should I trust this Seller?

Poll ended at Thu Nov 21, 2013 3:35 pm

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JoshZ
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NOT SURE IF I AM GETTING SCAMMED!! NEED YOUR OPINIONS

Post by JoshZ »

Hi all, I am new to this forum and I am currently in a process of buying an 8-week old Chow pup from an INTERNET seller.
After reading a lot about internet scamming, I am believing to doubt this deal. I live in Melbourne, Australia and she is located in Ceduna, South Australia.
She says that she will delivery the puppy by FLIGHT which will take 4 to 7 Hours after all the arrangements are done. But the thing that bugs me is that
she said the dog itself is free but you'll be paying the delivery fee of $450. As for payment, she did not specify, she only said that courier will inform me for payment.
She did not mention Western Union or any of those untraceable money transfers. I am really not sure at this point, but it wouldn't be surprising if this was legit. All
I'm doing now is waiting for the puppy which will arrive tomorrow (Thursday). What should I do? In addition she did upload photos from my request and they seem legit too.
I tried to find these photos off the internet but it seems that the breeder actually took them herself.

Here's a conversation we had over email, please read:

ME
How much are you selling them?

SELLER:
>Hi
> Yes i still have the puppies available these are new litters of
> puppies I have both Male and female and i haven't found any home
> because i want them to both go to the same home or family .Well i am
> looking for any one who can adopt them and give them all the love and care
> they needs,They are both 8 weeks old
> So i believe you are going to take very good care of them.
> Before i have some question for you.
> Do you have any experience with dogs?
> do you have a big yard where he will be playing?
> are you going to give them a good home?
> Are you taking the two or one?
> Male or Female?
> Do you have children?
> how old are you?(your age?)
> Are you a Pet lover?
> Where are you located?
>
> Get back to me for more details
> looking forward to read from you
> Stay Blessed
> Regards
>
> --
> Mrs. Sylvia Mandy S.

ME:
Hi there, great to hear from you again.
I am really interested in adopting one of your Chows. I will make sure it gets the best care possible.
We can potentially make the payment towards the end of this week. If it isn't a hassle, could you please
share some photos of the Chow Chows?

Lastly just a few questions,
Are they purebred Chows?
How old are they?
Will it be possible to adopt the female Chow only?

SELLER:
Hello,
Thanks for getting back to me,
well attached to this mail are some of the pictures of the pups,
they are pure breed and 8 weeks old, its fine with me for you taking
just the female,
so that you will spoil her with all the love she deserve, so i will
be waiting for your confirmation with your full delivery details so
that i can do all the arrangement and by Friday or Saturday, do the
delivery for her.
waiting.

ME
Thanks for the photos, they look great.
What are you feeding them at the moment? I would probably continue it as I want to make sure it gets the best diet.
I heard that raw diet is the best, apparently they don't eat a lot of meat. Additionally I heard 'Purina' gives them allergies, so i'll be looking
around for premium dog food or whatnot. As for the delivery, is it possible that it can be done this Thursday?
I'll get back to you on the payment tonight, do you have a PayPal account that we can make a transaction through?

Just to finalize, it's $450.00 for ONE pup incl. the delivery fee from SA to our location (MEL)?

Thank you for your patience.

SELLER:
Hello,
Thanks for getting back to me,
as for Feeding, i to you on my Previous mail that i will be sending
the puppy along with Food sample and Chow chow handbook that will
help you on any other stuff Regarding Feeding, so you have nothing to
worry about that, well $450 will cover the Total cost for everything
and delivery is directly to your door step, Thursday is good with me,
as for payment the delivery service will let you know on that ok. so
get back to me for confirmation.

--
Mrs. Sylvia Mandy S.

ME
Hi, before I make a confirmation, my mother would like to know how the dog will be delivered (flown, drove, etc.) to
our location, and just to make sure once more, $450 will cover the total of the dog (is that including the food/handbook)
and the delivery? As for the payment, will we have to make the transaction before your arrangements, or after the dog has been delivered?

SELLER:
By Flight
and the courier will inform you for payment ok.

--
Mrs. Sylvia Mandy S.

ME
Please let me know if you are unable to arrange it for delivery on Thursday. Thanks!

SELLER:
will arrange the delivery on Thursday

--
Mrs. Sylvia Mandy S.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Photos:

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natalies
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Re: NOT SURE IF I AM GETTING SCAMMED!! NEED YOUR OPINIONS

Post by natalies »

I really do hope you haven't spent any money yet.

Firstly, when purchasing a pet of any sort, you want to make sure that it actually exists and is healthy. I personally believe that you can't gather enough relevant information this via email correspondence alone. The grammar and punctuation alone make me doubt if your 'breeder' is in SA let alone Australia.

Secondly, if this puppy does exist then it would most probably be coming from a litter of a backyard breeder. This points to poor health and temperament. Even the cost alone makes me cringe. I hate to put a monetary value onto pets but sometimes you really do get what you pay.

Thirdly, if you are interested in a Chow Chow try contact the breeders on the Chow Chow Club of Victoria <http://chowchowclubvic.com.au> or join the Victorian Chow Chow Lovers group on Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/VictorianChowChowLovers>. The latter is a great source of information, help and advice in the search for your chow. The people in charge are extremely friendly and regularly host Chow meet ups where you can meet other owners and occasionally breeders.

Keep us posted and good luck.
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christina chow mum
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Re: NOT SURE IF I AM GETTING SCAMMED!! NEED YOUR OPINIONS

Post by christina chow mum »

Hi! Christina here. I read your topic and all the email stuff with some interest as I had a similar experience with my Chow Ming.
Firstly, its difficult from any distance on this planet to decipher what somebody is REALLY saying via the written word. Reading between the lines of the correspondence with the Seller I got the impression that yes, she seems to care about where and with whom and under what conditions the chows will finally end up but then I keep seeing this $450 popping up....( :?: ).
My first thought was that as you are in Australia albeit in different locations that perhaps you could visit the seller and the Chows but again, Australia is an enormous place. It's entirely up to YOU but I would move with some caution on this.

Here is Ming's "story".
I found him in a pet shop in central Athens (Greece) alone, terrified, very dirty, whining and shivering.
I had to have him and was asked for a sell price of 600 Euro, inclusive. At today's exchange rate about 867 AUS$.

The shop told me he had been born in Czechoslovakia. At age 1 1/2 months he was "shipped" overland to Greece in a truck, with other animals [God help us all!].
He was then taken in another truck up to Paiania in northern Greece to a shelter and so-called "quarantine" for ONLY half a month where a vet issued all the necessary "papers" and "health documents" which I got when I bought him after he had been trucked again down to Athens. I could cry with anger!

When I queried such a high price from a pet shop when a local seller in Albania was selling Chows for 150 euro total, the seller told me that 300 euro of it was for "transportation", 100 euro for "quarantine, health checks and microchip insertion" which I learned should have been inserted BEFORE he left Czechoslovakia and not in Greece! The balance of 200 euros was the price of the chow plus the "papers" ( :?: :?: ).

Bottom line is that when I took poor little terrified Ming, aged exactly two months, to my Vet, he was found to have psoraisis deep down in both ears, mite bites all under his fur, fleas, a gum infection, constant diarhorrea and an infected microchip insertion wound on his right upper shoulder. [ :!: :!: ]. Plus, my Vet discovered that the "Czech Passport Health Book" contained no note of any innoculations whatsoever, just a rabies shot for him to get into Greece, which should NEVER have been given to a 1 1/2 month old puppy! In my opinion it's not what you pay for its what you GET!

So there is my 10 cents worth if it is of any help. If you have gone to all this trouble to seek guidance, then your DOUBTS are obvious so all I can say is trust your instincts.

Good luck, sorry I can't be of more assistance and hope others in the Forum can. :)
Loving a Chow means never having to say your'e sorry.
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christina chow mum
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Re: NOT SURE IF I AM GETTING SCAMMED!! NEED YOUR OPINIONS

Post by christina chow mum »

A P.S. to my post above.

Loving a Chow means never having to say your'e sorry!.................. Think about it.

Best wishes, Christina.
Loving a Chow means never having to say your'e sorry.
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chow4life
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Re: NOT SURE IF I AM GETTING SCAMMED!! NEED YOUR OPINIONS

Post by chow4life »

Christina chow mum
I want to cry every time I read Mings journey. So incredibly sad. Thank goodness your paths crossed. Ming sounds like he's living a royal life. As he should.
On a side note My Matilda who is 2.5 years came from a byb. I didn't pay much for her, but I probably would have paid whatever it took. I just wanted her out of the deplorable filth she was living in. I can honestly say she, is the most loving, friendliest chow I've ever owned. She stole my heart when I laid eyes on her. There was no way I was leaving there without her. No regrets.
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christina chow mum
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Re: NOT SURE IF I AM GETTING SCAMMED!! NEED YOUR OPINIONS

Post by christina chow mum »

Thanks for caring together with me chow4life, as I too feel for your Matilda. What IS it that makes humans do this?? The money? Yeah, the money. $-) $-)
The ridiculous thing is that I had no intention whatsoever of owning a dog of any kind as I had just lost my great big fat Balinese siamese cat Phoebe who just died of old age. In those days (seven years ago) I was teaching Commercial/Legal English to several Greek lawyers in Athens centre and had just come out of a law office right next to this pet shop and saw my poor little Ming. I just couldn't believe it! They were just about to close but I asked them to stay open until I could withdraw the cash from a nearby Bank, otherwise I would have camped outside the shop all night in the rain till I could finally rescue him. (Absolute lunacy but so what?)

I have no idea how much baby chows weigh when they are born. Even though my Phoebe was a cat and she had been neutered when very young she was so fat she weighed nearly 28 kilos! My poor little 2 month old "Almost Greek Tragedy" was much smaller than her. When my Vet weighed him he was just under 3 kilos!! Christ! He must have been starving! :) :) I hope to god the people that treated our Chows this way have severe Majori Migraines for the rest of their lives!!
Yes, it took him months to trust me, to guard me and love me and yes, he does live like Ming the King, its all I can ever hope for.
Take care of you and Matilda and don't cry anymore, those monsters are not worth it. You hear me? :) :)
Loving a Chow means never having to say your'e sorry.
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Re: NOT SURE IF I AM GETTING SCAMMED!! NEED YOUR OPINIONS

Post by sara »

joshz,
THIS IS A SCAM, no doubt at all in my mind of that.
If you were letting a chow chow puppy go for that sort of money you wouldn't need to ship it to some one you had never met, and then pretend that all you were interested in is the chows well being, with Q's like, do you have a vet? and then not disclosing what food you have the chow on, and just saying i'll send a book and sample food. You would easily be able to re home your pup to someone near by who you could meet. Even if you were sellling the pup for a few hundred you would get plenty of takers on your door step.
Its all c- - p I'm afraid.
There are often the same scams on certain uk pet selling sites, Pre loved and gumtree are two which spring to mind.
You pay the cash and no pup ever arrives.
I have actually enquired about puppies from these scammers so that I could tell them what dirty scammers they are and to waste their time and hopefully get their hopes up for the enticement of them receiving my hard earned cash.At least while i have been contacting them and playing along it keeps them busy and wastes their time. They are nasty nasty people who are preying on decent human beings who happen to have a want and really are yearning for that little new chow chow.
They do it with other breeds too, but mainly I've seen them advertise chow chows as they are so expensive they get plenty of takers due to the low price they ask for.
I have easily traced the photos of the chow pups that they used as their bait back to the actual real owner and honest breeder. Most of these scammers are pretty thick and this soon becomes apparent once you get into conversation with them.
I asked one for his address by saying i wanted to know where he lived as i would then feel better about going through with this deal, He replied with an address that did not even exist.
Another guy said he lived in London then he said he would ship puppy from scotland, when I aksed why he said he would be visiting a friend on the shipment day in scotland so would take the pup and ship from his friends town, he then added that it wasn't very far from his home in London and his friends in scotland, What a dim wit, scotland and London are very far apart.
Unfortunately people still fall for this scam...they have high lighted this scam on the TV in England and to see what has played out is very sad.
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Re: NOT SURE IF I AM GETTING SCAMMED!! NEED YOUR OPINIONS

Post by RhiannonShez »

What ended up happening? I'm currently corresponding with the same woman about a retriever!!
JoshZ
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Re: NOT SURE IF I AM GETTING SCAMMED!! NEED YOUR OPINIONS

Post by JoshZ »

On the day the puppy was suppose to be delivered I got a phone call with a weird number however I did not answer it as I was still asleep. I looked at my hotmail and found in the "junk folder" 2 emails from a suspicious looking shipping company saying that they were waiting on the payment. In the end I didn't pay and knew that this was a scam. This is what said to her and then she stopped replying.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello Mrs. Sylvia,

I am starting to believe to doubt this offer you presented me. You have not replied to my previous email in regards to the transaction, that is, the puppy is delivered to me
first which then, if I am happy with it I will send you a money transfer. In reality, I am buying a dog which I have no knowledge of it's existence, health, temperament.
The best information I can get is through you via email and the photos that you've sent me, personally I want to see the puppies in person but seeing as your in
South Australia, that can't happen. Reading back through your details that you've sent me, I begin to question that this deal may be a scam. One of the photos that
you have sent me, shows a boy playing with the puppies on the ground. However, after doing research I have found the same photo that you've sent me on 2 other
dog advertisements. Additionally the photos you sent were all in different sizes, meaning that you took them using various devices (i.e. iPad, iPhone, Digital Camera)
which sounds silly to me, or you stole them from the internet which seems more probable.

The courier service has contacted me through email however they were automatically placed in my "Junk" folder. As soon as this happened, I knew that the service was fake/scam.
Why am I sending the money to a location in Qatar? Does not make sense to me. I am also not paying using MoneyGram or Western Union, that's how scammers get away with it, once the
transaction is sent, there is no way of receiving a refund or a trace back to you. I am fully aware of how the scam works. You pay the delivery fee and once it is confirmed, you either
never get the dog, or you get an ill/dying dog, or a different breed or they ask for you to pay more due to a delay at the airport. Mrs. Sylvia Mandy you have been warned, if in a case
that you are not the person I am believing to be, then please deliver the dog first, then I will send the money to you, that way we'll be both satisfied. It seems to me that $450
for a Chow Chow is too good to be true. If this goes out of hand, I will not be reluctant to contact the fellow Australian police.

Again, if you are actually selling the puppy, deliver it first then I can pay you the total of $450.00
If the dog is not in the right condition, this will be reported to the police, the dog will be sent back to you and I will definitely ensure that you WON'T get the payment.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I still really want to own a Chow Chow but they are just so hard to find and pricey here in Melbourne, Australia. Be careful when you browse on the internet, make sure that the seller is legitimate but asking
if you can visit the puppy/dog. Anyway, thanks for all your replies, hopefully someday I too, will be a Chow Chow owner...
JoshZ
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Re: NOT SURE IF I AM GETTING SCAMMED!! NEED YOUR OPINIONS

Post by JoshZ »

I think this website is full of scammers:
http://www.findapup.com.au/ad-category/ ... chow-chow/
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chowchowfan
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Re: NOT SURE IF I AM GETTING SCAMMED!! NEED YOUR OPINIONS

Post by chowchowfan »

I'm glad to hear that you didn't pay any money upfront, especially if you weren't afforded the opportunity to actually see and inspect the puppy first.

I think that you would probably be better off just waiting a little longer and saving up some extra money so that you can purchase your chow chow from a reputable breeder, rather than paying a little less and buying a puppy sight unseen with no real guarantees. You know the old saying "you can't put a price tag on peace of mind"!
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