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OH NO not puppies!

By
Real Estate Agent with HER Realtors

Buddy as a pupDog lovers beware! 

ActiveRain dog lovers include .... Toby and Sadie

Jonathan and Tobey

Elaine and Murphy

Ginger and Bella.... Ginger and Bella... I can't use Ginger and Roger's ActiveRain profile page because I don't want anyone to confuse Roger and Bella.  Both Roger and Bella are adorable of course. 

The list goes on....Jay and Daisy (Daisy's really Teresa and Boomer Jack's dog but they share Daisy with their neighbors.) 

About 6:30 yesterday we were playing in our office backyard with the neighbor dogs. YOUR real estate office doesn't have a huge green backyard where the neighbors bring their dogs to play ball and frisbee?  Neighbor dogs, Popcorn (a bichon)  and Linus (a long tailed boxer mix... really a pretty wonderful, comical dog) were running around chasing a ball while their owners talked to three of us... Eric, Elaine and me.  

That's my dog Buddy when he was younger pictured above....

Yesterday in our office backyard we talked about dogs, finished basements, dog DNA, picture framing, dog shelters, remodeling homes, dogs, our office meeting, dogs, the neighborhood, dogs, dogs, dogs and puppies... as Linus and Popcorn rolled in the grass and chased the ball around the office's back yard...

Maybe the story on the radio as I was leaving the office, going home to my dog Buddy, long since grown up ..... a story about Nigerian scams using puppies hit me harder because I was just talking about dogs.  Oh how could they?  NOT puppies!  

Dog lovers beware, the latest Nigerian 419 scam uses puppies!  Real estate and greed was one thing but those Nigerian scammers are going too far when they start using puppies on the internet to lure Americans to send them money. Child predators learned the value of a puppy... you don't even need a puppy, just the story of a lost puppy works to get attention and lure an unsuspecting victim away from reality. 

"Bulldogs too good to be true"! says: "So goes a new scam, one that preys on pet lovers, especially those with Christian sympathies and a penchant for stranded puppies."

"Offering puppies is the newest twist in Nigeria scam" from the Seattle Times  English Bulldog puppies  because of their high price tag seem to be the best bait but Googling for Nigerian puppies I found other breeds too. 

Wikipedia's entry about the 419 scams(advance pay schemes) acknowledges the scammers have discovered the power of a puppy.  The Seattle Times story says the council of Better Business Bureaus and the American Kennel Club were addressing this issue yesterday.   

AcitveRain Dog Lovers Groups include: 

It's Raining DOGS! Dog Lovers Group

Pet friendly real estate

Cats and dogs

The real estate scams have been on ActiveRain since the beginning, but here are just the latest I could find: 

Nigerian Bank Scam and SPAM on Active Rainfrom David and Tonya Kucic

Nigerian transferee... from Kristal

Be Aware Of All Of The Scams Targeting Realtors!!! from John Cain

Maureen Staccato was right about Nigerian scams, they are getting more sophisticated  but puppies?

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Information is deemed to be accurate but should be verified to your satisfaction.  Information provided herein is supplied by several sources and is subject to change without notice.  Opinions expressed are solely those of Maureen McCabe.

 


 

Maureen McCabe
HER Realtors - Columbus, OH
Columbus Ohio Real Estate

Elaine:  I guess Buddy smelled Popcorn and Linus on me... he was following me sniffing which is how he catches up on where I've been, what I've been doing and with whom.  I was too busy telling Mark about the latest scam (and that I got an email from a Nigerian Senator last week!) to pay much attention to what Buddy was doing. Poor Buddy. When I come home from showing, open houses he checks me out but he was very thorough last night.

Laurie: I'll have to go take a look at Oliver.  Great name for a bulldog. I remember showing a house with bulldogs (I assume English) in kennels in the utility room... lotsa snorting going on in that room.

May 30, 2007 02:39 AM
Ginger S
Wilkinson & Associates, Wilmington NC - Wilmington, NC
Wilmington NC Real Estate & Relocation~

Maureen,

This scam is a new one for me too! Growl..... Thanks for the mention in your blog.

Bella says WUUUFFF!

Ginger

May 30, 2007 04:26 AM
Maureen McCabe
HER Realtors - Columbus, OH
Columbus Ohio Real Estate
Thanks Bella and Ginger! 
May 30, 2007 04:39 AM
Rhona Sutter
The Pet Realty Network - Naples, FL
Maureen - What a horrible few weeks for dog stories, first the Michael Vick dog fighting stories and related comments by other NFL players and then the headlines about the Nigerian scam aside from all the local pet abuse stories across the country.  It is very sad.
May 30, 2007 08:04 AM
Maureen McCabe
HER Realtors - Columbus, OH
Columbus Ohio Real Estate

I must have seen something about the Michael Vick thing on your blog? Or some dog lover's blog.  Help me...  He's an NFL player?  And he had dog fights in his home?  Had to sell the home at some ridiculous low price because of the scandal? 

Dog fight stories upset me.  I'll click on your link to see if the answers are there. 

The really nice thing about this Nigerian scam is there are no dogs involved.  

I feel sorry for the people who get their heart set on the cute little puppy they see online.  It is terrible that they are taken advantage of but I am glad the dogs are all imaginary dogs.  

May 30, 2007 08:37 AM
Cheryl Johnson
Highland Park, CA

Carlton says hello:

May 30, 2007 11:12 AM
Maureen McCabe
HER Realtors - Columbus, OH
Columbus Ohio Real Estate
What a wonderful face you have Carlton!  Thanks for sharing him Cheryl.
May 30, 2007 01:19 PM
Kaye Thomas
Real Estate West - Manhattan Beach, CA
e-PRO, Manhattan Beach CA
Maureen- They ran it in our local paper .. what will these guys think of next.. Missed the Michael Vick story.. sure is a long way from the football guys of a few years ago.. Merlin Olsen and Johnny Unitas.. Alex Karas, Fran Tarkington..
May 30, 2007 02:43 PM
Maureen McCabe
HER Realtors - Columbus, OH
Columbus Ohio Real Estate

Kaye, I don't think our local paper has had the story of the fake puppy sales. 

Sadly yesterday the press had the story of Nigeria suing Pfizer....  and pursuing criminal charges against the U.S. drug company for allegedly conducting a drug trial on children there that lead to death and disabilities during a meningitis outbreak in the 90's.  A more momentous story than some crooks running a scam with cute puppy photos...where no real puppies were involved.  

I still have not caught up on the Michael Vick story.

May 30, 2007 10:42 PM
Theresa Cavanaugh
Global Realty Marketing - Appleton, WI
Hopefully anyone seeing any unsolicited e-mail from Nigeria will know better than to respond.  How low can people really sink?!
May 31, 2007 12:56 AM
Maureen McCabe
HER Realtors - Columbus, OH
Columbus Ohio Real Estate

Theresa: I believe for at least the puppy advance pay scam the scammers have branched out and have websites with photos and and are using classified ads.  I was reading something where someone who worked with a newspapers classified ads (but I kind of had the impression they were online ads) said every morning they had to purge the fraudlulent puppy ads left overnight.  Overnight enterprising individuals posted puppy ads that don't ring true for one reason or another, I think that was the article where it said an ad was for Yorkies but an English bulldog was pictured or vice versa.   Maybe it is done with emails too but it would be harder to target dog lovers in general than it is to target RE agents because of our websites.

Then they'll branch out into another venture when this one stops paying off! 

  

May 31, 2007 01:07 AM
Anonymous
The American Kennel Club

If you or someone you know have been the victim or potential victim of an internet puppy scam, and are willing to share your story, please contact the American Kennel Club at communications@akc.org.

This latest internet fraud scheme involves answering a classified ad (internet or print) for a purebred puppy. These ads are usually accompanied by a stolen picture of a cute puppy, along with a false and manipulative tale of how the dogs need to re-homed, or are available for a reduced price. Victims usually end up wiring money to the scam artists to pay for "expenses" such as customs clearance, shipping or travel vaccines. The reality is that the puppy doesn't exist, and consumers who are expecting to receive a puppy end up losing money they may have already wired to the scam artists under these false pretenses.

May 31, 2007 07:43 AM
#20
Maureen McCabe
HER Realtors - Columbus, OH
Columbus Ohio Real Estate

WOW a comment from the American Kennel Club!!  I hope between the BBB and the American Kennel Club lots of consumers have heard of this scam now. 

Thanks!

May 31, 2007 09:14 AM
Danny Frank
JLA Realty - Pearland, TX
The Pearland Real Estate Expert

My Puppy

Have you ever seen a dog so happy????

May 31, 2007 09:24 AM
Maureen McCabe
HER Realtors - Columbus, OH
Columbus Ohio Real Estate

Is that your dog?  I was thinking you were Danny Smith (?)  at first who shared infon on a  Wiener Dog race with AR a couple of months ago. 

Cute dog.

May 31, 2007 12:14 PM
Elaine Reese, REALTOR® in central Ohio
Real Living HER, Powell Ohio - Powell, OH

Tonight the local TV channel had the story.

Danny, cute wiener. The Murph approves.

May 31, 2007 04:40 PM
Rhona Sutter
The Pet Realty Network - Naples, FL
Maureen- I was so upset about the Michael Vick story that I did write a Blog post about it and since then the news gets worse about Vick. The Humane Society of the United States started a petition to the NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, and I can only hope that he takes action against any players that participate in dogfighting as well as the owners, coaches, staff, etc of any sports team that knowingly support these players.
Jun 04, 2007 05:05 AM
Maureen McCabe
HER Realtors - Columbus, OH
Columbus Ohio Real Estate

I had read your blog about Michael Vick before, Rhona, I thought it was probably your blog where I had seen the story.  It is appalling that they'd be involved in something like dog fighting. 

Jun 04, 2007 06:10 AM
Joan Whitebook
BHG The Masiello Group - Nashua, NH
Consumer Focused Real Estate Services

I hadn't heard of this.  Thanks for brining it to everyone's attention.  There are a lot of people out there that should be sent away to some island with like-kind folks.  I hope they are able to stop this type of thing.  There are lots of legitmate pet adoption organizations that people can call to adopt a pet.

Jun 04, 2007 02:59 PM
Maureen McCabe
HER Realtors - Columbus, OH
Columbus Ohio Real Estate
I think the more coverage there is of people who fell for the scam the harder it will be for others to believe they can get a pedigreed puppy for so little. The BBB and the Humane Society are doing a good job of getting the story out.   Thanks for the comment Joan.
Jun 04, 2007 06:28 PM