How to avoid scams when buying or selling a dog online
If you buy or sell online, it's just a matter of time before you meet a scammer.
Always use common sense when dealing with others online, especially when money is involved. When trying to avoid scams, your safest bet it to meet the seller and deal with them in person. When that is not possible you need to take extra precautions because scammers love to hide behind the safety and of the internet and take advantage of the extra opportunities it provides them to rip you off.
Before you part with your money, do some research. Here are some tips:
When buying a dog online, you don't just need to worry about the health and quality of the dog, you have to make sure the seller really has a dog to sell.
Try entering the sellers name/email/kennel name/dogs names into google and run a search. Look through the results to see if you can find some past information on the sellers dealings. You might find a discussion of the breeder in a forum, or even find the owners of some of the dogs from his breeding program that would be willing to talk with you about the quality of their dogs. If you cannot find any information on the seller, that does not necessarily mean it's a scam. The breeder might be new in the business or maybe they are a very small operation with only a litter or two a year.
Next, have the seller provide you with copies of all documentation they have on the animals. If they claim that the dog is a purebred that has been registered with a club, there should be a pedigree and club certificate to back up that claim. Don't just take their word for it! Once they get the documents to you, you can do some research on the document by googling the names, addresses or anything else on the documents.
At this point, the seller should have already provided you with some pictures of the dog. Ask for more. If things still don't seem right, or you think the images might have been ripped from of the internet, have the seller send you a picture of the dog with a certain item in the picture that you tell them to put in there (eg local newspaper, can of soup, brush). The images should not have a watermark on them (or a scratched out water mark!) unless it's a watermark for the kennel you are dealing with. Most likely though, the images will not have a watermark at all and the absence of a watermark is not an indication of a scammer.
Fortunately, with the brightness turned up a little, the scratched out watermark on this doctored image was easy to spot.
This is popular scam method. The scammer will offer a high quality, expensive breed up for adoption because he can no longer care for it. He will also include some pictures of a beautiful, quality dog that he ripped off the internet along with a sob story about why he can no longer care for the dog. All you have to do is provide a loving home for his dog and pay a few hundred to have it shipped to you. If you pay him the shipping fee, you will be out a few hundred and Fido will never arrive. The next email you get from the scammer will be a story about Fido being stuck in customs or that the shipping container did not meet the airline guidelines and that he needs you to send him some more money to get Fido onboard and on his way. Don't fall for these stories. The only time you should ever pay to have a pet quality animal shipped to you is if you are dealing with an established, reputable breeder.
All unsolicited adoption offers are a scam. However, just because a dog is offered for adoption does not necessarily mean it's a scam. Many seller will offer dogs for adoption if the animal is born with genetic qualities that make the dog unfit to be entered into a show or competition. These are pet-quality animal and they can be a great deal for you if you just want a friend and do not plan on breeding the animal or entering it into shows.
This can be the most difficult part. If you can meet the seller and see the animal in person, this will not be a problem. If you are dealing over the internet, you need to do some research. Unless the kennel is very new, there should be plenty of information to be found on the internet. If you cannot find any information about the kennel or seller on the internet (other than the information the seller put there), you're best bet is to stay away. The seller might be a legitimate, quality breeder, but he needs to build up his kennel by dealing locally before expecting people to purchase from him over the internet sight unseen.
Your goal here is to avoid puppy mills. A puppy mill is a breeding program run by a breeder who is in the business for nothing other than a quick buck. Puppy mill dogs are poorly cared for and do not receive regular veterinary care. They are fed low grade food and are often kept in small cages without socialization or exercise. As a result, their health, and their offspring's health, deteriorates quickly. Puppy mills will often use a broker (middleman) to help distribute their puppies. Never use a middleman, always deal with the breeder.
One illegal method puppy mills use to pawn off their puppies is bait-and-switch. The puppy mill will use stock photos of champion dogs and claim they are the puppies parents. They also send pictures of a beautiful, healthy puppy. Once you pay them they will ship you a sickly puppy that is obveously not the same on in the photos. But you, being the compationate, kind-hearted person you are, decide to keep the puppy and try to nurse it back to health since you can't possibly send the poor little guy back to the people who didn't care for it. So you keep the puppy and send an email to the breeder cursing him out. That's what the breeder was hoping you would do. He deletes the email and puts the money in the bank. It's how he makes a living. Please be sure to report the seller to the local autorities and any dog clubs that the seller is in. Also, try to sue them to get your money back.
Pet-abuse.com tracks cases of puppy mill abuse and other animal abuse. You can search the database for keywords (like the owners name, kennel name or address) to make sure the breeder has not been involved in any reported abuse cases. However, many puppy mills operate legally and go under many different names. So, just because the breeder is not listed in the database does not automatically mean he's reputable.
Also, a puppy should already have his club certificates (like the AKC certificate) available at the time of purchase. There is plenty of time between the birth of the puppy and the time for it to find a new home for the breeder to file for and receive the club certificates. If a breeder gives you a story about the papers coming in soon or that the puppy has been approved and you just need to send something in to receive the papers, it's a scam. On a side note, club certificates are not proof that a breeding program is reputable or that the animal will be healthy. In fact, many dogs that come out of puppy mills have club certificates.
You need to find a breeder who is passionate about advancing and improving the breed's quality and standard. These breeders care enough about their puppies that they will interview you to determine if you are good candidate to be the owner of one of their puppies.
Escrow services can be a great way to keep a transaction above board. It can also be a simple way to hand your bank account information of to a scammer who will be more than happy to reallocate your hard earned cash. Scammers will sometimes set up a great looking escrow website that will look just as good, if not better, than a real escrow company website. They will use the service you lull you into a false sense of security with the idea of an escrow service keeping the transaction open and honest.
You can go here to look through fake escrow sites:
http://db.aa419.org/fakebankslist.php
You can find plenty of information online about a scammers methods. There are certain terms, methods, and phrases that are used by most oversea scammers that should help you identify the offer as a scam quickly.
Meet the breeder in person, view the dog in person, pay the breeder in person, bring the dog home with you. You may have to make a long road trip to do this, but it just might be worth it.
If you are selling a dog on the internet, you also have to watch out for scammers. Sometimes the scammer just want what you're selling. Other times, they just want you to send them money. Yes, you read that right! Here is how it works:
They scammer will make an offer to buy the animal from you. Normally, it's a really good offer that is WAY over your asking price. But smarter scammer might go the opposite route and do some fake haggling to make you think they are a legitimate buyer. After you agree on a selling price, they offer so send you a few hundred dollars (or even thousands) extra in case you incur any other unforeseen expenses. They tell you that since you seem to be an honest seller they will trust you to send them a refund if there is anything left over after the transaction is complete. They will send you a well-made counterfeit check that the bank will be more than happy to cash or deposit for you.
You then make all the shipping and handling arrangements and find you have $500 left over. Since you are a honest seller, you send that REAL money back the to the scammer. Week later, the check is discovered to be fake and YOU are held legally responsible to return the full amount to the bank (plus any fees). You are now out of $500 and the scammer has pocketed $500. Hopefully, you have not already shipped the dog. Hopefully.
Don't comfort yourself thinking that you'll be able to spot a counterfeit. This counterfeit looks so real a bank would be happy to cash it.
I have been dealing online long enough that I have received literally hundreds of offers from scammer. I normally just hit the delete button. But I decided to play dumb and get a small collection of emails for you to read.
Below is a transcript of email sent back and forth between myself and a scammer. This scammer was using the adoption-for-a-fee method to try and scam me. Hopefully it will be a fun read that will help you get to know how to scammers operate a little better. My leading him on is called scam-baiting. It's considered dangerous and is not recommended, but I thought it would be a good chance to help out those who are just starting out dealing online see how a real scammer works.
"Barry Mayer" is the name this scammer is going by.
From: barry mayer <rev.barrymayer@gmail.com>
Date: 2/2/2009 12:38 PMGood day
miri is 14 weeks old ,potty trained and home raise,she is also update on all her shots and has receive routine medical checks she is also well cared for with top notch food.Many people are asking to adopt our maltese but we can not afford to give her to any person unless we are very sure that he or she can take proper care of her .We dont feel comfortable selling her .All we need for her is much love and care .Have you had any before?Are you a God fearing person and how can we be assured that you will take good care of her?.We hope to read from you .she is still available and we hope that she will go to a good home,she is just so full of energy and loves to play and walk around the house .we will miss her very much for her love,passion and affections.our job is so demanding and i dont have much time to take proper care of her since our son who was always around to take care of the baby has gone for research in asia. so really i need to give out the baby.
hope to read from you
Have a nice day.
My first thoughts: It's a too good to be true, unsolicited offer that's written in bad english.
My conclusion:
At this pont you should hit the delete button and continue on with your day.
Or, if you are feeling tempted by the offer, you could google the email address and find that it happens to belong to a known scammer.
But what if I were this guy?
From: brandon <brandon@puplookup.com>
Date: 2/2/2009 12:42 PMWhere is she located? Do you have any pictures? This is a deal!
Thanks
From: barry mayer <rev.barrymayer@gmail.com>
Date: 2/3/2009 2:30 AMHello,
Regards to your mail and i quite appreciate your interest in the puppy. First of all i most thank my living God for your willingness to adopt the puppy from me and i will also thank him again for answering my prayers. Yes i want an urgent home for her because my tight state of work and study of my son would not Allow me able to take good care of the pup. But a good and comfortable home where she will be treated with much love and care, maltese puppy is 14 weeks old and 6 days Currently, the puppy health is 100% OK! (+1 year health Guarantee), 1st shots, AKC registered, de-wormed, 30 Days pets Insurance.I will have the puppy ship along with her certified health certificate, vaccination and worming record, copy of USDA paper, AKC registration for the puppy, its pedigree and your puppy's guarantee. also the airline ticket, an approved carrier with a soft, comfortable bed, health certificate from my vet, a puppy pack including sample food your pup has been eating, a tube of nutri-cal,I also include a special gift to your puppy from me. Everything you will need will be taped to the top of your puppy's carrier.
I'm Located in (West Africa) with the pup's, we came down on a missionary Trip and will not be coming back to state after 8months, The puppy shipping price is $150, with same day delivery,and Include your
Full Name:
Home Address:
Phone number:
Occupation:
Sex:
State:
Zipcode:
Nearest Airport:
where miri will be shipped to in your next e-mail so as to have her registered for shipping, and also can you Afford the total cost of the price ? $150.
All of her documents are up to date.
Looking forward to read from you as soon as possible.
Thank you.
After playing spot the difference with the pictures he sent me, I decided to ask Mr. Spiritual to give me a little proof that the dog is a purebred.
Pictured: Mr. Spiritual Nigerian Scammer
From: brandon <brandon@puplookup.com>
Date: 2/3/2009 8:24 AMShe is very beautiful! I am very willing to pay $150 to ship her.
Could you please send me a copy of her AKC certificate before I send you the money?
Would a money order be ok or do you prefer another payment method?
My Information:
Name: Brandon J.Doe
Home Address: 10327 Insensate St.
Phone Number: 903-571-1325
Occupation: Accounting
Sex: Male
City: Hot Springs
State: AR
Zip Code: 71910
Airport: Memorial Field
But he ran into some technical problems.
From: barry mayer <rev.barrymayer@gmail.com>
Date: 2/3/2009 10:34 AMhello,
Brandon Thanks for your shipping details i got it am trying to scan the certificate now but i got a problem with my scanner i don't know what is wrong with it , it just can scan.
i will send them along with the pup please just make sure u take care of this certificate carefully. i will also be sending are recent vet check pedigree results.
miri has just been registered for shipping this morning
The mode of payment is the Wester Union Money Transfer.
it easier and faster.
This is the shipping company Payment information
Receivers name:Ademola oke
Adress:73 Allen Avenue Surulere Lagos Nigeria.
Text question: Love
Answer:Trust
Notice!!!
get back to me with the below information
Senders name:
Text question:
Answer:
Mtcn (10 Digit Number )
Looking forward to read from you as soon as possible.
Thank you.
I gave him the typical tech support advice.
From: brandon <brandon@puplookup.com>
Date: 2/3/2009 10:42 AMTry restarting your computer and scanner. Sometimes that makes it work again. I will send the $150 money transfer as soon as I get a copy of the AKC certificate. AKC is very important to me so I can know she is purebred.
From: barry mayer <rev.barrymayer@gmail.com>
Date: 2/3/2009 10:52 AMi just finish restarting my computer before i saw your mail but still the same problem , i have decided to give it to the shipping company so that they can give it to you as soon as they get to your home . but i want you to take good care of miri & her Akc papers ,because she is a pure breed.
If restarting fails to fix it.
From: brandon <brandon@puplookup.com>
Date: 2/3/2009 11:03 AMWell, I can't send the money until I get a copy of the AKC papers. Maybe you can barrow a friends computer? I know it is extra trouble but I will include an extra $50 (total of $200) for your troubles.
Money buys friends and fixes nigerian scammer's scanners.
Good thing my money tree is in bloom.
From: barry mayer <rev.barrymayer@gmail.com>
Date: 3/5/2009 9:41 AMHello Brandon,
How are you doing today,I'm sorry for my late response all these while....i want you to know have not been feeling too well as i was Admitted in the hospital,but i thank God for my health now...i have the Akc paper work scan for you now.....i will like you to go ahead with the payment and get back to me asap okay....
Barry.Mayer
Like nearly all nigerian scammers, Barry fell down.
Pictured: Mr. Spiritual Nigerian Scammer After Falling
After two and a half seconds of googling, I find that this certificate
belongs to labrador retriever named "Franny's Sprig of Shamrock"
He does not know how to google.
From: brandon <brandon@puplookup.com>
Date: 3/5/2009 10:13 AMThank you for the proof that Miri is AKC. Before I send the money though, I have to make sure this AKC certificate is really yours. Please send me a picture of yourself holding the AKC certificate (that way I can be sure this didn't just get copied from off the internet).
I am sorry I have to be so cautious, but the last few times I have wired money the other person backed out and they were unable to send me a refund.
Once I see you holding the certificate I will send the western union money transfer.
Brandon
Exactly how will this picture prove anything? I do not know.But, anything makes sense if you can come up with a good story to go with it.
I couldn't think of a story to go with this picture.
From: barry mayer <rev.barrymayer@gmail.com>
Date: 3/5/2009 11:06 AMBrandon. what do you mean? the stress is too much for me, because i am not feeling fine i don't have any picture holding an akc certificate i can send you my personal pictures if you want them because you really giving me a lot of stress just because of $200.
Thanks Barry
Pictured: Mr. Spiritual Nigerian Scammer After Falling
and Under Much Stress
From: brandon <brandon@puplookup.com>
Date: 3/5/2009 11:11 AMI know, I am very sorry. I just have to be sure before I send the money. This is the only thing more I need before I send the money. I realize that a digital camera might be hard to come by while on the mission field so I do realize that might be some stress. I am willing to make an extra contribution of $25 to cover the cost of renting a camera (bringing the total to $225).
Brandon
All is not lost, my money tree is still in bloom!
The Money tree will temp even the best scammers.
From: barry mayer <rev.barrymayer@gmail.com>
Date: 3/11/2009 1:12 PMGood day ,
Brandon how are you am sorry for my Late responnse i have quite been busy. i will be expecting your payment the shipping agent has ben here Today and he said he will be shipping Miri to u as soon as he recive the payment from you i have sent you is payment details before.here is photo u asked me to get for you.Thanks Barry
Wow, that's possibly the worst photoshop job ever. Is that a "Digital Stock" watermark?
He must really think I'm this guy.
From: brandon <brandon@puplookup.com>
Date: 3/11/2009 1:38 PMLook,
I do very much want to buy Miri from you and I understand that it might be hard to get a digital camera while on a missions trip to Nigeria, but I am insulted that you think I would believe that is a real picture. First, it has a "digital stock" watermark on it. Second, the AKC certificate is clearly photoshopped into the picture.
If you are unable to find a camera to take a picture of yourself, I understand. But I will be unable to buy Miri from you.
From: barry mayer <rev.barrymayer@gmail.com>
Date: 3/12/2009 3:34 AMHello. Brandon i did not take the photo into any photos i don't even know any thing about a photo shop. That was how the camera man snapped me i was surprised when he gave the photo to me i don't even Like it . He told me he had some problems with is Camera Film That it Fell into a Bowl of water. That was why the Photo was not clear why will i be deceiving you ? because you want to Adopt a puppy from me The shipping Agent has been Disturbing me He Came too my home and he has Taken miri Away with him . i have no relatives here i have spent a lot of money here Even on the Certificate i sent to you i took me a Lot of time to Scan it . Cuz am not too Well as you know am sick and i have not been Going to work. Just try and understand me , My Dog is real .. Am sure Miri will get to you As soon as you Get the Shipping Agent Paid. Thanks...
Two things I have learned about Nigeria:1. Nigerian film has a strange reaction to nigerian water.
2. His shipping agent was trained by the Nazi SS.
From: brandon <brandon@puplookup.com>
Date: 3/12/2009 12:36 PMI see what you mean about the picture. I tried taking a few pictures of some on my friends holding the certificate and then I dropped the film into a bowl of water that they came out looking funny also. Take a look at them below. The second one came out really dark, but that's because it fell into a bowl of old.
I studied the AKC certificate for "Barry Mayer" (or as you call her, "Miri") more carefully. I see that she is, as you say, very special. Did you know her parents are both Labrador retrievers? You should have the radiation levels in your area checked out. Miri is lucky she came into this world looking like a Maltese.
Judging from your description of the shipping agent, he sounds like he works for Delta. Never use Delta to ship an animal! We will probably never see Miri again...
The deal is off.
Ps. http://www.photoshoproadmap.com/Photoshop-tutorials
Barry never responded.
