English Bulldog (Lina) Scam

[cambyfamily]

I recently responed to an ad in my local IWANNA that was listed on the internet about an English Bulldog. My son's girlfriend has been looking for a dog and we found this and she fell in love and was so excitied. I sent this lady an email and recieved a response back from her that is word for word the same response that the lady on here has posted about Yorkie puppies. She said her and her fiancee got job promotions and that they no longer had the time for the puppy and she was just looking for a good home for Lina. She said all we needed to pay was 150.00 for the shippment of Lina to us. I didn't start to worry until I got a supposed email from South West Cargo about shipping the dog and that due to fraud on their web site I needed to send a Western Union to a Tamara Harris in Alanta Georgia but the dog was coming from New York. So I wrote the lady back and told her that we weren't able to do a Western Union till morning because all the ones here were closed ( Mind you this all took place between 9-12 at night). So she told me that I need to either try a money gram or email the company and let them know I wouldn't be able to send the money till morning and she had already dropped the dog off to be shipped. So I email this company and recieved an email back that was full of incomplete sentences and misspelled words. Which was when I knew something was very wrong. I emailed them back and told them I thought this was a scam and that there would be no money till I talked with South West and verified that there was a dog to be shipped and then I sent a message to the supposed lady and told her what I thought was going on and I have to say she played the part that she was just hurt that I didn't believe her and that why would she lie she just wanted a good home for Lina. Needless to say when I called South West I found out that they DO NOT ship animals at ALL!!! So please be careful responing to these she has several different ads up on IWANNA with different email address but its pictures of the same dog! the name I have is Nicole Voshell the email is [email protected] the company was [email protected] and the money order was to a Tamara Harris I just hate for this to happen to anyone else and Emmie is crushed that there is no dog I can't belive that someone could do this to someone else and is hard up enough to to just take someones money and crush their hope to get money.

[Jillian]

Welcome to ScamWarners. I'm sorry to hear that you were targeted but am really glad that you were suspicious enough not to send money.
As you already figured out, all of it is lies. There are no puppies, just scammers stealing money.

The scammer told you that you had to send money through Western Union because of "fraud with their website" because the scammer probably doesn't actually own the website and just sent you a link to a real website to try to look legitimate.

Can you please post the emails from this scammer? Make sure to remove your own information when posting. In order to keep the email addresses listed, we need the scam emails to go with them for evidence. It also helps to have all of the information here so it will show up in searches.
Let us know if you have any questions.

[cambyfamily]

Yes I will post them now.

[cambyfamily]

1st of many mails back and fourth!

Hey,
Just received your email about the English bulldog puppy Lina for
adoption who is still available.My Fiance and I recently got Job
promotions so we now have to work full time and we ain't got the time
we need to give Lina the home she deserve because as you know,Bulldog
puppies are very needy puppies she requires constant love,care and
attention so we have taken it upon ourselves to find the best home
ever for her...In guiding us to look for a loving and caring home for
Lina ,what can you tell us about yourself to assure us that you will
be the best home to adopt and take care of Lina and where are you
located also will be willing to give you a call if i can have your
cell number ?Asking for $195 for the puppy. we are Located in New
York,NY where we shall be sending Lina from,I am also strictly concern
about who will be taking her home because i love her so much, to a
fault that she is like my own daughter and part of my family which i
believe is what you will do.For more information concerning Lina's
food and some of her must recent pictures click on the link below or
copy and paste on your browser and go through everything displaced on
the page:
https://picasaweb.google.com/1178946370 ... ZXonbGtswE

Sorry for my questions but I will be happy to get these details
from you so that it can guard me in making a manual which the puppy
can take along which will guard you on basics of taking care of her
and also basics on feeding if you are having a bulldog for the first
time.Get back if interested in taking Lina home.I Wait to read you
soon.
Regards.
Nicole

so can you able to come up with 150 if yes then you will have to
assure me that you will spoil her with care and love,get back and let
me know

> Hello ,
> Thanks for taking the time to respond to my email and I am
> very glad that you are willing to give Lina a wonderful home,also
> attached to this mail are some of her recent pictures,hope you enjoy
> them?.After reading your email,you moved to number one spot for
> potential adopters for her.Lina is well trained baby and can already
> respond to commands.When you say Sit,she Sits and when you say
> stand,she stands,she is just a brilliant baby and it really breaks my
> heart that we have to part ways but I know its the best thing for me
> to do for her given the circumstances.She is a great pet and I just
> want what is best for her, She will be coming alongside Her clothes
> and play toys,food menu and Manual on taking care of Her.I will be
> sending Her from New York,NY to your location and its going to be a
> direct flight to your home location.She has free flight ticket to
> anywhere in the Country ok, so all you will need to pay is $150 for
> Lina and that will be for feeding fee and traveling crates and you
> will be paying the money directly to the shipping company that will be
> shipping her to your location . We did posted on your local
> classified looking for a good home for her, She is Going to be
> delivered right at your doorstep or if you will want to go pick her up
> at the Airport then no problem.For me to start the arrangements for
> Lina to be shipped to your location,I will be needing to know your
> shipping And delivery Information such as:
> Mailing/shipping address, Your Full Names/State and City/
> Postal Code/Home & Street Address/Contact Number/Destination
> Airport.Get back to me with the details above so that I can contact
> the shipping company and start the necessary preparations so that Lina
> can come to her new home.My Regards to your family and please say to
> them Lina is ready to move into a new home with them...
> Regards.
> Nicole

hello,
i am communicating the shipping company now for the necessary
reservations and when i am done with them i shall take lina along
which is about 25minutes drive from my house,so you should be reading
from them sooner before i get there ok,i ant her to be on board so
that you can get her tonight or early in the morning depending on how
soon you will pay for her flight fare ok,so when you read from them by
mail do let me know and keep me posted ok.
get back for confirmation please.

hello,
yes it is flat $150 which the shipping company will require from
you ok,and she will be coming over with all her vet records and she is
in good health,when she arrives you will see ffor your self,but all i
want is for you to help me spoil her with love and care,because she is
like a daughter to me you know.and the shipping company will deliver
her to your door step,i just finished with the reservations,you should
be reading from them soon.meanwhile i will be taking lina straight
away to the company,so just drop me a message when you read from them
and keep me posted.

oh ok,please extend my warm regards to your kids for me and tell them that i love them all and that Lina will make a great companion with them all.keep me posted.
regards.

On Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 8:51 PM, Camby wrote:

From: baby banana <[email protected]>
To: Camby

Sent: Tuesday, September 20, 2011 11:45 PM

Subject: Re: English Bulldog Puppy

then you can try money gram online ,go to moneygram.com,if you still got problems,then you will only have to pay via western union in the morning,which you will have to email the company and let them know you will be able to make payments first thing in the morning.but just try the money gram online.
regards

Starting with the shipping company now

New York,NY
1 Richard E Byrd Terminal Drive
Boite Postal No 2211
[email protected]

Dear Customer,
We just received you mail and all sound fine with us,so it indicates that western union will not allow payments online at this titme,So in that case you are expected to go with cash in hand to their local agents around your location and make payments,but still if you will be able to succeed with the moneygram then that will be fine,if not do contact us back and let us know that you will be paying in the money in the morning so that we can setup your puppy's flight first thing in the morning tomorrow.We think that will be fine by you? .We are await your response.

Thanks for using our service.


CONFIDENTIAL NOTICE:-
-Freight fee is non-refundable and it is active for 3working days before been canceled.
-Pet registered on board for shipment most be ship from the origin airport to the Terminal Airport before reshipping in case of any misunderstanding to secure online fraud.
-All payment most be done directly to our services and you have to recognized our mailing address and payment sleep in order to be secure.
-Any information you need will be provided to you only in our services and you are not authorized to contact any services without our authorization
- Payment out of our services is prohibited.

MANAGEMENT

South West Cargo
New York,NY
1 Richard E Byrd Terminal Drive
Boite Postal No 2211
[email protected]

This was the response I got when I question this being a scam

Dear Customer,
You are reminded of the fact that we are working this late so as to work out the flight schedule for your pet,and the administrator incharge of incoming mails and receiving of calls is not on sit, Why should you go to the extend of doubts,
Also due to many calls from our clients we have decided to call our clients and mustly we communicate via email and at the point of delivery we call.In all We strongly advice you to advoid such statements.Just let us know about how the transaction will go about.

Thanks for Understanding.


CONFIDENTIAL NOTICE:-
-Freight fee is non-refundable and it is active for 3working days before been canceled.
-Pet registered on board for shipment most be ship from the origin airport to the Terminal Airport before reshipping in case of any misunderstanding to secure online fraud.
-All payment most be done directly to our services and you have to recognized our mailing address and payment sleep in order to be secure.
-Any information you need will be provided to you only in our services and you are not authorized to contact any services without our authorization
- Payment out of our services is prohibited.

Her responese to it being a scam

hello,
please i am a little confused here what are you talking about? don't you get confuse and contact some one else and get your self more confused? lina is my puppy and i know where i kept her and i trust their services,so what are you talking about???

you also have to understand that its late over her and may be thats why its like that,but i know where lina is and i trust them,incase anything should go wrong i shall personally report them to the authorities.just get back and let me know what wrong or going on.please
don't break my heart. . .

On Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 9:23 PM, baby banana <[email protected]> wrote:

you beginning to scare me now,how can i crush your childrens happiness for $150 am also a parent like you and will not feel good if same thing happens to me ok.so please if you are not interested in Lina let me know rather than talking as such,will you really take care of Lina??

On Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 9:21 PM, baby banana <[email protected]> wrote:

hello,
please i am a little confused here what are you talking about? don't you get confuse and contact some one else and get your self more confused? lina is mhello,
i understand that you are just being safe ok,but i did everything and so if you are to blame anyone it should be me,i want to just ask you this do you trust me or not? because i don't real feel comfortable when am being regarded as such,please i am really feeling very uncomfortable now.

On Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 9:31 PM, baby banana <[email protected]> wrote:

so what do i do now? your mail does not make me feel comfortable.because Lina is with the company that contacted us both and so please get back and clarify me ok.so that i know that Lina is fine where she is ok.
waiting.

Lina is my puppy and i know where i kept her and i trust their services,so what are you talking about???

Madam you should be aware that we work in departments and we have different seccions in our company and we work in collaboration with different aways,like the delta and continental away which we use for pets transport and the rest are for goods,in this case you can contact any of the departments which you want to call and you will be given different informations,So we did not ask you not to contact southwest and our mail was not a threat.we are just making you to understand how we work and our policies with our fellow customers.So we expect you to collaborate with us and safe time.We are still waiting to know what you have decided to do,as concerning our morning flight departure.We await your response.

bodyhello,
i wish i had the cash now i could have done that with immediate
effect but right now i don't i get paid on the 15th of next month if
by then i haven't found someone to get Lina i will gladly send her
then.

Removed poster's emails to scammer and added quote coding for clarity -Jillian

[Jillian]

Thank you for posting those emails. They are very enlightening for anyone who is not familiar with this type of scam. The scammer tried to coerce and guilt you into falling for the scam. Good for you for resisting and figuring out the truth.
Note that I removed your emails to the scammer from your posting as we prefer to include only the scam mails, and I added quote coding to separate the emails for clarity.
Again, let us know if you have any questions. If are continuing to look for a puppy you will encounter more scammers. Please post any scams or emails you are suspicious about and we are glad to help.

[cambyfamily]

Thanks for the help. I wasn't sure what to post or how.

[Jillian]

You're welcome. I'm sorry I wasn't more clear to you in my request. I'm glad the info is here now, as it will help others.
Good luck to you.

[Arnold]

The English is West African in style. No real surprise as just about all pet scammers are in Cameroon.
As you say they don't care about the emotional effect on their victims. Especially if a child has been told about the puppy.

[cambyfamily]

I know the kids are crushed! I'm still trying to find one but I will be alot more careful now!

[Dotti]

I can't belive that someone could do this to someone else and is hard up enough to to just take someones money and crush their hope to get money.

Unfortunately, the criminals behind these scams are not motivated by desperation--they are motivated by greed, plain and simple. Some scammers are actually wealthy, living luxurious lifestyles off their victims' money. They will not hesitate to tell any lie necessary to get your money.

I can tell you that if you continue to search for an inexpensive English Bulldog puppy, you will continue to see nothing but scams. There is no such thing as a cheap English Bulldog puppy, but there are lots of scammers pretending to have them, because they learned a long time ago that this is an expensive breed, but there are always people looking for a puppy at an unrealistic price.

English Bulldog puppies are expensive for a reason. EB's are prone to expensive health problems, and they can be quite costly to breed, and the puppies often can't be born naturally, because the developers of the breed chose to breed for looks, not for health. (EB's also have a shorter average lifespan because of the multitude of genetic problems bred into them). Ultimately the dogs cost breeders much more than many other breeds, and they get that money back by passing the cost on to the buyers of the puppies.

In over 20 years of animal shelter work, I have seen one English Bulldog (adult) in a shelter. Within a day of posting her in our adoptable animal list, we had a huge number of people, from as far as 500 miles away, wanting to adopt her! Someone who is really getting rid of an EB will have plenty of people locally who are willing to take (and pay for) the dog. The truth is, an owner would not need to place that ad at all.

If you are looking for a puppy for the children and don't want to be scammed, you will either have to commit to spending a large amount of money to get an EB from a real breeder (and realize that you will likely spend a whole lot more in vet bills too), or you will need to consider a less complicated breed.

[VolleyMom08]

I too was almost taken by this scam! This "Tamara Harris" emailed me after I responded to an ad for Golden Retriever puppies. The emails are exactly written as the Bulldog emails except the name wasn't Lina, but was supposedly "Tina and Gina." The poor grammar and punctuation worried me and I thought it may be a scam, but my kids were also very hopeful for a new puppy. When I received the request to send money via Western Union it was like an alarm went off in my head. I called my husband who said it was absolutely a
scam and to stop emailing. Then I googled the name and found lots of websites listing this name as a scam artist. The email "she" used was [email protected]. I hope this helps someone else avoid this sicko!

[Helen Halper]

Welcome to Scamwarners, VolleyMom08!
I'm very happy to hear that you didn't lose money to this scammer!