| - ATTN BUYERS - BEWARE OF SCAMS |
| PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT We can't believe we have to do this, but please BEWARE of scams for pups/pets from the newspaper to online classified sources. We ourselves have been "inquired" (I'd call it "tested") by some of these ruthless people who come across as disabled, injured, from another country, living abroad, all using terrible english typing skills to come across as "dummies" or uneducated consumers. DON'T BE FOOLED !!! There are numerous sites around that list perpetrators (predators) who have already been tagged as scam artists. Do a search on your favorite search engine for "Puppy Scam" and your screen will be flooded with disturbing amounts of claims and warnings by the AKC, and other blogs and classifieds WARNING consumers that if it seems to good to be true, it probably is. Key tip-off points to one method is, the scammer will contact you through the I-711 internet operator as a deaf/mute, or, their correspondence says they will send you a Western Union money order or a Cashier's Check, or, you (the buyer) will have to cash their money order and forward THEIR funds to their "agent" in another state (usually Florida) to arrange flight or transportation. Question is, if they have an "agent" already, why would they involve me/you to do their business with THEIR AGENT? If they are so "knowledgeable" about these things and their agent, why can't they arrange things with their "agent" instead of involving me/you? I'll tell you why...because they probably will issue FAKE checks that will initially clear the bank and pull funds, but afterward, the bank rejects them as "fake" and comes back to guess who for their money? YOU, who cashed the checks to get money. Meanwhile, the "buyer" has the pup and you're left to clean up the huge mess they have involved you in. How nice. IF YOU TAKE A MONEY ORDER or CASHIER'S CHECK, tell the "buyer" that you will hold the puppy / animal for ten(10) business days until the check(s) have cleared all levels of the banking system. DO NOT SPEND THE MONEY. Tell the buyer that you are holding the funds in ESCROW. Once the checks have cleared (check w/the bank), THEN spend the money, make arrangements or whatever - PROTECT YOURSELF. If you don't, who will? If the supposed "buyer" won't do this, then too bad. Consider yourself lucky. If it walks like a duck, looks like a duck, quacks like a duck... it's probably a duck, and no, not the Aflac duck. :o) Seriously though and unfortunately, there are reports on the internet from other breeders who have had their websites high-jacked & relaunched, their copyrighted material and photo's stolen and reposted to sell "bogus" puppies. This illegal activity hurts the whole industry and reputation of honest sellers/buyers. Now, some I-711 calls may be very ligitimate, but we have found after tracking the caller, who operates under different names by the way (imagine that), that they want the pup sent from Dallas (where we are) to Phoenix, AZ. Another clue that jumps out is, WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE PUPS IN PHOENIX? There are tons of puppy ads in the Phoenix area. So, what's up with that? That would be a LARGE RED FLAG. The "buyer" counts on the fact you just can't "pop over" for a quick visit to make sure the pup is doing fine - if it's shipped to the other side of the country, then there's no way for you to check up on the buyer's TRUE intentions - to deceive you and potentially sell your PUPPY INTO SLAVERY - or worse. Also, if you ship a pup somewhere, how do you know that the pup will stay/live where you shipped it? Like us, when we were contacted, we were to ship to a Hertz Rent-a-Truck center in Phoenix. What's up with that? Yet another LARGE RED FLAG. These people could be re-selling them for HUGE profits to who knows who. They could be further shipping them out of the USA to other countries for unspeakable reasons or dietary demands in other countries. DO YOUR HOMEWORK if you are a buyer. If you are a breeder, beware and stay alert. Thanks. As always, you can ask us any question you want and we will try to help you. We've been here for over 10-yrs and care VERY much where our pups go, and who purchases them. YOU SHOULD TOO. |
| BUYER / SELLER BEWARE |
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