I posted an add on a puppy finder site that me and my wife were looking for a pomeranian. A few days later we were contacted via email by a man by the name of Edwige N. Yon. He said that him and his wife were on vacation for 3 months in Cameroon and that they had two Pomeranian puppies that they were giving up for adoption. He even included a picture of them (which he probably stole from a website or something). He said that we just needed to send him $170.00 ($85 each) via MONEYGRAM to ship the two puppies.
We were about to send him the money when I decided to look up any possible scams of this nature because something just didn't seem right. I stumbled accross this page and many more like it, and that is what saved me from the scam. Here is the article I found:
"Cameroon/Nigerian Pet Scam — There is No Puppy!
One of the most disgusting new trends of the online puppy classified sites (and general classified sites) is the ease with which they can be used to perpetrate something that's been referred to as the 'Cameroon/Nigerian puppy scam'.in the Cameroon puppy scam, 'sellers' list dozens of photos of puppies which are "free for adoption" or for sale at drastically low prices. Scammers obtain their photos by stealing them off of the websites of legitimate breeders. These 'sellers" are located in Africa - Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya. The story can vary as to why the animal is free or discounted — the current owner is a missionary who needs to find the puppy a new home due to the terrible weather in its current location; the animal was rescued from a natural disaster and needs a good home; owner's busy work schedule, etc. Etc.
The scammer will then ask interested buyers to pay for the dog's shipment, down payment, inoculations and any number of other miscellaneous fees. The victims wire money for the dogs but generally only get excuses for the delay.instead, they're repeatedly asked for more money to cover additional "fees" invented by the scammer. Greedy scammers will concoct even more fees that the victim needs to pay after the dog has been supposedly shipped.
The scammers' only accepted method of payment is Western Union or MoneyGram, payment methods which, when 'no signature' is specified, is completely anonymous and untraceable, and can be picked up at any location in the world. Sellers receive payment, and then disappear, leaving the purchasers without a dog, or a method of determining who they were scammed by. Once scammers have sold the same non-existent puppy a few times over, they remove the ad and place one for a new breed, starting the cycle all over again. PuppyFind allows users to place free 'trial ads', allowing the scammers to escape the paper trail which paying for an ad would create.
Families across North America have been left heart broken and angry after being ripped off by these unethical scam artists, and puppyfind alone has page after page of complaints from purchasers who were scammed by sellers advertising on their site. Dozens of complaints from people who lost money to puppyfind scam artists can be found on usacomplaints.com - just search for 'puppyfind.com' and 'scam'.
You can identify these pet scammers because they will ask you to pay by money order or wire transfer. Never wire funds via Western Union, MoneyGram or any other wire service — anyone who asks you to do so is a scammer."
Http://www.petfriendlytravel.com/? Page=purchasing_a_pet
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