I made a post on Craigslist asking for a Siberian husky. I was looking to adopt one for a family pet.
I received 4 responses from individuals who wanted to give me their puppy if I would simply pay the delivery fee. This ranged from $90 to $120.
I received pictures from 3 of the 4 individuals of the puppies they had available. They all claimed that the puppies were AKC registered, would come with all of their papers, were house trained and were good with children. (One person even contacted me twice, thinking I was too dumb to realize they used the exact same words each time!)
The lady who emailed me twice claimed to be in Cameroon on a UN mission and that she had to send the puppy back to the States. She sent pictures. The first time she wanted $120 for the airline cage and the second time she asked for $125 for the airline cage.
One lady emailed me some pictures and told me that she uses SAS Cargo Delivery as they are the best in the world, although she claims to live in Minnesota. She wanted $120 for the delivery cost. (SAS Cargo is based out of Scandanavia!)
The next individual only wanted $90. He first told me they had just relocated and the landlord would not let them keep the puppy. Then he told me he had two puppies, a male and a female, that his wife had just passed away and she was the one who cared for them. He sent pictures. I told him I would take the female. The delivery company, Air Pet Cargo Delivery, emailed me and requested that I send them $90 via Western Union (because their company had been hacked while their technician was on sick leave and they could not accept online payments) to an account in Cameroon.
It was at that time that a red flag caught my attention. I did some investigating and found out scams like this have been happening for a long time. They start by getting you to wire the money and then demand payment for insurance to deliver the puppy and I don't know where it goes from there. But you never get the promised free puppy.
Bottom line, when I am ready to buy a Siberian husky, I will make the purchase in person so I can see the person and the animal face to face. I mean, really? What legitimate breeder would ship off an AKC registered animal for such a low price. I hope others read this post and learn from it. I was lucky and am not out any money on this scam.
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