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International
internet pet
scams...
Lost Pet scams
Warning from NZ Police:
See the animal first, face to
face. Do not pay funds overseas. Do not "wire"
funds.
Thanks for your ad seeking your lost pet. Pets on
the Net has reunited literally thousands of pets
through this free service (see some of our success
stories), so you have come to the right
place!
However we are sad and disgusted to hear
that some international scammer/s have tried to
scam/blackmail some people with lost pets by email....
This is a cruel and nasty thing to do, especially
when you are already highly stressed from the loss
of a pet, so we are sorry if this type of fraudster should
contact you.... Apparently internet
pet scams (any type of internet scam for that
matter) are an issue worldwide, not just here in
New Zealand...
The scam
What
(and what not!) to do now
Example scam emails
Other useful links about internet scams,
especially internet pet scams
Reporting
scams
The scam
In the past we have had emails from advertisers who
have received bogus replies to their lost pet ads.
The replies are coming from international sources,
usually
Africa/Cameroon always from non NZ emails, usually
they use yahoo.com email addresses....
The first email says they know where your pet is /
or have information and to contact them urgently.
IF you reply, they then demand a sum of money for
a) the information or b) "shipment
costs" for the return of your pet.
This
is a scam!.
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What
(and what not!) to do now
Please DO NOT REPLY to any
replies to your ad from overseas
people. Their main agenda is to have you wire them
monies via Western Union, or similar. And if you are silly
enough to do that, they will email back wanting
yet more money...Other agendas may also include collecting your
personal bank/Visa details etc and/or to collect and
harvest your email address**. If monies are sent, no pet
or information will appear....
**Please
note your email address will only be known to them
IF you reply, otherwise our system hides and
protects it.
So if it is even
slightly fishy, do not reply,
please check this page first
to see all our banned emails/users and follow
our advice from there.
Please also
report
the email involved as a scam/fraud attempt to Yahoo
for offenders using yahoo.
The net is a great
thing, but there are plenty of scammers out there,
please be careful, deal ONLY with NZ people. Don't send money or bank
details/credit card details for purchases or
"shipping"/rewards/information.
We have never ever in over four years operation
and tens of thousands of lost pet ads, had a case
of a New Zealander demanding money for information
or return of a lost pet. That's just not the
Kiwi way.
By all means give the finder a box of
chocolates or even a monetary reward (if they will
take it - many will not, they just want to help!),
ONCE YOUR PET IS RECOVERED. Pets on the Net does
not recommend rewards and nor do the police.
In the thousands of reunions we have brokered, the
finder was purely motivated by wanting to help,
not financial gain.
So far, only people who are
kind, genuine and just love animals have taken the
time and effort to pick up stray pets, shelter
them and/or report them on petsonthenet.co.nz.
People help pets for reasons other than money.
However, it is fair that you should reimburse the
finder if they have incurred costs i.e. vet costs,
food costs. The finder may have had to go out and
purchase some food or a litter tray etc in order
to safely shelter your pet until they located you
and they should be reimbursed for those costs.
Pets on the Net does also gratefully accept contributions
in appreciation and support of our free service...
:-)
Example
scam emails
(Scams may vary, they use different names,
nationalities, emails and "scenarios".
If your email reply is not here, it does not mean
it is not a scam, if it is slightly fishy in any
way at all, it is probably a scam, please report
it and do not reply to it).
Note many of
these emails feature poor spelling, poor English
and grammar, combined with wildly outrageous
scenarios (pet found in Africa by a nun, now need
money to ship back to NZ..!) and guarded
withholding of information...
| "Very
soon after I posted my ad for my lost cat
I got a reply from someone calling herself
"Sister Brenda". She went
on about the cat and Africa and how God
was looking after him. I wrote it
off as some silly sort of reply and, as
you can see below, asked her not to write
again. Tonight (Tuesday) I got
another email saying she has the cat and I
can have him back for forty dollars."
Subject: YOUR CAT IS
FOUNT.
From: "sister brenda"
<sbrenda50@excite.com>
(SCAM!!!)
THANKS SHOULD FIRST BE GIVEN TO
THE INTERNET .IYOUR CAT IS IN MY
KEEPING YOU MAY BE SUPPRISE FOR IT
TO BE SEEN HEAR IN CAMEROON BUT
THANS GOD PLANTS EVERY THING.SO AS
OF NOW I NEED YOUR ADDRESS AND A
SUM OF 40 DOLLERS FOR THE SHIPMEN
OF THE CAT.THE CAT IS OF GOOD
CONDITION SO IAM WAITTING FOR YOUR
REPLY SO THAT THE SHIPMENT SHOULD
BE DONE VERY FAST AS
POSSIBLE.THANKS
GOD BLESS YOU
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Hi
there. I placed an ad for a missing cat
last week. I got a reply.
I dont' really like the tone of it and I
think it might be heading
towards a scam. I felt I should report it.
It's actually seeming rather
cruel.
The first email got was notifying me
there was a reply to my ad.
(SCAM!!!)
"I live in Christchurch.I think I
know where is your cat
Alana
alana3@mail333.com"
I replied giving my phone number and
asked for some details ie: their
phone number and what part of town they
were in.
I got another reply
(SCAM!!!)
"I think I know exacly where is your
pet.I work at the
shelter.I sa the picture.Will you agree to
my
conditions to get your pet back?"
I have just replied asking for their
name and contact number and the
details of which shelter they work at.
mail333.com is a foreign (Russian)
website.
I don't think these people are genuine.
I will see if they reply and keep you
posted but it all sounds very
dodgy. I would hate to have the next step
be them asking for money.. and
having some unfortunate and distraught pet
owner be gullible enough to
believe it :(
Your website is fantastic. Keep up the
great work.
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Thought
I would let you know that I
had a response from a woman
(calling herself Andrea
Miller) about our missing
dog. I am sure it is a bogus
response but wanted you to
be aware of it in case she
does it to someone else as
it is very distressing.
Thanx.
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(SCAM!!!)
From:
Andrea
Miller andrea34@linuxmail.org
Subject:
Re:
I think I
found your dog please contact me as
soon as possible
Andrea
From
lost pet owner to scammer
could you please phone on 0* 8********
about ******?
Thanx
Subject:
Re:
Actually
It`s not possible at this
time.I went abroad.I was on holidays in
New Zealand.You are very lucky I found
your announcement.I was searching very
long time al "lost pets"
websites.I can`t believe I found the
owner.I`m 99$ sure that i found your
pet.I don`t speak very well english.It`s
difficult to contact with you .
From lost pet owner to scammer
please
tell me where the dog is or how I CAN
CONTACT THE PERSON WHO HAS HER
Subject:
Re:
I`m very
sorry but I won`t do this for free.
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Other
useful links about internet scams, especially
internet pet scams
CaveatEmptorus.com
Well it seems we here in new Zealand are not alone in this, these
scams are a worldwide issue! More on internet pet scams and examples are
to be found on this very good site which is dedicated to educate to
prevent internet fraud.
http://caveatemptorus.com/dogscams.html
http://www.scambusters.org/petscams.html
How
to report scams/fraud originating from yahoo emails
Scam Busters New
Zealand.
Focussing on NZ internet scams, largely online auctions, but also
others plus online forums and excellent NZ links to police, consumer,
Fair Go etc
http://www.scambusters.co.nz
Kim
Buchanan
Administrator, web mama, volunteer and everything
else it takes to run this free service...
www.petsonthenet.co.nz
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