Blue Pie French Bulldog Puppy Ad Scam

My pug of 14 years recently passed away and I have started to look LOCALLY for a pug, French bulldog, or Boston terrier puppy. I live in State College, PA and went to the classified section of www.State College.com There I found an ad for a Blue Pie French Bulldog puppy, 9 weeks old, for $550. I sent an email through the website to contact the seller and that night I got an email from someone named Alin Lewis.

He told me that he lived in Laurel, MD and had 1 puppy left from a litter he bred. He stated he owned the father still, but the mother had died a few weeks ago. The puppy is named "Maxime" and he asked me questions like did I own my home or have an apartment, do I have kids, do I have any other pets. He kept saying that he wants someone that will love Maxime as much as he does, has a big yard, etc. His English and typing was questionable to me right off the bat. He told me in his first email that he wanted to know if I wanted him so he could get the change of ownership papers going. I asked him what his timeline was and he said he could have a pet shipping company deliver Maxime to me ASAP. I told him I was actually expecting to drive to him in Maryland as it isn't that far a drive, and that way I could see the puppy first and make sure everything is OK with him, and give him his money in person. He then said "if you want to drive to my home that's fine, but I'm a journalist and my work takes me all over the place, and I take Maxime with me everywhere. I'm leaving for California tomorrow and as I am single and live alone, Maxime is coming with me. So if you want him soon I can ship him from California, otherwise you'll have to wait until I get back."

I knew it was a scam at this point and was actually pretty heartbroken as we had exchanged several emails and he had sent me pics of not only Maxime but of his dad Rex and his mom Bela, who had passed away. Just to confirm I googled his email address, [email protected] and found his name on this site already, along with the same ad for the puppy on another website, www.accesscoweta.com in the classified ads.

I just got another email from him asking me when I would be able to send payment to him, and that I can pay his assistant in Maryland tomorrow because he will be too busy to go to the bank. I haven't responded yet, I'm trying to resist the urge to rip into him for playing on my broken heart since my dog passed away. Like I believe you buddy, yeah, you take Maxime everywhere with you. OK, he's 9 weeks old and you put him on a plane with you all over the country because you live alone, yet you still own his father and have him at home. What do you do with him? And I'm sure you're going to pay to fly the dog to California just so he can be shipped back to Pennsylvania the next day. Oh, it will only cost me another $100 to ship him from California to Pennsylvania, so $650 total for an AKC French bulldog puppy. OK.

Here's the pics used in both ads. Someone nail this guy. I don't know what shipping company he's saying he's using but part of me wants to play along just to find out. Any advice before I either email him back or just cut off communication is appreciated

Hello Ellenlhu,
I am glad that you discovered the scam before you lost money to this professional liar and thief. The best thing to do is to go silent. Do not respond or tell him that you know he is a scammer. Let him wonder what went wrong with his script.
Please post the email asking for the money to be sent to his assistant, including any new contact information such as a telephone number or email address.
If you have any additional questions please ask.

Here's the original ad:

9 weeks old Blue pie puppy available for Adoption
Description
We have a gorgeouse male, blue pie registered French Bulldog called Maxime available. He is 9 weeks old, very sweet and cuddly. Their parents had no health issues and their daddy is a show dog. Up to date on shots, dewormed and will go home with one year health guarantee. Shipping is possible only to US states. Please call or text (470) 222-3929.....

And here's the last email I got:

yes i will be leaving with him tomorrow but yes it is possible for me to ship him from there, In that case, you can make payment to my assistant in MD, because i will be too busy to go to the bank and i can make delivery arrangements for him to be delivered to your home. When will you be ready to make payment and have him shipped to you?

Again his email is [email protected]

That phone number is in Georgia, and the scammer is obviously African by his writing.

Yep, I searched the phone number too. I also did a reverse image search on the photos he sent me of the puppy and they have been used several dozen times in ads for puppies for sale all over the country. How do these guys still get away with the same scams they've been doing for years over and over? I was fooled because he posted on my local classified board, and I've never seen that before. Usually scammers send bulk email or post on big national boards, but not in local papers or topic boards. He then played on my heartstrings since I just lost my little pug boy of 14 years and had just started looking for another. I even told him I had been looking locally for a while but couldn't find a thing at all for a pug, Frenchies, Boston, etc. and told him how happy I was to find a breeder only 3-4 hours away.

Actually the number is google voice. VoIP which mean it can call and be answered any where in the world with internet. The scammer simply chose an area code for his account.

(470) 222-3929
Owner is based in Duluth, GA
VoIP - Google Voice

The pet scammers are professional con artists that will exploit any free listing service they can find. Searching listed telephone numbers, email address and images of the pets offered is always a good start at detecting the scams.
Some will change the email address and telephone number in an attempt to avoid detection. The absolute best method is to view the pet in person. Any excuse what an in person meeting can not happen is a big red flag and time to walk away.

So I have not contacted him since posting this thread. This morning I woke up to another email from him asking for my phone number so we can talk more "clearly". Obviously I didn't give it to him, but has someone reported him? I sent two different messages to statecollege.com on two different days alerting them that the ad is a scam, giving them the rundown of the scam, and giving them links to the ad being posted all over the country as well as links to the same photo being used for multiple years on dozens of ads. They never responded to my messages and the ad remains. Shouldn't they be doing something about it before someone sends him money?

It appears that you need to be a registered member of the site to report the ad. Some sites remove ads promptly when reported and others do not have the staff needed to remove all of the fakes.

I've been in contact with him the past few days about this puppy. However, he told me he lives in Grove City, PA. He also told me the puppy was 10 weeks old. But from the pictures it looks like the same dog. He has sent 4 different photos and a video. Also he said the transport agency would call me once he registered maxine.....he said I would be paying the agency and the agency would pay him.....same guy, dog, email adress, totally different story..

Please post the new email in case someone else searches for text in it.