please help, am I going to get scamed?!

I was looking on pennysaverUSA for cheap english bulldog puppies. I found one that said they had puppys for $100 or best offer in my area so I contacted them. when I got the reply, it turned out that they were not in my location, they were in Tx. The seller gave me a story for why she is getting rid of the puppies and asked a few questions about my home. I replied answered all the questions and recieved a few pictures of the puppies. I was so excited to get the puppy I wasn't paying attention to if it could be froud or not. She then told me that all I had to pay was the shipping few was $250 dollors. It was more then $100 but hey I really wanted the puppy and they are expensive dogs. Then an e-mail address that was supost to be the company contacted me. They were Animal air Ways. The e-mail was weird to, it was [email protected]. I didn't really look at it to hard so I opened it and they asked me to varify my imformation. They also called me and I couldn't understand a thing because the reception was so bad. After I varified my information they asked for a money order to pay for the shipping of the dog. I tried to do it but when I went to send the money order the money order people made me varify what my money order was for. I told them it was for a puppy and they denied it saying it was most likly a scam. When I told the person I was buying the dog from that I was denied they told me to redo it and not say it was for a dog. At that point I re-read everything ad things just diddn't add up. I had to make the money order out to a completly different person, not a company. It said to make it out to a "Cashier" with the name Dianna Au. I didnt understand why I had to do it for a cashier. Then I noticed that the the company that was contaxting me had a @att.net account wich doesn't seem to be a real company account. Not to mention that entire time the seller was trying to pressure me to send the money because they wanted thier puppy to be at thier new home asap. I told them I would do it later but they were so persistant. I later replied to them saying I couldnt do it through money order they then said to send my credit card information, but they said that through an email and never gave me any propper forms to fill out. I want to say its a scam, and I'm happy I didn't sen any money, but I don't know if I'm just over thinking things. Please help!

Hi smileforever,

congratulations: Once the wonderful employee at Western Union (it was WU, wasn't it?) pointed out to you you were dealing with a scammer, you made all the relevant observations - well done!

- The email address of the so-called "shipping company" is a private one;
- the "cashier" is a private person;
- the scammer tried to pressure you so you hadn't time to think about it or do some research;
- they asked for your credit card details - a big red flag!!! They would clean out your account in no time.

And you posted the email address of the fake company and the names involved; this will help future targets who do a Google search. You might post the initial scammer's email address, too.

Next time you pass by the Western Union outlet, give that employee a BIG SMILE!

We are always glad to help, come back any time you get a bad feeling about an offer.

Pet scams are very common, and if you are looking for a puppy, you will very likely find more. That's a typical example and you now know what to look out for.
The only safe way to buy a pet is to see it first. Which is a good idea in any case.

English bulldog is the number one breed in puppy scams (followed by yorkie and pug). It is number one because there are so many people out there looking for a puppy at an impossible price. The scammers just copy photos from legitimate breeders' websites, post a few ads for unbelievably cheap puppies, and wait for the responses.
A healthy puppy from a reputable breeder is going to cost you in the neighborhood of $1500 or more; from a backyard breeder (who most likely hasn't screened for the health issues these dogs are known to be susceptible to) you are still looking at several hundred to over $1000. These dogs are prone to health issues, and are difficult to breed, often requiring delivery by c-section--breeders pass the additional medical costs off to the buyers.

The scammer may make up stories to explain the cheap price--for example, they claim it's because they have to place them super quickly. The truth is, they could place the puppies super quickly while selling them for significantly more than $100. Just as an example, a few years ago the animal rescue group I work for had an adult English bulldog with cherry eye that would require surgery. Within a day of posting her, we had dozens of families, including people from over 500 miles away, ready to adopt her for our $150 fee--even knowing that the eye was not treated and she would be spayed before they got her and they wouldn't be able to breed her. This is a typical response, and the response to a puppy would be much greater. ANY offer for cheap English Bulldog puppies is going to be a scam, period. If someone really were selling an English Bulldog puppy for $100 it would be because there is something seriously wrong with it.

If you are looking for a puppy, you will have to accept a much higher cost for an EB, or switch to another breed.

Honestly your best bet for buying any animals would be to stay local. And off the web. Craigslist you're pry safe with, or newspaper ads. But other than that You're pry best to just not look online for a pet.

Welcome that1girl42,

Just to clarify: Craigslist is actually loaded with scammers these days, and some scammers even put ads in the local papers (if there is a way to do so online). Both are great places to find many things--but only if you limit yourself to people who are truly local--i.e. you can see them and/or whatever you are getting locally without sending any money in advance. If you are asked to send money because the seller is "out of town" then it's time to walk away.

Many reputable animal shelters and rescue groups have websites, and they are actually an excellent place to look for possible matches--but even then, you need to make sure you are dealing with a legitimate organization. If you really have your heart set on a breed you cannot get locally, then as difficult as it is, your best bet is to get referrals from local owners, rescue groups, etc. before even considering a particular breeder--and it is still better to physically drive out to see them. And again--if the pricing for a purebred puppy is well below the market, the it is probably "too good to be true."