Another puppy scam

This one just came to my real life animal-related address. Although the breed is typical (the scams most often involve bulldogs, yorkies, and pugs), the format has changed a little in recent months as it states that the puppies need to be placed due to the wife's pregnancy. In earlier versions of this scam, the scammer usually claimed that a dog was inherited from a loved one who died and was then discovered to be pregnant.

You can see that this exact same email was mass distributed back in February of this year, under a different email address (the one from February was likely reported and shut down.)

http://www.petsits.com/mb/viewtopic.php?t=4112

Here is the more common format:
http://www.petsits.com/mb/viewtopic.php?t=1835 Note that both use the exact same line starting with "got with"

A few points to consider if you receive emails of this kind:
-The breed involved in this email is a costly, in-demand breed. Even if he wanted to clear them out in a hurry, the owner likely could sell them at a reduced price without a problem, and if he was giving the puppies away, he would have no problem finding people in the local area without resorting to a mass email.
- The dog was supposedly caught by the neighbor's dog while it was in heat. It's awfully convenient that the neighbor's dog was a pure pug--in 20 years of work in animal rescue, I have never seen an accidental breeding with a neighbor's dog that resulted in purebred pups. The only accidental purebred litters I have seen over the years involved 2 dogs in the same household--dogs that may have been purchased for breeding, but the timing was not planned.
- Note that no location is listed, because the scammer is sending this to emails in multiple countries.
- Even though the grammar is better than most scam emails, there are still mistakes that would set off a red flag if the scammer claimed to be in the US.

If you answered this email, you would be asked to pay shipping fees and possibly vet or other fees to get one of these imaginary puppies.


-------- Original Message --------
From: - Sun Jun 07 22:46:37 2009
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From: Jo-Ann & John Hamiltion<[email protected]>
Subject: Pug Puppies For Adoption.
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 2009 16:57:58 -0700
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Hi,

My wife just had a baby last week, and it has been very difficult to attend to a litter of pug puppies and our new baby, the mother of these
puppies is called Lili and she absolutely adores my wife and wants to be with her 24/7. She had these puppies because she got with a next door
male pug by accident and we have considered spaying Lili to avoid repeated incident. We are looking for homes for these puppies


Thanks,

John Hamiltion

For: Jo-Ann & John Hamiltion

This one seems more legitimate than most, but that's probably because it's short.
If you need a puppy, don't get one from an unsolicited junk email. Be sure to never pay over instant money transfer. Cash in hand and instant trade off with people in your area is the safest way to conduct this kind of business online.

From: WIlliams Rick <[email protected]>
To: xxxxxxx

Sent: Sun, 5 Apr 2009 10:22 am
Subject: Re: yorkie pup


Hello,


I am Very Great full for Your interest in Adopting My puppy,He is 12 weeks old His name is pip.His AKC Regis ter,Up to date on all shots and worms, I give you 100 % Health Guarantee,Vet Examinations,Health Cert,Vet.is friendly with both adult and kids and adorable.pip is Ready to go to new a home and the reason is because of my transfer to Missouri City, TX so I don't have time for the puppy anymore.Are you Willing to have the puppy now?Get Back To me with the following details...

1.Your full name
2.Marriage Status
3.Kids If any and there ages
4.occupation of both parent
5.Describe the kind of Environment you live
6.Are you sure you will take good care of my puppy?

Please promise me to give my baby good home, Where are you located? the total cost of the puppy is $350 including the next day delivery to you location...Waiting to read back from you Soon.

Williams