by traveler62
Wed Feb 05, 2014 6:12 pm
This scam just happened to us and we are now out $900.00 and no pet. We responded to an ad for English Bulldog puppies and was told by the person, Cara Johnson, referred us to a Dr Paul O'Neal who sh claims she has worked with in the past and he might have some. I contacted him by email and received a reply that, yes he did know Cara and he did have three puppies at $450.00. We decided on the one we wanted and advised Dr. O'Neal.
He stated in his reply that he would make arrangements for transport, as he is in N. Dakota and we are in Las Vegas. I received an email from the shipping co, Zoom Pet Relocation that I need to pay them $500.00 and they would pay the seller the price for the dog. Stupid me, still no red flags when I was told they only accept Vanilla Prepaid cards. They advised me to go to any Walgreen, CVS, etc to purchase the card and put the $500 on the card, the max that can be loaded, and provided them the information, found on a link on their site. Now their site looked very professional and still no red flags. I did as required, as I really wanted an English Bulldog pup.
After the payment was received, I received an email telling me that I needed to purchase insurance, $400.00, doing the same as I did for the first payment. Again, my old brain did not really think this was a scam as they said the insurance was refundable upon delivery of the puppy. Again I paid and received a confirmation and when the dog would arrive. I rose early on the day of arrival and upon reading my email, found another email that stated the shipping had been delayed because I had to file a change of ownership for, u guessed it, another $400.00. That is when I finally realized that this was a total scam and I, who is disabled and on only disability, had been scammed out of $900.00!!!
Beware of Dr. Paul O'Neal, Cara Johnson, Zoom Pet Transport, they are all scams!!!
He stated in his reply that he would make arrangements for transport, as he is in N. Dakota and we are in Las Vegas. I received an email from the shipping co, Zoom Pet Relocation that I need to pay them $500.00 and they would pay the seller the price for the dog. Stupid me, still no red flags when I was told they only accept Vanilla Prepaid cards. They advised me to go to any Walgreen, CVS, etc to purchase the card and put the $500 on the card, the max that can be loaded, and provided them the information, found on a link on their site. Now their site looked very professional and still no red flags. I did as required, as I really wanted an English Bulldog pup.
After the payment was received, I received an email telling me that I needed to purchase insurance, $400.00, doing the same as I did for the first payment. Again, my old brain did not really think this was a scam as they said the insurance was refundable upon delivery of the puppy. Again I paid and received a confirmation and when the dog would arrive. I rose early on the day of arrival and upon reading my email, found another email that stated the shipping had been delayed because I had to file a change of ownership for, u guessed it, another $400.00. That is when I finally realized that this was a total scam and I, who is disabled and on only disability, had been scammed out of $900.00!!!
Beware of Dr. Paul O'Neal, Cara Johnson, Zoom Pet Transport, they are all scams!!!