Possible African Grey scam? [email protected]

I responded to this craigslist post:

http://louisville.craigslist.org/pet/4980075314.html

The return email:

Hi there,
Moke is still available, she is am home raised,hand fed
female African grey,DNA sexed!
she likes being outside her cage,playing around,
she only stays in her cage at night or when there is no one at home,
on weekends she owns the garden.
Her vocabulary is good,she mimics every word she hears.
she is 3 years old, her vet records are good,
she once had calcium issues but it has been long
cured, she is doing fine now.
she is a woman's bird,i got her for my ex- wife when she gave birth to our son,
Moke seems to prefer women over men, though she is good with kids and interacts
very well with other birds when we take her to the vet.
she does not pluck nor bite, she can be noisy sometimes but only when excited
my reason for giving her away is because my wife left me, and she didn't
want to take her along for her own reasons.
i can't really handle taking care of my son, working, and caring for Moke,
so i am left with the option of getting a new home for her.
i don't want her to go to a zoo, i want her to go to a home
where she will be loved and cared for.
i am very sorry for the inconvenience but i ran a nationwide advert
hoping i can find a home for her asap
I can easily arrange shipping her to anyone that would readily provide
her a loving home
I'm not looking for an adoption fee on her but if anyone wants her and
need me to ship her to them, then they will have to pay for the
shipping,from Devils Lake,ND
Air animal and a few other pet moving services are nearby and have great deals,
i think that's fair enough and will show some seriousness on their part.
she has a cage,and accessories to come with. I have attached photos of
her to this mail,
All i ask of anyone interested in her is, that they send me updates
on her once in a while
just let me know where you are located so that i can get an affordable
deal for her,
i can't have her shipped by the airlines, she is too precious to be mishandled!
let me know if you are interested in taking her.

Welcome to Scamwarners,

It is a scam. Please post the email address the scammer used and any phone numbers.

Please adopt or buy your pet locally. This way you will physically see the pet and see the conditions it was raised in.

If you have further questions please ask.

May I ask how it was confirmed as a scam?

Here is the email he used: [email protected]

The writing skills is not of an American. It is more of a West African.

I've also read many pet scam scripts.

No one in the world besides family members gives away expensive pets.

The scammer is trying to steal your money with a fake shipper. The scammer is playing all roles. Once you pay the fee the scammer will continue to ask for fees for various reasons. You will learn of the scam when you realize it or go broke.

Any mention of Western Union, Moneygram, Pre-paid Reload cards, Bank wire transfer or Cameroon consider it a scam.

This is a common pet scam script where he has his own shipping company near by. There are some other key phrases that point to a scam that I will not post on the open forum to educate this criminal to be a better scammer.

No one needs nationwide exposure to find someone that will take an expensive bit.

Please stop all contact with this person by ignoring all email and or telephone calls.

Scammer also uses [email protected]

This is the Craigslist ad:

female African grey parrot


She has lived with many other parrots and also 2 dogs. She has never bitten anyone hard enough to bleed. She is 2 years old and picks up new words almost daily, mostly she likes to whistle for us in the mornings and evenings small tunes that she makes up. We hate to give her away but we just have to, once she knows you she loves sitting on your shoulder while riding in the car. We take her out on car rides a few times a week. she loves women,her cage and toys go along with her.

Subject: Female African grey parrot - Moke
From: Jeff McCathy [email protected]

****Same email as posted by the OP****