My owner who has Dakota called to ask me how to handle a phone call she received. She had no idea it wasn't legit. The call came through the phone company(it's called something that eludes me and is used w/ those that are hearing impaired)Anyway... She gets to talking then the woman says she'll send her an email...I asked Janice to send me the email. Here it is and obviously just another way to dupe someone so wanted to share it~ I'd not seen or heard of it done this way so wanted to alert ya'll....

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Thanks very much for your response. I would be buying ONE PLAYFUL FEMALE PUPPY so kindly reserve it for me. You have to bear with that I called with relay service, its because am hearing impaired. I am sending you this email to make final reconfirmation of the pup which am willing to buy for my son as his birthday present and I also want to let you know that payment will be by certified Check or Money Order. However, I want to alert you on the fact that you will be receiving the Check or Money Order this week or next week and payment will cover your cost and as well as the shipping cost to be paid to the person that will take care of the pickup in your house. So please as soon as you receive the payment, get it cashed immediately, deduct the money that accrues to you and send the remaining balance to the Head Office of the company that handles the shipment via Western union. More so, I will pay you an extra $100 if you can reserve this for me. So in view of the above, Here are some of the details I will need for final issuance of the Check or Money Order to you.

(1) Full Name
(2) Mailing address, no p.o.box please
(3) your direct telephone number both home and cell.?
{4} Acceptance of my offer
(5} Final asking price:

Once you get back to me with all the above information s, the check or
money order will be issued out immediately and it will be sent to you.

Lisa>>

This is NOT a new scam it is a variation that has been going on for years. Always be wary of the relay calls as well as those wanting to send you extra money in a money order. They are phony. Not fraud, not new, just the same old scam.

I know the scam w/ the send you money/I will send it back , etc. wasn't new but I'd never seen nor heard of it done w/ the relay call so assumed this was a new one in the respect of how it was done(not that the scam type was new) And just wanted to warn... Yeah, fraud wasn't the right word to use...phony is definitely better~

I have had the same thing! The relay service would not stop calling me. They called me three times in one day. I told them to have her e-mail me and that I needed to go and they would not let me hang up. I kept telling them I needed to go and then would hang up and when I did they kept calling back. They were telling me the exact same thing that you were told in your e-mail.

Yes, heard that one before. Think it was on here a year or so ago. You have to really be careful and check out these familys. Good you are helping her.

Im glad you did not get tricked into that one. One of the most common scams is to say they are buying a puppy for a son or gransons birthday .
Then the ol certified check or money order thing. Because they know they cant meet you as they probably are not even in the country here. They will have a currior service try to pick the dog up and they then take them some where and fly them to who knows where. I just click delete when I get emails almost identical to that message you got . Glad you thought on that one.Great to hear.

If it happens ever again either hang up and take your phone off the hook or call your local provider. If it's your cellular, shut it off. They'll stop trying with their computer or redial button.

Scam or not, if you do not ship and only sell to families willing to come to your house and later on pay you cash for your pup, these scam artists are pretty easy to deal with.

This is why I don't wonder why my friends sell their 8 week old pups with 10% deposits and the balance in cash always. As much as you can check out a family, there can be ghosts lurking with any puppy buyer. A friend I have pays $50 for a report online for each buyer to give him peace of mind.

I placed an older puppy, around 1 year and I looked into their background legally b/c it's my field. I know which sites to go to, looking for arrests, backruptcies and the like. She's doing great with the family that checked out the best. I met them at their home so I got to check it out.

I charged the same price I paid minus my flight and expenses and expected cash. I didn't have to ask, they had it ready.

So when those of you that accept checks for 20 or 30 years wonder why some won't, read these scams and maybe you'll understand it better.

I knew about this scam a few years ago and recieved a call from a "real" hearing impaired person that was looking for a puppy to replace her service dog. She wanted to raise the pup at work and home with the older dog to learn.

The first contact was much the same as the Fraudsters.

Please don't write them all off, some are real. The wording isn't a give away it's the Money Order!