This article has been shared by my friends over at The Daily Scam.
On Saturday, January 29, 2022 we were contacted by a woman who had been very excited to buy a German Shepherd puppy. To protect her identity, we’ll call her Dinah. In Dinah’s online search, she found a website called germanshepherdpuppiesforsale.company.com. This turned out to be a scammer’s website and she lost $650, but it could have been $1900 had she believed the scammer’s lies about additional shipping requirements! Dinah contacted us with her story and we launched an investigation of this website which claims to sell German Shepherd puppies and ship them anywhere in the world.
Surprisingly, our investigation in early February 2022 turned up more than 18 fake dog selling websites and services, including other scam sites linked to phone numbers and other information given on these dog-selling sites. Below is a list of ALL of the fraudulent and suspicious websites we have found related to the purchasing and shipping of dogs and puppies. Below this, we’ll give you the details about Dinah’s story and you’ll find many more details and related articles as to WHY we think these sites are fraudulent or suspicious. If you have been victimized by scammers who pretend to sell or transport dogs, let us know by emailing us at DogScams@thedailyscam.com!
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PLEASE NOTE THAT MANY OF THESE FRAUDULENT/SUSPICIOUS WEBSITES ARE FOUND ON A Weebly website that says it is managed by “Company.com.” Company.com is doing such a poor job of preventing fraud on their website AND making it impossible to report abuse to them that we do not recommend doing business with ANY website found on Company.com!
BeaglePuppies4Homes.com Beagle Puppies
BeaglePuppiesForSaleNearMe.company.com/ Beagle Puppies
BichonfriseFarms.com. Bichon Puppies
Bulldogsbreeder.company.com. Bulldog Puppies
BuyBostonTerrierPuppies.company.com/about-bostom.html Boston Terrier Pupplies (Notice the typo for “Bostom” in the link)
BuyPomeranianPuppies.wordpress.com. Pomeranian Puppies
Germanshepherdpuppiesforsale.company.com German Shepherd Puppies
Maltipoo.homesteadcloud.com Maltipoo Puppies
MaltipooPuppiesForSale.company.com/ Maltipoo Puppies
PomAndMaltesePuppies.company.com/ Pom and Maltese Puppies
Pomeranain.company.com Pomeranain Puppies
PugslandBreeder.company.com/ Pugsland Breeder
RockfieldAmericanBullies.wordpress.com/ Rockfield American Bullies (Bulldogs)
SamoyedPups.company.com/ Samoyed Pups
Pet shipping scam services:
AmericanPetsTrip.com
AussiePetRelocation.com
Fraudulent & Suspicious Posts on Facebook
Beagle Puppies for Sale and Adoption (Pet Service)
Beagle Puppies for Sale Near Me (Pet Service)
Puppies and Dogs Available Near You (Pet Service)
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Dinah found several photos she liked on germanshepherdpuppiesforsale.company.com. She reached out to the owner via the email posted on the website, pgermanshepherd@gmail.com, and received a response that strongly suggested a warm, loving and thoughtful breeder….
On Fri, Jan 28, 2022 at 1:05 PM Germanshepherd Puppiesforsale pgermanshepherd@gmail.com wrote:
Welcome to https://germanshepherdpuppiesforsale.company.com, I am writing with regards to your interest in giving a home to one of our puppies. Our puppies are all purebred pups, one of the best dog breeds and a good companion. They are so intelligent, courageous, extremely lively, proud and adventurous, they enjoy affection. They are raised in our home and have been around kids and other home pets. They are up to date on all shots and vaccines and will come along with Their documents including a health guarantee, playing toys and nutritional manual.Our prices depend on the exact puppy you want.
We accept visits on weekends and we also offer shipping and delivery services at our clients convenience for clients who can’t make it here to get a puppy they are interested in. Our services are 100% reliable and we guarantee client satisfaction at all times.
All puppies purchased from us come with the following;
– Lifetime Satisfaction Guarantees
-Health Screenings & DNA tests.
– Health Certificate.
– Age appropriate shots.
– Food Menu.
– Play toys and treats.
– Blanket, collar and leash.
-A Personal Letter With Your Best Wishes.
-Vet DocumentsBefore we proceed, We are not selling these puppies for profit but for the love of the breed and we will want to ensure our dogs are going to loving and caring homes. For that reason I will appreciate it if you could answer a few questions.
1) Have you had a puppy before?
2) Are you a breeder?
3) Do you have any veterinarian around your location?
4) If the puppies destroy something worth $ 100 what will be your reaction?
5) Any experience with a puppy?
6) What is the name of the exact puppy you want?
7) where are you located?With this information, we will know if your home suits our puppies. Feel free to ask any questions regarding the puppies so we get back to you with more details.
Get back to us so we can advise you on the next step you will take to have the baby home.
Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you soon
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Over the course of a few hours, Dinah settled on a particular German Shepherd puppy from the photos on the website, and sent in a payment of $500 through Zelle, along with an additional $150 for the shipping expenses. However, the very next day, January 29th, the woman received this email below from “American Pet Courrier” (using the email americanpetstrip@gmail.com) to inform her that her puppy was stuck in Denver and that she needed to pay another $1,250 for a “thermal crate.” She thought the reason for the additional charge was very suspicious and called the Denver airport. She discovered that the “courier” was not even registered at this airport. Furthermore, the authorities at the Denver airport told her that this was very likely a scam. The woman immediately reached out to Zelle and Wells Fargo Bank to inquire about recovering her $650 since this was fraud.
NOTICE that the second email to Dinah references a scam website called AmericanPetsTrip.com. (Check out the phone number they list in the upper right corner! It’s not real!) Also, AmericanPetsTrip.com is listed as a scam on the following websites:
https://petscams.com/pet-delivery-agency/americanpetstrip-com/
https://scam.delivery/review/americanpetstrip-com-delivery-scam-review
https://www.scampulse.com/pure-dachsund-home-reviews
On Sat, Jan 29, 2022 at 11:11 AM AMERICAN PET COURRIER <americanpetstrip@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Client
Tracking # WPC050826635317
Address : [ADDRESS REDACTED]
Website : https://www.americanpetstrip.com/track-form/
Accept warm greetings from the Entire AMERICAN PETS TRIP Animal Transport Department , We wish to inform you that, your GERMAN SHEPHERD PUPPY has arrived DENVER International (KDEN) Airport on Transit.The Puppy has now been checked at the ANIMALS WELFARE quarantine Department and all the registration papers, health certificates and passport are correct. But it shows that your puppy is just 9 weeks old and the ANIMAL WELFARE policy states any puppy below 14 weeks will need an Electronic Thermal Crate for the safe delivery of the puppy during this winter period in the USA.
Due to the regulations we now have, you are required to Rent or Purchase an (Electronic Covid 19 Thermal Crate) to have your puppy delivered during this winter period.
Reasons for a change of Crate !!
1: The Delivery crate of the puppy has to be changed from a Ventilated Crate to an Electronic Thermal Crate. The ventilated crate does not contain potty pet space for water bowl and food cane or sanitized spits during this winter period.
2: The Ventilated crate is too small for the relaxation of the puppy on the flight. Due to the above reasons, the crate has to be changed from a Ventilated Crate to an Electronic Thermal Crate.
3: We are experiencing an unfavorable weather condition and transporting the puppy in the Ventilated crate will be detrimental to the health of your pet as places are very cold.
4: We need an Electronic Thermal Crate during this period of shipping because it has a TEMPERATURE REGULATOR which will be regulated according to your puppy’s body temperament thereby maintaining a constant body temperature.
Below are some of the available crates for rent .
Thermal Electronic crate 0150 PD————-$1250.00
Thermal Electronic crate 088 PD ————$1100.00
Thermal Electronic crate 024 PD ————-$1570.00
We do not sell the crate to our customers but we offer them for a hire or rental terms to safeguards your puppies on flight. The money paid for the rental of the crate will be 98.5% REFUNDABLE to you by the delivery personnel at your Airport. Since your sender used a Ventilated crate,our agent will come along with it to swap it for the Electronic Thermal Crate that you rented from us . We request that you make a choice from the above list of crates and choose the type of crate you will like your puppy to travel in, for its own safety.
BUT DUE TO THE TEMPERAMENT OF YOUR PUPPY, WE ADVICE THAT YOU USE THE
Thermal Electronic crate 0150 PD——–$1250.00
Please respond to this email to get this resolved as soon as possible so your puppy leaves with the next scheduled flight.
American Pets Trip
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The invoice available through the American Pets Trip website looks very official…
Remember, Dinah didn’t receive an email from pgermanshepherd@gmail.com, the seller from whom she purchased the dog. She received an email from someone at “American Pets Trip” (https://www.americanpetstrip.com / americanpetstrip@gmail.com) who told her that her puppy was younger than had been reported and she needed to rent a heated crate at the Denver Airport. The AmericanPetsTrip.com “About Us” page says that they have been in business since 1957! And yet, AmericanPetsTrip.com was registered anonymously less than a year ago in March, 2021 and is being hosted on a server in Bucharest, Romania. Some of the “positive” reviews on AmericanPetsTrip.com are IDENTICAL to reviews on another pet transportation service which claims to have offices in Australia and Atlanta, Georgia called Aussie Pet Relocation. Aussie Pet Relocation claims to have been in business for 15 years and yet, a WHOIS shows that their website was only registered anonymously at the end of August, 2021 and is hosted on a server in India! Both of these “pet transportation services” are completely FRAUDULENT!
Based on what we learned from both GermanShepherdPuppiesForSale.company.com and AmericanPetsTrip.com, we’ve uncovered MANY fraudulent or suspicious websites claiming to have dogs for sale or adoption. Below is a brief review of many of them and the most important reasons why we believe these sites are fraudulent or suspicious.
BeaglePuppiesForSaleNearMe.company.com
This website on Company.com is NEARLY IDENTICAL in design and presentation as the germanshepherdpuppiesforsale.company.com which defrauded Dinah of $650. Also, the “Tips and Recommendations” page on this bogus website contains LOTS of stolen text taken from a legitimate dog breeder’s website at Sunshine Beagle Pups.
GUILTY BY ASSOCIATION:
The phone number listed on the scam site GermanShepherdPuppiesForSale.company.com is ALSO listed on several other sites that offer dogs for sale. This includes:
Maltipoo.homesteadcloud.com
MaltipooPuppiesForSale.company.com
The phone number was also found on a Wix website offering to sell marijuana that was called “carmenalex480” before it was taken offline just recently.
Also, please note that these scammers periodically list dogs as “SOLD” or “RESERVED.” This is simply meant to pressure readers into thinking they have to act quickly to send a down payment for the dog of their choice. But these scammers also make mistakes. Check out this mistake on https://pomandmaltesepuppies.company.com/ in which “JAMMY” didn’t age over time BUT changed gender from a male to female! By the way, the Google map on the Contact form of this website, shows their marker as located inside City Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts!
We even found one of these scam websites that allowed people to leave comments on their site, in addition to posting fake comments stolen from other sites. Check out these REVEALING COMMENTS on the blog for SamoyedPups.company.com from 4 people who were apparently scammed by this website! (Scroll to the bottom of the page.) And notice that one of these victims also mentioned Zelle as the method by which these scammers wanted to be paid, just like Dinah was asked to pay for her German Shepherd.
If you were to visit the website BuyBostonTerrierPuppies.company.com you would see that they list their phone number as (405) 266-3728. A search for this phone number turns up several complaints against this website by people saying they were scammed after paying for a dog that was never delivered. Here are a couple of those complaints:
Better Business Bureau (bbb.org)
PetScams.com
This same phone number also shows up on another suspicious website called https://buypomeranianpuppies.wordpress.com/
Our research took us to many suspicious Facebook pages where puppies were also listed for sale. Many turned up when we searched for the exact words “On a scale of 1 to 10, my cuteness is an 11. The family that I have now tells me that I am a true cutie”
This problem of extensive fraud is not restricted just to the sale of dogs. During our investigation, we found that one of these scam phone numbers was also found on a defunct website that sold Siamese cats and was also located on Company.com: “Siamese Cattery” siamesecattery.company.com. This bogus website is listed on Dun and Bradstreet’s website as Linda’s Siamese Cattery
In addition, these scammers have posted advertisements for their websites in local news sites and blogs across the country. This is just one of many examples….
https://www.l2sanpiero.com/2020/08/55-boston-terrier-puppies-for-sale-san.html
Sadly, all of these suspicious websites and various bread crumbs are just a drop in the bucket of fraud! Some of our searches led us to other types of scams and websites we haven’t yet had time to investigate! For example, the phone number listed on the scam website germanshepherdpuppiesforsale.company.com is 443-457-0728. In addition to several other fraudulent or suspicious dog-selling sites, we also found that phone number on a fake law firm website (that was half-completed), a website claiming to sell marijuana, and a website selling pinball games called pinballdirect.us. The PinballDirect.us site lists a warehouse address in Milton, North Carolina that DOES NOT EXIST according to Google!
PROTECTING YOURSELF AGAINST THIS SCAM:
So how can YOU best protect yourself from these fraudulent websites? Our advice is simple… Don’t buy a pet from any website UNLESS….
- You can video chat with the business owner and see LIVE video feed of your puppy, at least 2-3 different days/times to verify they are LIVE feeds of the animal you want to purchase.
- You can get references from the business owner for people with whom you can also video chat and see THEIR WONDERFUL DOG!
- Finally, we strongly suggest paying for your pet and other expenses by CHECK because a check must be signed and deposited in a legitimate bank. If the business won’t accept a check, or a legitimate credit card transaction, then run away!
Caveat emptor!
Three Strikes and You Are Out!
We are now finding so many fake, fraudulent and suspicious websites selling dogs, cats, and even ferrets, that we can’t post detailed images about them all. They WILL be included in the list at the top of this article. Below we will Name the bogus site and tell you at least 3 strikes against the website WHY we believe it is suspicious or a complete fraud.
#16/17 pomeranain.company.com and BichonfriseFarms.com
1: The Home Address is listed as 2627 W PARKMOOR CT, Appleton, Wisconsin. But this address is a 1190 Sq Ft condo with 2 bedrooms and 1 bath. Quite a small space for raising lots of puppies, don’t you think?
2: The “Health Guarantee” found on their webpage is identical to the Health Guarantee found on BichonfriseFarms.com, which is also VERY suspicious because this latter site was registered anonymously in Iceland on February 8, 2021 using NameCheap. (This is a favorite Registrar service and location of scammers). Also, if you read the what they say about 3 dogs for sale, it’s clear that the text was copied and pasted for each dog, even though the gender changes for one. of them!
3: Male Pomeranain puppy called “Joo” (11-12 weeks old on Feb 7) was also found on a North Korean website called aboutdog.kr and was called Kei.
4. The Home page shows happy new puppy owner “Juliet Adams from Memphis, TN” with a photo of a girl about to open a little dog carrier. This same image was found on multiple sites saying that the case carried another breed of puppy, a kitten and a ferret!
5. Testimonial from “Stacey P.” from Columbus, OH shows her standing at an airport. But the testimonial says it is written by “Jack and Kristen” AND this same photo was found on another dog-selling site called bearfacepomz.com (which was registerd 4 years ago and likely legit)
6. Email address on the Contact page is given as: support@mayhempomshome.work. The domain mayhempomshome.work was registered anonymously on October 2, 2021 and is being hosted on a server in Denmark.
7. The “About Us” page shows their pink “grooming” and “laundry rooms.” These photos were stolen from the very real website at Charpoms.net (Charpoms.net was registered in 2009 and appears to be legit.)
#18/19 Bulldogsbreeder.company.com and Kingslinebreeders.com
1. Instructions below the dogs available for purchase say to “Text us” rather than call.
2. The “Contact Us” info at the bottom of the page invites visitors to subscribe “today to Munchkin cats for sale!” The words “Munchkin cats for sale” is still linked to: https://munchkins.company.com/. This is also true at the bottom of the top page of the website. The words “visitors know how” are also linked to the munchkins.company.com website but the letter “h” in the word “touch” is linked to Kingslinebreeders.com.
The “s” in “Contact Us” points to “kingslinebreeders.com.” “Kingslinebreeders.com” was registered in Iceland through NameCheap on April 25, 2021. (This is a favorite Registrar and location for scammers.) There are references to this site on Facebook as both “Kingsline Breeders” and “Kingline Breeder/”
3. The map on the Contact us page points to a forrested area across from Southport Road. No homes/buildings can be seen at all. The address listed at the bottom of the main web page is 2325 56th Hwy Spartanburg, South Carolina, 29302. Google says there is no such number and road in Spartanburg, SC. The map image below it shows a location in California, not S.Carolina.
4. The “About Us” page talks about Kim and Robert’s passion and love for raising dogs, ending with “The outcome of their passion is their beautiful, quality, happy, and healthy puppiekingslinebreakers.coms! And yet the top page of the website has the sentence “Adrian’s Bulldog Breeding House”. Who is Adrian?