This morning, I had my very first experience in a Pet Scam. Friday night, I went online to KITTENSFORADOPTION.US. which is a kitten classified website for the adoption of free kittens. I sent out several inquiries for kittens within a 3 hour drive from my home. I received about 6 notifications returning my emails. I decided to go with a lady who was supposed to be in Alabama, who said she had moved to Arkansas due to a hearing impairment. The kitten would have to be shipped, via air travel, and the next morning she would set everything up and the travel agency would contact me first thing, 9am EST, in which payment of $200 would be expected, but I would receive the kitten in roughly 7 hours and the kitten would be delivered by courier to my doorstep. What's better than that, right?
Right on time, she texted my a cartoonish transfer of ownership certificate of the kitten and texted me right at 9am saying she took the kitten to Pet Travel Agency and they would be contacting me in a few minutes regarding payment and to give me time of estimated delivery. She also forwarded me the routing number for the kitten.
Right on time again, the travel agency sends me 2 emails. The first stating how the business started, the second stating that payment of $200 was due and Western Union was the only payment option. In todays world, Western Union is practically obsolete over the almighty plastic. So, immediately, red flags starting popping up and I Googled pet travel agencies. Not only did I not see this one mentioned, I saw a reputable company and noticed that they DID take credit cards. All of them! They also had a disclaimer stating if a pet travel agency asks for payment to be Western Union'd, BE AWARE and look to see where they want the money wired to, that usually it is out of the country. Well-I'll be dang- Cameroon! To some one named Ekwa Adolf Nkwelle. So, to make this long story short, I let the nice lady Lucy know that an American purchase shouldn't be sent over to Africa, and that I was aware of the scam and her crime. I finally had to block her from my cell, as she continually texted me asking what the problem was.
Turns out, the 6 replies I received from the Kitten website, 5 were of the same ilk. Only one was legit. The kitten website is crawling with scam artists just like this, so beware if you go there, but beware of [email protected].
Though I'm thankful for the eye opener education I had this morning as a reminder to stay on my toes, I feel totally violated over such an innocent act of searching for a family pet.
Right on time, she texted my a cartoonish transfer of ownership certificate of the kitten and texted me right at 9am saying she took the kitten to Pet Travel Agency and they would be contacting me in a few minutes regarding payment and to give me time of estimated delivery. She also forwarded me the routing number for the kitten.
Right on time again, the travel agency sends me 2 emails. The first stating how the business started, the second stating that payment of $200 was due and Western Union was the only payment option. In todays world, Western Union is practically obsolete over the almighty plastic. So, immediately, red flags starting popping up and I Googled pet travel agencies. Not only did I not see this one mentioned, I saw a reputable company and noticed that they DID take credit cards. All of them! They also had a disclaimer stating if a pet travel agency asks for payment to be Western Union'd, BE AWARE and look to see where they want the money wired to, that usually it is out of the country. Well-I'll be dang- Cameroon! To some one named Ekwa Adolf Nkwelle. So, to make this long story short, I let the nice lady Lucy know that an American purchase shouldn't be sent over to Africa, and that I was aware of the scam and her crime. I finally had to block her from my cell, as she continually texted me asking what the problem was.
Turns out, the 6 replies I received from the Kitten website, 5 were of the same ilk. Only one was legit. The kitten website is crawling with scam artists just like this, so beware if you go there, but beware of [email protected].
Though I'm thankful for the eye opener education I had this morning as a reminder to stay on my toes, I feel totally violated over such an innocent act of searching for a family pet.
