The story of a Warwick woman who thought she was buying a bull terrier puppy but ended up paying £400 to Cameroon based criminals has promoted Warwickshire County Council Trading Standards Service to issue a warning to prospective pet owners.
The Warwick resident, who was interested in buying a pet, came across an advertisement on the Internet for a young dog, ‘free to a good home’.
The consumer contacted the ‘seller’ by email and he responded claiming that he had recently moved from London to Aberdeen and could no longer look after the dog. Further he had put the dog in the hands of a company that specialised in moving pets.
The consumer then received pictures of the dog together with other information which appeared to make the offer seem genuine.
She (the consumer) then agreed to take the pet but was quickly asked for £100 which the ‘seller’ claimed was to pay for transferring the dog by air from Aberdeen to Glasgow. The consumer paid the £100 by money transfer but was then asked for a further £300 for ‘insurance’ which was to be refundable.
When she had paid again the consumer was then told that the dog was awaiting collection at Glasgow Airport, but another £200 would need to be paid for documentation to release the dog. She became suspicious and phoned Trading Standards.
Warwickshire Trading Standards Officers were able to confirm that this was an elaborate scam perpetrated by Cameroon based criminals, and that the ‘seller’ and the dog were bogus. It also transpired that the fraudsters had also used the name of a genuine pet movement agency to hide their illegal activities behind.
Warwickshire Trading Standards Service would advise the following:
- Beware of offers that seem too good to be true.
- Try to get a personal recommendation before buying from a company or individual you know nothing about.
- Make sure you know where the company or individual is based and what their telephone number is.
- Don't be hurried along by your ‘seller' - this is often a tactic used by a fraudster to get you to make a mistake.
- If you are asked to pay by money transfer – think twice – this is form of payment often used by fraudsters.
For consumer advice phone Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06. |