Victim Location 55414
Total money lost $1,484
Type of a scam Online Purchase
I found this website when I was searching for exotic shorthair cats on Google, and the cats were cute, so I contacted the seller. I got along very well with him and he sent me a lot of videos about my favorite cat, which impressed me very much. He said that he only needed to pay 400 dollars for the cat and 100 dollars for the freight, and then he could start to prepare the transportation for me. So after I transferred $500 to him through Zelle, he sent me a shipping certificate, and it all seemed perfectly reasonable. But then the transportation company contacted me and said that I needed to pay for the cage in transit. This fee will be returned to me when the cat arrives. They sent me photos of the cages at three different prices, and after asking the seller, I chose the cheapest cage and paid $984 for the guarantee. Later, the transportation company sent me the shipping information and tracking number, and told me that it would arrive at 11:00 am the next day. The next day, the transportation company told me that I needed to pay a sum of insurance money during transportation, which would be returned when the cat arrived, totaling 800 dollars. It made me wonder if it might be a hoax. So I called the transportation company, and through his explanation, I tried to believe his story. But when the transfer account he sent matched with the merchant’s, I realized it must be a scam. I contacted the merchant and found that the accent of the person who responded this time was very similar to that of the transportation company. When I asked him, he quickly hung up on me, saying he was on the highway and asked me to text him. Later, he said he would refund my money on Monday. After that, I could not reach him anymore.