Victim Location 98409
Total money lost $2,060
Type of a scam Online Purchase
Two days ago, I stumbled upon a website that was claiming to be a Bichon Frise dog breeder. I saw one of the puppies that they had listed for sale and made an inquiry about it. Yesterday morning, I received an email back, asking me questions about myself and what kind of environment I lived in for the dog. A few hours later, the person on the website contacted me through email and then text. They told me how I could pay and proceeded to send me directions. I paid the person the $800 they were asking for the dog through Zelle. The person told me that they would contact me that evening or by 8 am the next day. They did not contact me last night, or this morning (05/12/2020), so I sent an email to the person expressing my concern about not hearing from them and the details of the puppy’s shipment. The person emailed me back, and told me that someone would contact me shortly. About half an hour later, I was contacted by a company claiming to be the transporter for the dog and they needed me to verify my address for shipment. I verified by emailing back, and they emailed me saying the dog was cleared and was boarding the plane soon. Five minutes later, the company emailed me saying that they could not ship my dog because the crate was not the right one to use during the virus and for flight. They informed me that I would have to pay for an A/C crate for the dog or they could not ship it. I text the "breeder" and told them what the other people were emailing me and they told me it was okay that they would give me a full refund when they came to my apartment to drop the dog off. They wanted me to use Venmo, but it wasn’t working so they told me to use Zelle. I sent the person $1,260 for the crate. They updated their site to show that it was accepted and the dog had boarded the plane. I have had no further emails since. About two hours ago, my best friend called me and said that she found out that the two websites were fake, that they had been made in February of this year. I proceeded to call the airline that the company was claiming to use to ship the puppy, and they told me that they were not transporting animals of any kind because of the virus. I then called the "breeder"’s number and it went straight to a generic voicemail. I blocked my number and called the transportation company, and it rang four times and went to voicemail, again a generic one. I called the police and filed a report with them. The officer that I spoke to told me that there probably wasn’t a chance that I am going to get my $2,060 back, but I should contact the FBI fraud unit.