I also almost fell victim to this scam, but I did research before sending money. This site needs to be removed from the internet.
Victim Location 95492
Type of a scam Online Purchase
I tried finding a maine [censored] kitten on line and came across mainecoonbreedershome.net. It seemed like a very legit breeder as they expressed concern for the home that the kitten would be going into. After numerous email correspondence and a formal contract (so it appeared) all that was left was payment. They requested payment be made through Zelle and that was when I got a little nervous. I emailed them one last time stating I was nervous and so wanted to know when I could expect the kitten to be delivered (that was an extra $50). They told me next day the kitten would be delivered which I found strange since I am in California and this kitten was coming from OK. They also changed the Zelle account name for me to deposit the money into. HUGE RED FLAG. I tried calling the number on the contract and first couple of times there was no answer. Then on my 3rd attempt a man answered but quickly hung up. I then received an email stating that I am stupid and he just couldn’t hear me. Fortunately I never transferred the money. This is just another cruel pet scam!
Victim Location 22125
Total money lost $1,500
Type of a scam Online Purchase
I was looking to add a kitten to our family and came across a scam. These people pretended to be breeders and currently go by Maine [censored] Breeders Home (mainecoonbreedershome.net). They post and send kitten pictures that they likely obtained on the net, send you a fake contract (a pretty well-forged one) and then they ask you to transfer the payment via Zelle. Please, DO NOT ever use Zelle, unless you know the person. Just don’t use Zelle at all if you can avoid it. There is no recall on these transactions. Banks simply won’t care, even though they know which account/bank the money went to, but they are not required by law to recall it. After the initial agreed-upon payment, the scammers started coming up with additional (much higher) fees for crates the kitten would be transported in and then insurance for that fake kitten. Each amount being higher than the first. Unfortunately, I haven’t ever heard of pet scams and I fell for part of it and paid them some money. Once they asked twice as much for insurance to be paid to a pet moving company (also fake, with fake websites, phones, currently going by Air Pet Movers https://airpetmovers.com/), I finally knew it was all a scam and couldn’t believe that I was so blind. My husband and I traced their websites, phones, emails and addresses. Websites were new and built on GoDaddy (we filed a report with them), phone numbers were not linked to anyone, physical address was real but belonged to a totally random person who was not breeding any cats (probably another one of their victims).
We have filed a report with our bank, Google, GoDaddy… FBI/local police is next, but the scammers sites are still up!!! So they are probably scamming other unsuspecting pet-lovers right now.
Here is the information associated with the scammers’ Zelle accounts. If anyone gets any requests from them, for any other business or product (I am sure they do not exclusively deal in fake kittens), please report them immediately to your bank.
Scammers info (definitely fake, but maybe they re-use these aliases):
Scott Nikena [email protected]
Darrell Wilson [email protected]
I am attaching the tracking I got from the fake pet moving company.
I hope this helps get these guys caught or at the very least prevent other innocent people from being scammed.
Victim Location 44241
Total money lost $550
Type of a scam Online Purchase
As requested, here is my information and timeline for the loss of my $550.00 to buy a Maine [censored] kitten from a breeder online. The breeder is mainecoonbreedershome.net.
We started corresponding with them on Sunday, April 26th. My son was looking for a maine [censored] kitten and found them online. We had emailed them and they had sent us pictures of Bruce the kitten on their website. He had sent us about 7 additional pictures of the cat.
I was told that it would be $550. and they will take Zelle or Cash App, nothing else. I wanted to use Paypal. They stated no, either Zelle or Cash App. My first mistake, I should have realized that was a huge red flag. But, I thought, Zelle is through my bank. So, I sent them the funds. They, in turn, sent me the contract. The next step was going to be shipping the cat.
They then sent me an email from the airpetmovers.com and with the cat’s tracking number. It was about two hours after receiving my first email about the cat going to be shipped. I received another email stating they needed more money to ship the cat. This is when I called. I got a gentleman that was foreign and did not speak English very well. He demanded that I send them $950 through a cash app or the cat will not ship. I told him that was just fine. He then hung up on me.
I proceeded to email and call the breeder, thinking that this cat is now left at the airport. Which wasn’t true because the breeder never picked up our calls, nor have the answered any emails. I have reached out to the Meeker, OK police department – because the phone number the scam breeder is using is a landline from Meeker, OK= 405-279-9995.
The guy is using Darrell G Wilson to transfer funds too! His address he is using on the contract is 2713 NW 109th Terrace, Oklahoma city, OK 73120
Victim Location 77591
Type of a scam Online Purchase
This company is claiming to sell purebred Maine [censored] kittens for $500 and to ship to your home for free. Before sending them money, which was requested by Zelle, and after not even speaking with them, I looked on petscams.com and found that they’re criminals trying to get money by falsifying pictures of the kittens and then never delivering. This company needs to be reported and shut down.