Victim Location 20772
Total money lost $450
Type of a scam Other
On Monday, August 24, 2020 in the evening I contacted the individual who said his name was Mr. Marcus Findlay through his website by entering my contact information because I was interested in a Maltipoo puppy (Joel) he advertised for sale on his website for $700. Mr. Findlay contacted me on Tuesday, August 25, 2020 by email at 6:59 am ET, phone by at 7:06 am ET and by Text at 7:06 am ET to alert me that the puppy I was interested in was still available. I returned his call on the same day at 7:59 am ET. I explained to him I was interested in the puppy and he sent me information on the puppy and the process for purchasing him and for arranging to have the puppy flown to an airport near me. After reading through the information, the site seemed legitimate and after asking a few questions he seemed legitimate. I proceeded to move on. The puppy was $700 but he said his wife who took care of the puppies, will sell the males for $650 and it would cost $150 for his flight. He said they were breeders but his wife was pregnant with their first child so they wanted to sell all the puppies. He said the Mom and Dad of the puppies had already been sold. He informed me a deposit was required to start the process. he said the received their funds through Zelle or cashApp. I sent $450 through my PNC Zelle account. Once he received it he said he begin the process. I received a Transfer of ownership form from him with his information as the person transferring the ownership and my information on the bottom as the new owner with the animal number and all at the bottom. I asked him on several occasion how long the process would take. Finally he texted me back saying he had completed the puppies transfer paperwork and he was on his way to the airport. Around 12noon, I received flight information from a transport company call Parcel Hero Express with an entire flight itinerary. The puppy was supposed to fly out of Fort Worth by 2pm and arrive at Reagan National at 5pm. The itinerary was automated and gave me up to date information as to where the puppy and his bag was in the process at the airport. Then I received an email from the airline that I thought was a bit suspicious because they said in order for my puppy to fly I had to make sure he had flight insurance that he could not fly and may miss his flight if I didn’t send the insurance right away. The message said the funds would be given back to me in cash once I picked up the puppy from the airport. I immediately called Mr. Findlay and asked what was going on and told him I thought someone at the airport was trying to scam me because they tried to get me to send them $950 for pet insurance. He said he would call and find out what was going on. By now its past 2pm so the puppy has missed his flight and I’m trying to find out what is going on. (These scammers are really high tech now) So finally Mr. Findlay calls me back an said he took them the puppies insurance paper work but unfortunately the puppy would not fly out until, August 26, 2020, the next day I said ok but why would they call me asking me for insurance like that and demanding cash be sent. He was like I don’t know and he was sorry that happened. So this morning August 26th, I get a text from him saying he will be at the airport at 8am, I answered ok and asked him to please send the information on his arrival so I would know how to plan my day and work around picking him up. (I was actually expecting him to text or call and say that the puppy may not be able to fly today because I had been watching the news all morning and Hurricane Laura was threatening to shut everything down in the Texas, Florida area) At around 11:24 am Mr. Findlay texted me and said it was done and he said all I had to do was put the same tracking number (TX7-34809-37MD) in Parcel Hero Express’s tracking system and it should have the updated flight information and that the puppy would be at Reagan National at 4pm today. Surely when I checked the flight itinerary and entered the number, the new information was there and he was supposed to fly out at 11am and arrive today at 4pm at National Airport. I checked the itinerary again around 11am and it showed the airplane on the screen indicating the flight was enroute and I received a text from Mr. Findlay around 12:06 pm saying the puppy was on the plane already. I thanked him for all he had done again and for sending the information on what the puppy eats (of which I had already purchase in preparation for the puppies arrival) and told him I would send the final payment of $350 after I pick the puppy up from the airport. Around 1:30 pm I decided to call the airport. On the itinerary it said DHL was the pet transporter. Suspicion ran through my mind again because the tracking system was through Parcel Hero Express. After speaking with DHL they informed me that all flights in the Texas area had indeed been grounded because of the storm, she asked what I was shipping, I said do you all have a pet shipping service? I said a breeder was supposed to be shipping a puppy to me through your courier service. She said Mam, I am sorry to tell you but more than likely its a scam. She said she’s had other people call asking the same thing. She asked for my name to see if anything was in my name of course it wasn’t. All I could do was thank her and hang up the phone. I was very angry but I calmed and called Mr. Findlay and I said I just called the airport to find out where to pick the puppy up and they said all flights for DHL were grounded. He said I will call them and call you back. Then he called with this story saying that the puppy was on American Airway and they would be flying through Ohio and then to MD. I told him to send me the information so I could confirm. Of course, I got nothing and then he stopped answering my calls. I sent him a text (I’m sure in vein) telling him to refund my $450 back to my Zelle account as well I warned him that I would be reporting him and all the information I had on him as a scammer.