This “business” is a complete scam. The actual location of the ranch doesn’t exist, and they steal pictures of other people’s horses and post them as sale ads (see the leopard Appaloosa I included in the pictures). Also, they “don’t allow visitors” and will stop responding if you want to see the horse in person before buying it.
Also, they “do their own shipping”, so you can’t even get shipping records for the horses if you did decide to “buy” one. And they want a 50% deposit up front, and won’t accept it through PayPal because they know that PayPal has fraud protection and will take the money back from them.
Audra
I was trying to buy 2 horses Allen and Ross.
Scam artist Steven McFarland sent me emails with videos of 5 horses. One video was 15 mins long. Later I discovered the videos and pictures were from the real owners website McKibben Horses. I told them via text message I would be to pick the horses up at 7 am the next morning. That’s when they started demanding deposit money Now ! I told them I would pay all monies owed the next morning. They argued with me told me I could not come get the horses due to COVID. I would have to make an appointment in a couple weeks to pick them up. There was RED flags going off everywhere in my head. So I called, called and called the number until a man answered he said as she told you there is a 3,000 deposit to hold the horses and it must be a wire transfer to our account. They won’t accept cash either! Another red flag. So I asked him if he had been scammed before and he got quiet. I told him I just don’t give out money! He hung up on me! I feel so sorry for the people who actually fall for this scam and haven’t received their horse. 😔. Please please contact the FBI until something is done. This scam website is still up and working. They are still taking peoples money! We have to stand together to get these thieves caught. We must keep pushing. 10-2020
I had a sense almost from the beginning it had to be a scam. The horse was way too perfect (Golden Palomino “Blues Gold Doc” out of The Red Bartender & My Sweet Corn) ), the email too perfectly crafted (hitting on all the notes, making it sound like every question you could ever imagine about a horse and how they are trained), the price way too low (obviously not matching the age, training, and look of that horse), images too well-crafted, and the video way too polished. (A trick rider, really? And those perfectly chosen clothes and colors? Red warning lights started flashing in my head, and my face fell into a terse grimace.)
When I looked at the website, same thing jumped out at me, slick, too polished…but then I saw a little cracks in the facade here and there, like the phrase “what our fantastic (odd adjective) client (singular) have to say.” Like screaming it was written in China or Taiwan…Then little misspellings here and there in the testimonials. On the first Google search though, I found a couple of places right off the bat that says that this is a SCAM. This being the 2nd one.
Figures! Way too good to be true.
This Steven sent me the same story about a bicycle accident, back surgeries, doc says he can no longer ride… Right… And then I looked up around Rock Ranch thinking it would be near Round Rock but no. McAllen Texas. I was going to have a friend go over to look at it but then I figured a Google search would be a lot faster.
Thanks everyone for posting all your notes. That’s why I’m taking the time out to post mine. They really should be picked up by the FBI. Local police. The sheriff. Something. CIA (who knows where they’re located for sure.).
Wire transfer? No FaceTime? really? I was going to ask for a video with a timestamp embedded in the metadata.. Now I don’t have to!
L, Northern CA coast
We the people being scammed need to contact the FBI once a week until they catch these thieves. It’s gonna take people like us pushing for justice.
They are still advertising. They even sent me pictures of 2 horses that I was interested in. I guess, I thought of it as a rescue organization to explain the prices. To have pictures of Amish or Mennonite children to seem odd considering the location. Steven McFarland
Tue 9/22/2020 4:57 AM
To: You
More actions
Click on the link below for video
We the people need to keep calling the FBI once a week to get this scam shut down
!
Why is this gentleman still operating a website that is false and not in jail? I recently came across his website asked to purchase a horse wanted to FaceTime video chat to see the horse in person and he said it was against his policy. When I told him that that was a weird policy he got all defensive. He should be put in jail shame on him
We the people need to stand until he is caught. We need to contact the FBI and other justice departments until something is done. Demand justice.
Just imagine the child and parents when their Christmas pony does not arrive…so sad, what a scam…Gotta love great dressage horses under 5K…LOL
Please stand for justice. Contact the FBI and other justice departments until these thieves are caught. It’s going to take us speaking up and demanding justice.
My teenage daughter in search of a horse got duped by these scammers. Thank goodness I did my own research before closing any type of deal. She shared several emails with a person that said the low prices were due to a bike accident and they needed to find good homes for their horses. They acted very religious and older which played on my daughters heart strings. She never thought for one second that it wasn’t real. I thought it was fishy when they sent her wire instructions this morning before we even said we for sure wanted the horse. I went back to the website and paid closer attention to the page as a whole and it quickly jumped out at me that the horses pictured were not from the same farm, different fences different riders. So I called the number listed on the site. There was no answer but an robo voicemail and I could not leave a message. I almost instantly got a message back asking who I was interested in and the whole exchanged was asking about when we were going to make a payment. It was after that text thread I knew for sure something was up and did research online and found this scam page. I am so appreciative of everybody that has posted here before me and I hope that people who find themselves on that site don’t get scammed. The site should be shut down.
We need to demand justice. We need to call the FBI and other justice departments every week until they do something about this. These people are still scamming people.
I was almost pulled into this today. My first clue was how inexpensive an “all around” horse was listed for. The second clue was the email and text at 12:30 central time and replied to me at 5:30 a.m. I inquired about visiting the facility, you have to have an appointment & a deposit to hold the horse even if you aren’t sure which horse you want. Third, I asked to have him text me a current picture from his phone as I wanted to make sure he was in possession of the horse, his reply was he has many horses and does not have time to take a picture “of a horse”. That made me angry so I began googling him & his so called ranch only to find out it is a scam. Thank God he gave me the guidance to ask more questions and the sense to do my homework. Don’t fall for this!
Never have I seen Friesians, etc offered at such a low price. Something seemed off…but I sent an email inquiring. I received a long email that seemed to be generic, and copied/pasted. I asked if I could come see/try the horse. The response was “we are so delighted you want to buy the horse! Here is the money transfer directions”! Disgusting that this is going on. The pics of the horse were not even the same horse in the video, and my girlfriend recognized the rider as a girl in Holland. Glad they are being investigated.
Looking at the site you can tell it’s all a SCAM. Gypsy Vanner’s and Warmbloods under 5k, LOL, WTF are ya’ll thinking sending money to these creeps? Anyone can fake a review on their website. None of the background photos are from the same property, wake up people.
I almost got conned. Thank you for this site. I was looking at a horse on this site and then this Steven McFarland sent me lots of pictures. I went back to the website and the more I looked I realized I’d seen most of these horses on OTHER WEB SITES and some were from an Online Auction. I know that for sure. This Round Rock Ranch is just all scam. It made me really sad. Just so many people out there scamming people on every level!
Looked at a pony on the site yesterday and was puzzled, too, by all the disciplines and the incredibly low prices, but I emailed and was texted at almost 1 am! Then I received all the videos and pictures and a canned letter telling me the shetland pony had a “big floaty trot and basic dressage!” When he called he had a heavy accent that I thought was Mexican. He said he was Finnish! No way! Then I got the big rush to wire transfer money. All my questions were brushed away with answers that horse people don’t use: the vet check was already done; there was one price ($1250) no matter where they shipped the horse; she came with a snaffle bit…but no bridle? What? Glad I found this website. Thanks.
Update on owner of fake round rock ranch
There is a criminal investigation going on by the sheriff department
There is a fraud investigation going on with the bank
We need to stand together for justice!
Start calling the FBI and other justice departments every week until they start pushing to find these thieves. Demand justice. Push
Well what can be done about it? It is August 2020= My husband and I almost got scammed by this scammer. We finally figured it out. Thanks to this and other websites. Can’t hear it be reported and arrested or something?
I’ve been looking at horse ads all day and then found Round Rock Ranch. EVERY horse is listed as this wonderful, will do anything, super safe, go anywhere horse. The odds of all these horses being so wonderful raised a red flag. I’ve NEVER seen Friesians sold for $5000 and advertised as great trail horses. They I decided to look for reviews on Round Rock Ranch and found this page. Thanks to the people who are taking the time to report them..
We need everyone to demand justice. We must stand together. Please contact the FBI and other justice departments every week until they do something about it.
Similar experience to all above. Searched ranch horses for sale in google and round rock ranch came up first. Outrageous that these horses were priced at $4500, not even a believable price, and only 1 pony was listed as “sold” huge red flag. Also no physical address listed on the website. I emailed to inquire on a couple horses and was sent lots of pics and videos. Very poor grammar and spelling in email correspondence. Said “we want $1800 deposit per horse” just to come look at them. Crazy.
Here’s what his transport company emails look like
ROUND ROCK RANCH
he uses a fake transport company sends a fake fancy email
EQUINE MOVERS INC
Texas
He claims he owns it equine movers inc is located in the UK not even in this country it’s all fake he came to America to scam Americans DONT BIY ANYTHING FROM ROUND ROCK RANCH TEXAS
SUPPER SCAM
He goes by Steve McFarland stolid 5.150 dollars from me I did all the the tasks the bank gave me to do and I’m on the path to get my money back as it was fraud and done bank to bank wire transfer
Then he sends you a must have insurance policy for the horse refundable upon arrival or your horse dose not ship fancy emails and all
Here’s the info he used For the wire transfer
Bank. Chase
Name. Sadion Edmond akwa
Address. 13296 cypress circle rd
Comfort Texas
Cell. 972 694 8841
HUGE SCAM WEB SITE IS ALL FAKE some of the horses have all ready passed away
Same as above complaints! Send loads of information, pics and videos. Got ugly in text when I asked more questions. Wouldn’t take my call. When he did he blew off the bad reviews [censored]ers. He changed the bank deposit info twice to places 4 hours away from so called ranch. He was very pushy about getting paid. Did more research on him on Facebook and found a page dedicated to finding him with people on it he has scammed! This guy needs to be stopped. He is very good! Real horse sellers will deliver horse and make pymt with you then with a signed bill of sale in person. I called him out and told him I was reporting him. He did not respond at all! There was also a chase bank that he was using too.
Scammer’s phone 972-694-8841
Scammer’s website theroundrockranch.com
Scammer’s address McAllen TX
Scammer’s email [email protected]
Country United States
Type of a scam Online Purchase
Initial means of contact Text message
Site offers horses for sale using content stolen from other sites. Their ranch doesn’t exist. Verified with the actual owner of a horse that was listed on theroundrockranch.com and other fake sites…content stolen.
TOTAL SCAM! Emailed to ask for more information on a horse on their website. Sent over loads of information and a great video. Seemed legitimate. Called them to find out if we could visit and immediately the tone changed. Was asked to make a deposit today or the horse would be sold – Instant warning sign. Said hat we could come don the next day and they hung up.
Type of a scam Online Purchase
Emailed the seller for a long haul horse sale. When I made more inquiries, the tone of the letter changed from sealing the deal and payment instructions to being offensive for wasting his time as I asked him if it was okay to call him and verify what he was telling me. He went so far to send convincing videos and photos of children with the horse. I soon found out MANY potential buyers had been SCAMMED. Don’t fall for his testimonials as I almost did.