Sunny avoids a parrot scam with help from Animalcouriers

Sunny wrote to tell us that she recently avoided being scammed. She was in the market for a parrot and stumbled on a post offering a pair of blue and gold macaw parrots.

Suspecting it was a scam, Sunny read through the posting very carefully. Because it made reference to Animalcouriers, she checked our website and found our page of tips to help avoid scams.

She wrote to say:

“I can’t thank you enough for listing all the possible clues to completely verify this too-good-to-be-true offer. Here are the clues that applied to this person:

• I was offered the animal for free (with a sob story)
• I was asked to pay for transport
• the owner was located in Cameroon
• the email offering the parrots, and subsequent emails about them, were written in poor English”

Visit our web page on animal scams to find out more.

Dean avoids a scam with help from Animalcouriers

When Dean contacted us for a transport quote to Gloucester for two puppies he’d been offered from Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands, we warned him it might be a scam.

Why did we think that? Because Kirkwall is given as the location in a lot of puppy scams we hear about.

Having taken what we had to say on board, Dean got back in touch to say:

“Thank you for your responses, they helped greatly as did reading your scam warning page. After which it felt like it was a scam. So we decided to carry on looking for a puppy elsewhere and consequently have bought one. So it all worked out well. Thank you again, as we feel you stopped us from making a major mistake.”

Animalcouriers website helps Jason avoid being scammed

We recently heard from Jason who responded to an advertiser on the Friday-Ad website who was offering a puppy.

Because the puppy was supposedly coming from “the other end of the country”, Jason was told it would be delivered by a “UK Animals Delivery Service” courier.

Very wisely, Jason looked that delivery company up on the web, and found it didn’t exist. He did, however, find the Animalcouriers website, and read our page that’s designed to help people avoid being scammed.

Jason told us: “I wanted to thank you for the information on scammers on your site, as it was very informative and helpful… We have reported the ad to Friday-Ad.”

We’re very glad to have helped Jason avoid being scammed, and to hear that he’s reported the scam to the site that carried the bogus advert.

Animalcouriers website helps Sian avoid a scam

We recently heard from Sian, who used the information on the Animalcouriers website to avoid a puppy scam that would have lost her £175.

She told us:

“I thought I’d email and thank you for the info on puppy scammers that you have on your site. It just saved me from being scammed out of £175. I suspected that the offer of a puppy so cheap was too good to be true and after a little digging I found out it was, thanks to your site. I’ve reported the would-be scammer to Action Fraud. Thanks again!”

The rate of scams is hotting up

Scammers operate in many fields, and the field of animals is no exception. When we realised that our company name was being used by scammers to add legitimacy to their operations, we quickly published a web page of hints and tips aimed at helping people avoid getting scammed.

A typical animal-related scam revolves around offering an animal for free — such as a puppy, a parrot or a monkey — via email or the internet, with only the cost of the transport to be paid. The scammer says they will arrange the animal’s transport on behalf of the client. The client is then asked to pay the transport costs by money transfer (Western Union or MoneyGram), often to a payee in Cameroon.

Whether or not you notice anything else odd about the communication, such as poor spelling and grammar or unusual-looking phone numbers, two things should alert you to the likelihood that it’s a scam:

• The animal being offered for free
• The request to pay the transport costs (or any other costs, like insurance) by money transfer

When we first published our page about scams, we were getting a couple of calls or emails a week from people worried that they were being scammed. Sadly, many of them checked with us only after they’d arranged the money transfer. Of course, in none of these cases was there ever really an animal, and these poor people were never able to recoup their cash.

These days, we get as many as four or five calls and emails every day. But we’re pleased to say that people are getting smarter — increasingly they’re reading our web page and checking with us before they part with any money.

So remember, if anyone offers you an animal (or anything else, for that matter) and the deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is. And if you’re asked to pay any fees by money transfer, think very hard before you do so — no reputable company will ever ask you to do this.

Two of the people we helped avoid being scammed over the past week were Terrell from the US and Kevin from England. Terrell had been offered two Yorkie pups from Turkey, and Kevin a West Highland pup from Scotland. Based on the information provided on our website and by email, both avoided falling prey to the scammers.

“I thought there was something strange going on, with the person suggesting that they arrange the courier service… Thanks to your website, the scamming info, we haven’t continued with it,” said Kevin.

And from Terrell: “OMG! Thank u sooo much, I have not sent any money! Thanks to u! I really do appreciate it! Ur such a life/money saver! and from now on I will never fall for anything that says FREE on the internet especially if it’s from another country… you’re the best!”

Helping prevent scams around the world

Animalcouriers hears from people in many different countries who are at risk of being scammed by someone offering them an animal that doesn’t exist.

When scammers use our name fraudulently to lend credibility to their offer — usually by naming us as the animal’s shipper — they tend to include a link to our home page. Clicking on the ‘Be Scam Aware‘ button on our home page lets people get some guidance on how to avoid being scammed.

The most recent email we had from a potential scam victim came from Poland. Luckily, the lady in question read our guidance page and contacted us immediately. Because of her sensible action and our quick response, she didn’t part with any money and avoided all the pain and disappointment of a falling victim to a scam.

Remember, if an offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If someone offers you an animal and you have any doubt about the genuine nature of the offer, check our website or get in touch with us.

Another scam averted

We just heard from Steph, a very switched-on lady who has avoided being scammed. She was emailed by someone claiming to have English Bulldog puppies for adoption, fees to be paid by Western Union money transfer.

She tried calling the phone number given in the email and reports that the person who answered “didn’t even know the name of his own company!”

The scammer also included our website in their email, so Steph very wisely checked us out and read our page on how to avoid scams. “Thank God your site exists,” she says.

Relieved to have avoided being ripped off, Steph has reported the scam attempt to the police.

Avoiding a scam

We were contacted recently by a lady called Aleks who had been promised delivery of two Siberian Husky puppies. She was worried because the email saying Animalcouriers would deliver them requested payment by Western Union money transfer to the Cameroons. She was then told if she didn’t pay by a certain time, the cost would go up.

Because she was suspicious, she contacted us to check before she made any payment. We were able to tell her the supposed delivery had nothing to do with Animalcouriers, and that it sounded like a typical scam. Through her quick action and by checking directly with us, she didn’t part with any money. We were very glad to be able to help prevent her losing money to a scam.

Update on scams: puppies, parrots and monkeys too

In earlier blogs we’ve written about scams involving animals, and how to protect yourself against them.

The scam goes something like this.

1. You’re offered an animal very cheaply or for free.
2. You have to pay delivery charges upfront by money order (Western Union or MoneyGram).
3. You’re told that Animalcouriers will be delivering your animal.
4. The animal never arrives.

People who’ve unfortunately fallen prey to these scams then contact us to find out why their animal hasn’t been delivered. Of course, there is no animal at all, we know nothing about it, the scammers are long gone, and there’s no way for anyone to get their money back.

Until recently, most of these scams involved puppies. Then we started hearing about parrots. And just recently, we’ve heard about three scams involving monkeys.

Remember, if you’re in any doubt at all about whether an offer is genuine, don’t part with any money, and contact us immediately.

To find out more about how to spot a scam, see the page on our website.