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Witness accounts: How pet scammers bait victims

Cape Town - Pet scams are rife and have left not a few users fuming and out of pocket, according to feedback from the Fin24 community in response to a recent article.

READ: Pet scam cost me R6 400

Fin24 user Christel wrote: "I just read the article, and I am shocked. I spoke to this 'Sandra Prinsloo' last week to buy a bulldog puppy."

Christel had a lucky escape: "We got our puppy from a reputable breeder last week Saturday, and paid R11 000.00 for her! I am so glad we did not fall prey to 'Sandra Prinsloo' – absolutely disgusting to prey on people’s feelings!"  

The email message used for this particular scam, as supplied by the user who originally contacted Fin24, reads in part:
"My husband had a job in the Netherlands so we are all as a family relocating there With our two daughters... We cannot take all the puppies along, because of the cost that will be involved however we want to leave them back still in lovely homes back in South Africa and also to be able to see pictures of them when we leave them back (published verbatim)."

In her email to Christel (below), 'Sandra' gives a detailed description of the puppies:  


Attached to the message are pictures of the puppies and their parents. Fin24 has received the identical set of photos from two individual users, which were used as bait for the scam.

Fin24 is in possession of a copy of the ID document of 'Sandra Prinsloo'. It is a pretty safe bet to assume that the ID document was stolen, and that the real 'Sandra Prinsloo' would probably be horrified to know what use her credentials are being put to.

The gorgeous photos of simply adorable pups are a valuable marketing tool. "I don't have a problem paying the right price, it's just the pups are so beautiful and everything was looking authentic," said a user.

VIEW GALLERY to see if these puppy photos are perhaps yours or if you recognise them as stock pics:

Fin24 tests the waters

A phone call to the cellphone number provided in the ad was immediately answered with a brisk "Sandra speaking". The lady sounded foreign and did not have the South African accent one would have expected from a very Afrikaans name and surname. The line quality was poor, but Fin24 managed to convey a request to view the puppies.

This could be done, said 'Sandra', but would only be possible on a Sunday (so no one looks after the puppies - not to mention their parents - during the week?). 'Sandra' would not give her email address outright, but insisted on an SMS message to her cellphone number with our email address, after which she promised to forward more details from her own email account.

Other pets

Fin24 user Marna was nearly scammed twice. "The first time (a few years ago) was an ad for a kitten for free but I needed to pay ‘transport’ which was about R5 000. Luckily, I got suspicious and just said that I am not interested anymore."

But the second time her luck ran out: "A certain Mr Stephen White (Burlesque cattery) of Johannesburg 'sold' a kitten to me which I never got. He was a registered breeder and I did not expect that he would be a dishonest person."

The kitten's pick-up kept being stalled. "Eventually he told me that he 'sold' more kittens than what he had and someone took over his breeding cats and he would refund me. That was end of December 2014. He even sent me false proof of payment for the refund."

Marna has since not been able to get hold of the so-called Mr White. "I really wish that more can be done to prevent this type of theft (it is theft according to me). He intended to steal my money right from the beginning," she concludes. 

The Hellopeter.com website lists two complaints under Burlesque Sphynx Cattery, the latest from December 22 2014, with several more under the comments section.

Fin24 user Dawie sent a concise message: "Same here. Puppy was English springer spaniel. Lost R8 000. Open fraud case with SAPS. FNB could do nothing to recover the money."      

Fin24 user Dennis recounts that a "so-called breeder who lives and operates from Pretoria sold me a Griffon registered puppy for R8 000".

The breeder turned out not to be registered with the appropriate kennel union. "He is a compulsive liar, a dishonest cheat, a small-time crook. How many more people will fall for his lies?" asks Dennis.

"I have also been caught by these pet scammers. It makes me disappointed that they still get away with it," writes Fin24 user Tanya.

"Feb 2011 I searched for a white Great Dane, which was very rare. I searched on Gumtree and found this puppy, very professional ad, pictures, the works. Microchip, dewormed everything."

Looked up address and there was nothing there

It was the usual story: Tanya was sent a waybill and asked for a 'refundable' deposit for a pet travel crate. "The deposit was R3 000. I became suspicious. I just had a bad feeling. I checked the address on the waybill and looked it up on Google Maps and there was nothing there. I told them I can't pay the deposit, I want my money back."

The scammers did a disappearing act. "They vanished into thin air, and I realised I had been conned. I was so upset I cried."

Tanya's bank was unwilling to reverse her EFT payment. When she tried to open a case with the police, she was told that the amount in question was 'too little'. "They investigate matters of R40 000 and up. In a nice way, they told me I was wasting my time. They have too much work."

Police should have database for scammers

Fin24 user Tanya said reading the pet scam article was like reading her own story. "I was so upset, as the bank and the police should help innocent people... Four years on what can I say, I am reading my own story!... Why can't the police have a database like they have with fingerprints?"

She feels it is truly depressing that fraudsters can get off scot-free, simply because pet scams are seen as small fry in the bigger scheme of things. "This is fraud, and it's my hard-earned money. They are too lazy to work, so they con people to get a salary. I wonder how many hundreds of thousands of rands, or maybe millions, we are talking about".

Fin24 user Anri has these words of caution: "It’s not only pet scams out there. We tried to buy a car and a guy sent me an email to say he works overseas and that you can pay the money on e-bay... It was a very nice, new model for a ridiculous price. I tried to ask him if we can view the car and even drive it, but he had all sorts of excuses."

Her husband was sent exactly the same email when he enquired about a different car - as did Anri herself when she sent an email from another address. "That’s when we realised, scammers are all over, you won’t be able to buy something advertised in newspapers, etc."

But the last word belongs to Dawie, who says: "Advice: if email is in poor English, run. If you can't view the animal (or item), run. They appeal to your kindness to animals and abuse it. Write off the bucks. You will never get it back."

Disclaimer: This article makes use of material independently written by a member of the Fin24 community. The views of users published on Fin24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent those of Fin24.


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