Chatting with a Puppy Scammer

The following is a chat I had with a Puppy Scammer. I came across corgipuppiesbreeders.com when I was asked to investigate it for PetScams.com. Before you read further I should say that when we research scammers website we take every precaution not to be found. This includes hiding our IP behind a proxy so that they do not know which country we are from. Scammers websites can also contain viruses

The website was an obvious scam but while I was creating the report I heard the *ding* of a chat message. It was from the chat window on the scammers window.
I thought that I would try for a little more information. I have cut out a little bit of the chat because I used a tactic to find the scammers IP so that I could find out which country he was actually from. “April” is from Cameroon.

Full Browser ID:	Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 8.0.0; SAMSUNG SM-G950F Build/R16NW) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) SamsungBrowser/7.0 Chrome/59.0.3071.125 Mobile Safari/537.36
Location:	Cameroon

It appears that “April” is using an $800 phone (SAMSUNG SM-G950F)

Armed with an invented story I decided to fish for more information and find out how he would manipulate me. I always stick to the role of being an “almost victim”:

Chat transcript

My Name: “Clive”

Scammers Name: April Owen

April Owen

Hello, would you like to talk about our products?

Clive

April Owen

Hello

Clive

I am interested in buying a puppy
where are you based?

April Owen

We are based in the US*, but we ship to a select few countries

*They will wait until you have first told them where you live so that they can pretend to be from the opposite end of the country

Clive

08:31:33 pm

I am in Holland. How much would it cost to ship a puppy from the US?

April Owen

08:32:01 pm

Shipping toHolland costs an extra $300 to the price tag of the puppy

Clive

08:32:17 pm

April Owen

08:32:29 pm

Have you had any previous experience with corgis?*

*Scammer starts to create an emotional attachment. Who doesn’t want to talk about their pets?

Clive

08:33:36 pm

ok… so that is about €243.19

*very cheap (too good to be true)

April Owen

08:33:47 pm

Yes that is right.
Do you have any previous experience with the breed?*	08:34:00 pm

*Scammer tries to get me back on script

Clive

08:34:57 pm

Yes, I have always had a corgi. My mum used to breed them before she died

*My mum did not have a corgi, is very much alive with a great sense of humour.

April Owen

08:35:30 pm

I am sorry about her passing and it is great that tou have had previous experience with the breed
Also can you let me know where you found our site?

Clive

08:35:59 pm

my mum died about 4 years ago.
We took her corgi Rascal in when she died but he passed away over the weekend.	08:37:09 pm

April Owen

08:37:21 pm

Really sorry about that. Losing a loved one is never easy

Clive

08:37:24 pm

My wife wants to buy another one

April Owen

08:37:46 pm

Ok. We will be glad to help fill the void his passing has left*

*Translated into “We will be glad to steal your money”

Clive

08:38:06 pm

I assume you wait for 10 weeks so that Duncan is weaned?

April Owen

08:38:24 pm

We have other puppies, fully weaned available
But if you chose to wait for Duncan then that will be fine
Yes we do have photos	08:39:05 pm

Clive

08:39:12 pm

Do yuo have photos? I would like a male

April Owen

08:39:27 pm

Can you provide an email I can send to?

Clive

08:39:54 pm

I would be happy to wait for Duncan. You havent mentioned on your site how much he costs?

April Owen

08:40:10 pm

We sell a pup at $600
Including delivery, it amounts to $900	08:41:08 pm

Clive

08:41:20 pm

$600?
900 dollars is €729.57

April Owen

08:42:24 pm

Yes that is right

Clive

08:42:28 pm

Who do you fly with?

April Owen

08:42:48 pm

We ship out our puppies with ********************

*This is a reputable company. Later in the scam they will introduce a different Scam Delivery Company

Clive

08:43:08 pm

Can you show me their website?

April Owen

08:43:28 pm

********************
They are one of the most reputable in the business	08:44:11 pm

Clive

08:44:14 pm

and what is your name?

April Owen

08:44:23 pm

I am April

Clive

08:44:38 pm

April Owen?

April Owen

08:44:51 pm

April Owen. My husband and I own rhe kennel

Clive

08:46:03 pm

I need to check … this sounds too good to be true… what is your husbands name? do you have a breeders licence?

April Owen

08:46:45 pm

Yes ofcourse we do
We won’t have been allowed to set up without one	08:47:00 pm
Can I ask a question?

*changes the subject to deflect my question

Clive

08:47:23 pm

I am a bit confused here..
Please do
Sorry, please ask

April Owen

08:48:05 pm

Where did you find our site?

*Ooops, I have been caught. The scammer may not have finished advertising this site yet!

Clive

08:48:25 pm

I searched
I have just searched again and I see that you are a scam
wow
/pet-scam/corgipuppiesbreeders-com/	08:49:41 pm
You are literally on a website about pet scams	08:50:08 pm
You are sickening

April Owen

08:51:00 pm

This is crazy
Have you read the conplaint?
We regularly post photos of our pups online

Clive

08:51:32 pm

I am reading it

April Owen

08:51:46 pm

Read the reason why before throwing accusations
Pet Scams is a joke
No substantiated reason and they ruin our name	08:52:16 pm

*We are VERY careful to investigate properly. If they were genuine, PetScams.com would be sued and shut down quickly.

Clive

08:52:25 pm

your company is a WEEK old

April Owen

08:52:45 pm

Our WEBSITE is a week old not company
This is crazy and revolting

*quick excuse

Clive

08:53:33 pm

have you read what is written there?

April Owen

08:53:40 pm

I am just reading it now
I had no idea about this
We set up our website litterally a week ago	08:54:04 pm
We have been operating through recommendations only and have been encouraging buyers to post our pictures so as to create awareness

*Another quick excuse

Clive

08:55:32 pm

I am stunned

April Owen

08:55:37 pm

And when we now use those same photos, they accuse us of being a scam? This is a lawsuit in the making

Clive

08:55:52 pm

I am sorry but I am not interested in buying from you

April Owen

08:56:03 pm