Possible Scam?? Free Albinos + Pieds (only pay shipping) HELP!

Hey, -- sorry for the long post --

I came across a few postings by someone who claims to be "getting rid of their collection" of pieds and albinos... I cant find the original post as I emailed a bunch of people today about snakes... but I believe the posting was on a website called "olx.com" (i just found it via a google search). Anyway I will post the e-mails here so you guys can tell me what you think. The posting itself seemed tgtbt but I thought I would give it a shot and see if he/she responded. Through our interactions a series of red flags came up to me...
Here is her first response:

"hello and thanks for the interest in my pythons, I have albino and
piebald ball pythons available to go out , They are hand raised and
with all papers,has been fully checked, captive breed and also tested
and have a good relationship with other pets and vet checked with up
to date vet records.they are ready to go for adoption with free snakes
box.I am looking for a good home and will meet up any requirements if
need to be shipped.their weights are 442g and 507g and each are a
little over 2ft. long, will come with a cites permit and 10months and
12months and 1year old respectively. They will be going out for free
adoption and a free box and all you need to pay is the shipping fee .
I am giving them for adoption because i am here for an assignment and
my job requires a lot of time so i immediately realized that they are
going to be lonely and as you know they are very delicate creatures
and need a lot of care and devotion and that is why i have decided to
give them out to a loving and caring home where they will be loved and
will be given all the time they need, so if you are interested.get
back lets see how they get home..Where are you located and How soon do
you want the snakes?, how many? and if needs To be shipped, then get
back to me with your full address and the address of the closest
airport to your location so that i should contact the shipping agency
right away for flight reservation.I am just looking for any reptiles
lover who will take good care of our pythons. They are well trained,
easy to handle. comes along with all accessories and will be able to
go to any body willing to take good care of them. They are great
eaters and eats regular,they eats well and eats on frozen foods. they
will be ready to live with any reptiles lover willing to take good
care of them, their parents where very healthy and they are and will
make a loving home pets for you Ok
Thanks and Waiting for the infos"


OK so I don't want to make hasty judgment on this especially regarding grammar and punctuation but I know in a lot of those scam e-mails that are saying "a long lost aunt of yours has left you a large sum of money in nigeria all you need to do is send us your bank info" LOL have significant spelling and punctuation errors so that was red flag #2 (besides that they were giving away snakes for just the shipping costs) Red flag #3 was how quickly she responded and how eager she was to get the transaction done... I'll attach the pictures she sent me too of the snakes- and they may just be pictures off the internet that she found who knows (one looks like it was taken in a pet store)....

first is an "albino female"
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y21..._female_11.jpg
next is an "albino male"
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y21...no_male_11.jpg
and the next to are 2 pied babies
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y21...11/piebald.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y21...1/PiedBaby.jpg

Ok so I responded to that e-mail saying I was in Los Angeles and asked where she was... here is her response:

"Hello
Thanks for contacting me back regarding my snake. am more than happy to have you as owner of my python , you assurance of taking care of my snake makes me happy and am willing to send them to you , i am located in MN where i will be shipping the snake to your location ,it will take only 3 to 4hours flight to your location , all you will have to do is pay just the transportation fee then you will have your snakes deliver at your home address , shipping the 4 pythons will cost 300$ , we can sent you the python today if and only if you can provide us with the below information and also pay the shipment fee

your full names
your house address
city/state
zip code
phone number
nearest airport to your home

as soon as i have the above information , i will proceed with shipping and delivery arrangement as soon as possible , after am done with shipping arrangement then i will do let you know on how to go about with payment , looking forward to read from you as soon as possible ."

.... SO anyone have any thoughts on how to proceed? I was thinking of responding saying that I have family in MN (I don't) and if they could see the snakes before she sent them... or asking her to send a really specific picture possibly of like her holding up three fingers while holding the snake or something.... I just wanted to see what you guys thought of all this!!!

<3 Andrea

Scam!!!!!!!!!

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Originally Posted by llovelace

Scam!!!!!!!!!

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Agreed. I wouldn't risk it.

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Originally Posted by llovelace

scam!!!!!!!!!

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x2

ya I figured... I was googling pictures of pieds and found that picture of the baby pied with the orange background on another listing on some sketchy petclassifieds website only it was in England...

you can always ask them to send it COD XD but yeah, scam...

Super scam. You know what it sounds like actually. The craigslist scammers. Ya know the one. Give me your address full name and phone number. I'll send you a check. But oops I wrote it for too much. Just send me back whatever less in a money order. By the time you
Find out the check is a fraud, you've shelled out the 1k overage back to them and have to pay that plus whatever fees to your bank. This is obviously a little different version. And you were right to be wary. The emails I got from one of the cl scammers. Was very similar but you could tell something was off. After a few replies back and forth I said no way. Thanks tho.
Honestly. I wouldn't even bother anymore with these people. If it were a true case of someone just wanting people to adopt their snakes they would do it locally. Also they said
The snakes were over a year or about that... Yet you got pics of hatchlings. When people like this are doing this, they don't care about proving it to you. They have basic emails prewritten and fill in the blanks pertaining to that situation. Then the 100s of people that respond either take it or leave it. Think about the people that are like holy crap look at that deal, and do it and get ripped off. Usually they are shell companies looking to make a quick buck and move on.

my rule of thumb is
"if it sounds too good to be true...it probably is."
in which i'm like ---> :bolt:

Too many scammers out there. If I were you, I would only buy from reputable breeders. You will pay more, but you will get high-quality animals, and won't be scammed.

Def. Scam here's one i got a reply mind you I had signed my name as "JESSICA"


Hey Sarah,


thanks for your interest in my collection of Ball pythons i do have available for adoption. I do have Albino, Pie-bald, Pastel and Spider Royal pythons available for adoption to any home that is willing to provide a wonderful dwelling for them. They are hand raised, have been fully checked, captive breed and also tested .They come along with all Vet papers including a Health Guarantee which proves that they are in good Health.Their weights range from 400g and 430g and each is a little over 2.7ft. long. My Snakes do great in smaller cage considering their size, a mighty cage may render them aggressive so it is advisable to get a Cage that suits his or her size. I do feed the young ones every 7 to 10 days and my likely to be adults pythons every 11 to 14 days. This is a small sketch of how i do feed them below;

Young Pythons : 1 Pre-killed Furry Mice every 7 days
Almost adult pythons: 1 Medium Pre-killed Furry Rat every 10-14 days

As they grow, the size of their prey can increase too.My snakes are being housed in a 40 gallon sized terrarium.In addition, i have tried to create hiding areas, climbing branches, and a water dish large enough for my snakes to soak in. I do have a good quality substrate which always keep the snakes happy so I'll advice you try and get things ready so they can get used to their new environment .Heating your cage can be accomplished via heat lamps (protected from the snake), under-tank heaters, ceramic heat emitters, or a combination of those. My Snakes are very easy to handle and come with all accessories.They are very good with children and won't even think of harming anyone because they have been well tamed.

I decided to let them go because i recently got a new Job as an Off-shore officer and due to it's Hectic nature i really do not have the time i used to have to look after them properly. You know snakes require a lot of attention that is why i am looking for an experience home for them. Right now, i do have 15 snakes in all (4 pie-balds, 6 Albinos, 3 Pastel and 2 Spider Royal pythons) and i am willing to let one of my Pïe-bald go for $350 and the rest i am willing to take $250 each. I have attached some pictures so you can take a good look at them and i wish to inform you that these pictures are recent ones. did you decide which snake captivates your interest the most?.I can arrange an Overnight delivery to your home with the help of any courier around my neighborhood if you weren't that close to me. Kind regards




Now first thing I noticed like this one there were pictures of the same snake and he had said he had 4 pieds meanwhile there were pics of 9 DIFFERENT pieds. and he had multiple pics of one albino then he had snakes pics that he didnt even list as having. I dont trust anyone offering any kind of "courrier" or asking for all the info your ad reply did sounds like they want to come and rob you or burn your house down. And then I have found any reply that ends in Kind Regards or other uncommon wording is a def. scam

is there a chance this is a breeder trying to get rid of snakes? just pay for shipping! depending on how he is shipping them wouldnt be all that much to ship 75-100 bucks he made to 200 off the shipping not a bad gimic or am i giving them to much credit?!

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is there a chance this is a breeder trying to get rid of snakes? just pay for shipping! depending on how he is shipping them wouldnt be all that much to ship 75-100 bucks he made to 200 off the shipping not a bad gimic or am i giving them to much credit?!

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No Way! Way too much credit. You send him 200.00 you better believe you wont be seeing it nor the snake ever again. Like the one person said if its too good to be true most likely it is. If it was a reputable breeder even they would still ask for some kind of monetery compensation to help with the cost they put into the animals setups and what not even at half cost and i have yet to find a breeder send me an email like that just because i show interest in something.

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Originally Posted by jager08

is there a chance this is a breeder trying to get rid of snakes? just pay for shipping! depending on how he is shipping them wouldnt be all that much to ship 75-100 bucks he made to 200 off the shipping not a bad gimic or am i giving them to much credit?!

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Absolutely 100% NO WAY is that a breeder legitimately getting rid of a snake collection. Read a few more of those and you'll become much more fluent in "Scam-ese". The whole thing is pure scam language that preys on people naive enough to not recognize it yet and gullible enough to believe they really can get $$$$'s worth of product for $.

Wow SCAM!!! That is some pretty pricing shipping for baby ball pythons. Did she buy them a seat in first class on the plane? I've seen pictures of those pieds on kingsnake recently too. Remember, there is no such thing as a free lunch/snake. (unless it is a normal male, then you can get like 12 free)

lol.. I'm in MN, tell them I can drop by and pick up free piebalds and albinos :D

Between the english which is worse than mine :rolleyes: and things like this

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tested
and have a good relationship with other pets

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:rofl: I think you can come to your own conclusions.

Nigerian or Cameroon scam, not the first not he last :rolleyes: every now and than they will even try to post here.

This is a GREAT deal!!!


Can I have his email if you pass on them...?

I (along with many others here I am sure), a long time ago, went through the whole process of finding out about all of this "crap-olla" on the internet.

From now on, all I ask is if they are PayPal certified and if that is the way they are going to recieve payment. If they say no.. SCAM! Ask em' if they can take a paypal payment, cause' that's all you are going to do.

whats the email? :D I don't feel bad for doing this to scammers

Yea, I would love the email to.

You know what is fun about scammers? Getting them excited!

Go through with the whole process, tell them ur gonna send them $500. Then stop contact, like they do!

They are so excited their about to get $500 they continue to email u over and over trying to get u to send money, fun times!

Huh.

I guess the person who sent me at least 45 of these emails back when I had birds finally gave all their birds away and bought snakes to give away.

Actually, they have not only birds of all species and snakes of all species, they also have dogs, cats, fish, horses, goats, cattle, lizards, ducks, geese, burros, llamas, emus, tarantulas, hamsters, guinea pigs, frogs, turtles, pretty much if it's ever been kept as a pet they have it available and all you have to do is pay the shipping.

I've often wondered if it's a zoo giving all these animals away. :rolleyes:

It is a generic chain scam letter/ad. They just insert whatever pet they think you want and presto! I've been seeing this same stupid email/ad for at least the last 12 years.

Gale

If its to good to be true it is. Why would he give away his beloved pets (that are worth good money) to any person interested?

These kind of scams always kind of make me chuckle because those that get screwed were being kind of greedy (no offense:P).

wow very interesting reading that other e-mail ... their english is absolutely terrible and the funny thing is that they make it seem like snakes are creatures that require MUCH attention and care when really, they don't require much at all (once everything is set up etc) .... to those of you who want the e-mail I am not giving it out sorry!!! And to those of you who want it thinking it's a good deal... it's a scam fosho! If you are in MN and want to go harrass him/her (which I doubt they are even in MN!!) then PM me!! as long as you post here what happens!!! I just was really surprised that there would be scammers in such a niche community!!!

you're a smart girl sparticus, sounds like a scam to me to

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Originally Posted by sparticus

wow very interesting reading that other e-mail ... their english is absolutely terrible and the funny thing is that they make it seem like snakes are creatures that require MUCH attention and care when really, they don't require much at all (once everything is set up etc) .... to those of you who want the e-mail I am not giving it out sorry!!! And to those of you who want it thinking it's a good deal... it's a scam fosho! If you are in MN and want to go harrass him/her (which I doubt they are even in MN!!) then PM me!! as long as you post here what happens!!! I just was really surprised that there would be scammers in such a niche community!!!

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go on fauna classifieds, look at all the reports, its ridiculous how many times some of these loser's aliases pop up

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Originally Posted by sparticus

to those of you who want the e-mail I am not giving it out sorry!!!

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o come on, think of things you can do :) I would be doing the world a service and having fun at the same time

I had one of these guys contact me.
I was leery so I asked them for a picture with one of the Albinos or Pieds on the local paper for today's date. They got mad and told me they have never had such a stupid demand and I was trying to bully them and they don't deal with bullies.

I laughed and replied with thank you for proving my suspicions!

hahaha yeah I was thinking of asking to have them hold up the snake with three fingers or something ridiculous to prove that they were legit pix .... so nuts to think that they could be reading these posts right now lol!!!

They are not in that state. These adds are posted all over the USA. They tend to use kijiji more than anything but sometimes they try CL. There was another member on here who asked about one of these adds. Seemed upset that everyone said it was a scam. This person flat out said they were going to risk it because it was such a good deal. This is why these people are still getting away with this. That really bothers me. That a person like that would not take the advice of an entire community who has seen this countless times. Trust me, we don't want the email so we can get one over on you and get some really cheap snakes. It is a guaranteed scam.

These are African based scams. They have been using the same methods for years. Guaranteed scam. Period.

Last year I was searching online to purchase a miniature pinscher. I had to sift through literally 15 or 20 adds that were worded about exactly the same as that except it was for a dog instead of snakes....and the same thing when i tried buying a car online...... ridiculous! It's scary that these scams have been going on as long as they have....there really are suckers out there who believe this....like another member said....if it sounds to good to be true....it is....period. I live by that rule and avoid being ripped off that way.