Visual Piebald for $400

Yeah, caught my attention too...
http://www.iupost.com/classifieds/ot...ok#ContactForm

So, we sent an email to the guy and he replied with this song-and-dance in very broken English about him being on an assignment and he can't take care of his ball pythons anymore, so he is giving them away to be adopted for free, all you have to pay is the $400 shipping but you have to get large quantities. That triggered my BS radar a bit. He said they're his pets and they are all captive bred and are vet certified and that they all have CITES permit. That triggered the radar some more, because, I remember reading somewhere that you need a CITES permit to ship internationally. The ad made me think he is in Washington, DC. Anyway, I sent a follow-up email just asking how many I have to "adopt" and that I'm going to be in Washington in a few weeks so I would like to see the animals. And he replied that he is in Duoala (after a quick google search, I found out that's in Cameroon in Africa) but he will ship anywhere in the U.S. but we have to get at least 4 snakes.

Just so you know, I'm not getting a piebald for under $1000 unless it's from Adam or Brian (the only 2 big breeders that I know, hah) or if a very good friend of mine gives it to me for adoption. I don't even think I'm going to get one from a reptile show for that cheap at this time. You would have to wonder what's wrong with the snake if it is that cheap, you know? I mean, yeah, maybe 2 years from now Adam or Brian will list it for $100 a piece but, not now. I just saw this ad and thought to flush this thing out and see what's going on...

So, anybody know this guy from Duoala (for all I know he is one upstanding guy and I just made a fool of myself)?

Its a scam. They are every where I get an email like that at least once a month.

it's just a new kind of scam, now targeted at snake enthusiasts. There are similar ones for every animal that people want: yorkshire terrier pups, african grey chicks, you name it. They're all "free" but come with this incredible shipping cost that you have to ship to another country (usually africa). It's the animal lovers' Nigeria scam.

In other words, run - and don't look back.

You can tell it is a scam because A: He's in a different country and didn't state that upfront. B: He's asking for no money for a snake valued at $1500+ C: He's requiring you get 4 snakes at a time.

I definitely smell a fraud. (I was about to type rat, but then I realized that that would be very difficult; I won't feed my snakes until later. ^_^)

http://www.iupost.com/classifieds/ot...ad.php?ID=5589

These ones are even trained for you :rofl:

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Originally Posted by catawhat75

http://www.iupost.com/classifieds/ot...ad.php?ID=5589

These ones are even trained for you :rofl:

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Should we message him and ask what they're trained for?

They even translate in dutch and try their tricks on the european market. Their bad translations mostly blow their cover...very sad :mad:

Wait till you get the one that says.

"i very please to offer this to you at this time. I represent a very wealthy man who owned many rare Ball Pythons and it was his wish that they got to another snake person opon his death. there are ten animals me think thats value is 500,000.00 in US market. I did choose you to be the recepient of this gift. It only take your social security number and a check for 1500.00 USD to authorize shipment. Please let me know. "

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

Wait till you get the one that says.

"i very please to offer this to you at this time. I represent a very wealthy man who owned many rare Ball Pythons and it was his wish that they got to another snake person opon his death. there are ten animals me think thats value is 500,000.00 in US market. I did choose you to be the recepient of this gift. It only take your social security number and a check for 1500.00 USD to authorize shipment. Please let me know. "

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Haha Wow are you kidding me, what a joke.

I wish I was kidding I get them from time to time. Its really sad.

Definitely a scam, I've seen those pictures before.

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There are similar ones for every animal that people want: yorkshire terrier pups, african grey chicks, you name it. They're all "free" but come with this incredible shipping cost that you have to ship to another country (usually africa). It's the animal lovers' Nigeria scam.

In other words, run - and don't look back.

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You forgot to mention Russian Brides:rofl:... It took us days on another forum to convince this guy that it was not the beautiful blonde in the pics that was emailing him asking for money for a plane ticket. :rolleyes:

Oh wow! I didn't realize it was THAT bad. That's kinda dumb though, in my opinion, because in my observation, people who know enough about bp's to know how much a pied cost know enough to look for reputable breeders. Unless you're some teen-ager but even then I doubt mommy would just hand over 1600 bucks without further investigation.

I commented.

http://www.iupost.com/classifieds/ot...ad.php?ID=5589

wow thats insane, you would think that most people who would shell over 400dollars for a snake would know what they are worth. And send up a red flag that something is not right here. But obviously there are stupid people out there who are willing to pay them because if it doesnt work why still being doing it.:mad:

I have seen the same scams from Africa and China. Its bad enough people in the good ole USA may rip you off, dont send $ out of the country.
If it looks too good to be true, it is!

I had a buddy who was selling a truck and someone was gonna send him a $ order for more($3,000) than he was asking and then he was to send back the balance. I stopped him after explaining to him it is a scam. At first he didnt want to listen, he thought I was paranoid and raining on his parade but I was persistent.

By the time the bank realizes the money order is no good(forgery) and zings you for the $ they have your cash, goods and are gone. I get the same thing requesting to buy one of my reptiles.

When you run adds you get emails with all kinds of scams, once you have seen a few they are pretty obvious.

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Originally Posted by MATTI

They even translate in dutch and try their tricks on the european market. Their bad translations mostly blow their cover...very sad :mad:

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Same here in Germany... friggin criminals :(

I’ll take 10 of them :rofl:

Now seriously

Sadly broken english + africa + low tempting price = SCAM

Also bad spelling + Dayton Ohio + Trade offers = Be very careful it could be a scam (Couldn't help on that one)

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maybe 2 years from now Adam or Brian will list it for $100 a piece

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:rage: and I hope they maintain their values.