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

[sparticus]

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"

next is an "albino male"

and the next to are 2 pied babies



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

[llovelace]

Scam!!!!!!!!!

[el8ch]

Scam!!!!!!!!!

Agreed. I wouldn't risk it.

[Action Reptiles]

scam!!!!!!!!!

x2

[sparticus]

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...

[darkbloodwyvern]

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

[Homegrownscales]

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.

[mommanessy247]

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

[Wh00h0069]

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.

[Bp_Lee_2011]

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