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(WTNH) – Who could resist this face? Kristin Kossack and her children certainly couldn’t. They were looking for a new Pomsky – a Pomeranian crossbred with a husky – because their dog Oliver had died.
Kristin Kossack told News 8, “This picture was taken of this puppy who had the same name as the puppy who passed away. Now we feel like, ‘ahh, Oliver. That’s the one. ‘”
The bad news was that the website she was looking at, QCPomskies, said Oliver was in Texas. The good news was that it was a lot cheaper than Pomskies in Connecticut. Luke Frey of the Better Business Bureau says a price too good to be true is the first sign of a scam. First of all, buyers need to make sure that the dog really exists.
Frey said, “A great way to make sure it’s actually a real animal is to use Skype to ask to see that animal alive, even if it’s on a screen.”
The Pomsky site looked professional with both photos and videos of the adorable Oliver.
Kossack said: “We were already in love. We were completely on board. I said, ‘How do we do it?’ “
They told her to use online payment apps, but she kept getting error messages. They then asked them to buy gift cards.
$ 800 worth of gift cards she bought and sent them photos. This is the second sign of fraud. A credit card is your best bet.
Frey said: “And fraudsters know that. Usually, if you write it down on a credit card and it turns out to be a scam, you can go back to your credit card company and get that money back.
When these guys got the gift cards, they sent another email saying there was a problem: “The Insurance and Quarantine Service Center, which is the first check-out port, requires an insurance certificate. “And that would cost $ 1,500 more.
Kossack said she was told, “It’s fully refundable. However, if you don’t pay for it, the puppy will be quarantined and you will be prosecuted for suspension. “
Under the pressure, she sent another $ 1,500 in gift cards.
Kossack added: “Two hours later I received another email asking for money for a ‘ventilated box’. At that point I said, ‘There will be no more money.’ “
The BBB says puppy scammers do that – they are asking for more and more. It makes the scam one of the most expensive on the market. But there is one easy step you can take.
“Check ours BBB scam tracker“Said Frey. “Scammers tend to use the same name and company name over and over again and to involve people in scams over and over again.”
In fact, QCPomskies and BluePrint Pet Movers still have websites up and running. The hardest part for Kristin was telling her kids about the scam the day the puppy was due to be shipped.
“‘Where is the puppy? Do we get the puppy? Are we going to the airport? ‘ And I said, ‘I have to tell you something,’ and I stopped the car and said, ‘Somebody played a very bad prank on the family.’ “
Now they can’t afford a new pup, but they hope no one else will be fooled by the same scam.
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