What's up with these Petfinder responses?

Question:
 Zoey's petfinder ad went up yesterday, and I got two responses this morning. But something is definitely off about them. First of all, they refer to him/her. :rolleyes: They want me to give her to a "representative". And they want to know things about her that I clearly stated in the ad. Anyone else find them to be strange? To me, they both read like spam.
Hello,
My name is Misty Mary,i'm interesting to adopt your PET i live in Ohio,and i promise you is moving to a good family home and we have already make space indoor for the pet to live not out door,because we belive they where part of our family and am taken the pet to my owne house with big backyard for them to play and sniff around. the house belong to me and my family my backyard was fenced-up with wood privacy fence.

Concerning how the pet will get to me i have a private pet shipping company ready for pick-up at your residential place they will send there representative (MR JOHN COLE ) after our conclusion and payment clear also am ready to adopt your pet and the cage if available for adoption.kindly email me the picture and tell me a little about him/her and the price including your address,name,phone number to send you the payment.

I want to inform you that i will prefer to send you a USPS POSTAL MONEY ORDER as method of payment to cash at any local chasing point nearest to you immediately you receive so once is clear i want you to get back to me then i will contact the pet shipping company to send down there representaive to your location for the pick-up.i would be glad to hear from you ASAP.
Thanks and God bless you.
Hello,
Am interested in adopting your pet which i came accross on the internet by petfinder.com and i would like to know his / her health conditions ?, and probably arrange for payment to get to you and also arrangement for the pick up once payment is confirmed by you. I BASED IN KELLER, VIRGINIA WITH MY FAMILY.
Please acknowledge the offer and i will have the payment sent to you as soon as possible, and i'll like this transaction to be based on trust with you, Kindly get back to me with your last asking price for the adoption ? also a picture of the pet, I promise the pet a very condusive and lovely home. Thanks and God Bless..... ..........
Regards,
Duncan.

Answer:
look like spam to me! I've heard that happens a lot with petfinder ads so you have to be careful. I'm glad you got Zoey up on the site and she finds the right, forever home.

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Thanks, I hope so too!
What's the purpose behind it, do you know? Do they sell them to science or something?

Answer:
Wow, those are scary. I don't think they're spam but they look like they might both be from some kind of an organized scheme, and yes, my first thought was they want animals for research resale.
But they could also have some kind of financial trickery going on. They both make a big point of telling you how they're going to pay you, and that's very suspicious to me.
Geez, I hope people aren't falling for those. Does Petfinders have any kind of a warning up about these types of things?

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I don't know much about them but almost everybody gets them soon after they put up a dog. I believe Zoom got them when she posted Virgo.

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Those responses look similar to a scam I read about that requests to buy something - they send a money order for too much and ask that you refund the overpaid amount. The money order takes so long to process that you don't realize it's a fake until you've already sent the other money to them.
Amazing what crap people will try, isn't it? Evidently it works, because scams continue to happen!
Melanie and the gang in Alaska

Answer:
I tried to rehome a cat on Petfinder once and got the same responses. This is the NIGERIA SCAM done with animals. They will try to get you to ship the animal to them with a third party shipper and to pay you for the cost with a check. Then the check will bounce. God only knows what happens to the poor animal. Please don't rehome your critter with anyone you can't meet in person. And under no circumstances send the animal to anyone outside the US. Even if they do claim to be "Christian missionaries in Canada." *eyeroll*
The "best" scam e-mail I got kept refering to my dog, even though I'd advertised a cat. :rolleyes:

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I'm sorry that people are playing with hearts and minds like this. I don't think I would adopt a pet out to someone who calls herself "Misty Mary". :)

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Yup the Nigerian thing with a Pet Twist. They want your name and address etc. I didn't see THEIR name and address....Looks exactly like that scam.

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how sad is it that people will use an innocent animal, and someone with a kind heart to scam, and make money for themselves? disgusting! I would be sure to get references from anyone looking to adopt Zoey--good luck.

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That first one is a variation of the "Nigerian" scam. They will pay you with a bad money order and ask you to pay the shipping company that they send you. Then you are out the money and the dog.
The second one also sounds funny.
That must be why rescues don't place dogs out of their area.

Answer:
Have you reported it to Petfinder?
Do they monitor things like scams?

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I've had those things on Craigslist before. Once we were selling a 1990 GMC Jimmy- a huge truck- and they wanted to have it shipped. lol. Just come and drive it home.
I would be wary of anyone but a local person.

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This happened to me when I placed an ad on Craigs List to sell Brandon's drums.
Very scary!!!

Answer:
how sad...
def scam though.
Honestly, when I responded to a petfinder ad for Oakley, I just asked for more info about HIM. I didn't even THINK to ask what he 'cost' until we were actually there and the woman was like "yeah, you need to pay for him now" haha...kinda forgot about that part.
IMO any person serious about adopting a dog should be more interested in whether or not it is the right dog for them, than how the actual transaction will take place. In addition, they should know that to YOU it is more important to find the right owner than to get money...

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That is definitely fishy. I would not feel comfortable at all if I got that reply, either.
I agree with Dreeza, the email is obviously asking about the wrong things, mostly about money. And it's weird about the "representative." :rolleyes:

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Through 2 friends trying to rehome dogs through the petfinder classifieds, I learned they are pretty much useless. All either of them got were endless scam replies, nothing positive at all.

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Hi Melissa. These emails sound like they came from the same person(s), but one says they're in Ohio and the other Virginia. Worth mentioning to the police, as these scams have been difficult to catch, as they're reported after the money has already changed hands. They can find out where it's coming from and then procceed from there, if any "red flags" are drawn. You may be doing someone whose already been scammed by them or is about to be, a big favor!!

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I put a petfinder ad up once for a stray that had come up to the house, and I got the exact same things. Someone in Washington wanted the dog to be shipped, and then one guy wanted to send "his carrier to pick up the dog and bring it back"... totally didnt happen. I really didnt find Petfinder useful... because of the scams.

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Ugh! That's just sick and sad! I will look in to reporting them to someone. :mad: I got more this afternoon also. As if these poor animals don't have it bad enough being homeless or about to become homeless. They have to watch out for these sick freaks too!
I may delete the posting if I keep getting these types of responses. The local paper may be a better bet.

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I got the very same things when I posted an ad for Virgo. So far I have not recieved one legit inquiry about her from that ad.

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Really? ****, I'm deleting it then.
How's the home search going for Virgo? Have you tried an ad in the paper?

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I'm waiting to see if the plethora of fliers I put up yesterday generate any responses, then I'll look into the ad. Right now I'm having to take the cheapest options possible and newspapers ads cost money. Not a huge amount, but enough.