Kitten Scam?

OwenP

We've been looking into buying a kitten for the last couple of months and have come across what seem scam adverts during our search. This has happened to us twice within the space of a week. The adverts appear on sites such as donedeal, adverts dot ie or buy and sell dot ie and offer pedigree kittens for sale. They look normal except for the fact they are usually priced quite competitively.

However, the phone numbers on the adverts don't work. When you email the seller asking for more information you receive an email in response thanking you for your interest and asking you for more information: why do you want the kitten? do you have any children? have you kept pets before? will you look after the kitten? All fairly normal stuff you would expect to be asked when buying a pet. Again, no phone number is supplied despite asking for one.

When you reply to the first email you are send a second email which tells you a terrible bleeding-heart story about the owners current circumstances. Each time this has happened to us the story has been different in the details but in essence they both said that the owner had gone through a series of personal disasters (this first email was based around cancer, the second the death of a child) which had forced them to move overseas to an extremely remote location which meant visiting them wasn't possible. They now have to reluctantly give up the kitten as they had no time to look after it. The email then goes on to ask you for your address, phone number, so that they can arrange for the kitten to be delivered to your door. They ask for no payment up front and tell you to pay the delivery man when he arrives. Again, no phone number.

This seems to be either some kind of identity theft scam or some other nasty business. I can just imagine some thug turning up on my doorstep with a dead cat in a box demanding several hundred quid for his time.

Has anybody else some across this before? Twice in one week is far too much of a coincidence for my liking. Seems shady as hell. The adverts are usually taken down from the sites within 24 hours.

Pumpkinseeds

Have you considered just going to a Cat Rescue? I don't mean to sound critical or judgemental, but most Rescues and Shelters in Ireland are bursting at the seams with cats and kittens that would love a forever home.

newmug

You should give them the address of an empty house, and just see what happens!

OwenP

Thaks pumpkinseeds. Yes we have considered that. It seems to be the wrong season. I've approached four or five. None of them have kittens at the moment. They all say that March-April it will start to get busier but it's the wrong time of year now.

spurious

When my friend was looking for a kitten they got that scam too. At the time I remember searching for the name involved and finding similar reported attempts at scamming. I suppose they only need a few people to fall for it. She got a lovely British Short hair in the end from <snip>.

Pumpkinseeds

I'm really surprised that there's no rescues in your area trying to rehome kittens. I'm in Clare and I know of 2 who always have kittens and 2 in Limerick that are always trying find homes for kittens. Kitten season is fast approaching though.:(

Tranceypoo

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

I'm really surprised that there's no rescues in your area trying to rehome kittens. I'm in Clare and I know of 2 who always have kittens and 2 in Limerick that are always trying find homes for kittens. Kitten season is fast approaching though.:(

Likewise I'm in Galway and there are 2 rescues that are desperate for homes for cats and kittens, if you want to PM I can tell you their names, even if you were to wait till March it's not far away!

boomerang

OwenP wrote: »

Thaks pumpkinseeds. Yes we have considered that. It seems to be the wrong season. I've approached four or five. None of them have kittens at the moment. They all say that March-April it will start to get busier but it's the wrong time of year now.

I'm guessing it's because you're looking for a very young kitten Owen - eight or nine weeks old, say? If you're prepared to accept a *slightly* older kitten (three weeks older) they can come neutered and fully vaccinated. Plus you have a better idea of personality then. But yes, teeny kittens are thin on the ground at the moment - a brief respite for rescues!

OwenP

Hello everyone. Thanks for all your input. It's not quite the direction I hoped this thread would take, but welcome your interest. I had intended to start a thread to highlight the scam we had experienced to other people and to see if anybody else had experienced the same thing, not to open a discussion on the pros and cons of adopting rescue animals.
To be clear, I'm very pro adopting rescue animals in case this was ever in dispute. We have two dogs, both of which were adopted from rescue homes. In the past I have owned other cats, which were adopted from rescue homes. Also, I have genuinely tried several rescue homes for a kitten on this occasion. As hard to believe as this may be, they have all told me that they don't have any kittens right now. We have also been looking for two months now so this isn't a one off. Also, we'd be happy to adopt an older kitten. I feel its better to adopt kittens who are three months or older. Sadly, no kittens whatsoever. Big ones or wee ones. Perhaps this is just the area I live in? I did find some kittens that were rescued from the port tunnel in Dublin which we tried to adopt. Unfortunately we couldn't take these because the charity that was fostering them wanted to visit our home and we lived too far away for them to visit.
I am a responsible pet owner and well aware of the plight of animals in care homes. I may still adopt a rescue kitten this time. I may not. That's our decision, but thanks for your advice. You're obviously all very caring people.

Mongfinder General

OwenP wrote: »

We've been looking into buying a kitten for the last couple of months and have come across what seem scam adverts during our search. This has happened to us twice within the space of a week. The adverts appear on sites such as donedeal, adverts dot ie or buy and sell dot ie and offer pedigree kittens for sale. They look normal except for the fact they are usually priced quite competitively.

However, the phone numbers on the adverts don't work. When you email the seller asking for more information you receive an email in response thanking you for your interest and asking you for more information: why do you want the kitten? do you have any children? have you kept pets before? will you look after the kitten? All fairly normal stuff you would expect to be asked when buying a pet. Again, no phone number is supplied despite asking for one.

When you reply to the first email you are send a second email which tells you a terrible bleeding-heart story about the owners current circumstances. Each time this has happened to us the story has been different in the details but in essence they both said that the owner had gone through a series of personal disasters (this first email was based around cancer, the second the death of a child) which had forced them to move overseas to an extremely remote location which meant visiting them wasn't possible. They now have to reluctantly give up the kitten as they had no time to look after it. The email then goes on to ask you for your address, phone number, so that they can arrange for the kitten to be delivered to your door. They ask for no payment up front and tell you to pay the delivery man when he arrives. Again, no phone number.

This seems to be either some kind of identity theft scam or some other nasty business. I can just imagine some thug turning up on my doorstep with a dead cat in a box demanding several hundred quid for his time.

Has anybody else some across this before? Twice in one week is far too much of a coincidence for my liking. Seems shady as hell. The adverts are usually taken down from the sites within 24 hours.

Donedeal. Never, ever buy off it.

basamin

Hi OwenP , i might b able to help u . My brother has 6 kittens that he is tryng to find homes for .He live in the dublin 12

DBB

Folks, whilst it's okay for people to suggest rescuing a pet, unless the OP makes it clear that they would like to pursue this line, please don't persist.
If you know of litters of younger kittens, perhaps the OP is okay with you PMing them (please confirm OP), but please don't post any more about rescuing on thread, and let's get back on topic.

What they will do is string you along and try to build up your trust.There will be an issue with the shipping etc.. They will then ask you to pay half the shipping so the kitten will get there safely. They will ask you to forward them the money. Funny enough i think they are based in Nigeria, they have been doing it for years all over the world.

gubbie

OwenP wrote: »

Thaks pumpkinseeds. Yes we have considered that. It seems to be the wrong season. I've approached four or five. None of them have kittens at the moment. They all say that March-April it will start to get busier but it's the wrong time of year now.

Hey!

My mam has a lot of dealings with Cat Action Trust and the Cat Club. If you pm me (your name and email) I can pass on your details.

Alternatively, here's a list of the breeders in Ireland. If you go into the breeders websites, they often have availabilities there. It's a hassle going through breeders. My mam got 2 purebreeds for her sister as a present, and the breeders conditions included that she wasn't let them outside... ever. Of course she lets them outside. That and they're very expensive.

OwenP

DBB wrote: »

Folks, whilst it's okay for people to suggest rescuing a pet, unless the OP makes it clear that they would like to pursue this line, please don't persist.
If you know of litters of younger kittens, perhaps the OP is okay with you PMing them (please confirm OP), but please don't post any more about rescuing on thread, and let's get back on topic.

"Perhaps OP is okay with you PMing them" - no thanks. Not necessary.

OwenP

Deleted User wrote: »

What they will do is string you along and try to build up your trust.There will be an issue with the shipping etc.. They will then ask you to pay half the shipping so the kitten will get there safely. They will ask you to forward them the money. Funny enough i think they are based in Nigeria, they have been doing it for years all over the world.

Explains a lot. Low lifes.

DBB

There is a similar scam going on for years with pedigree pups aswell... like any of these scams, I guess all they need is for a few people to fall for it. Some advertising websites seem to be particularly full of such ads, I cannot understand for the life of me why they don't clamp down on them hugely.

gracemoriarty

I just fell for it and gave my address and number?? What will i do i have no idea? I feel so stupid!

Tranceypoo

Just don't give them your bank details or send them any money!!

gracemoriarty

Thanks! I hope it will be ok!!! Never again using websites like it! It was on buyandsell.ie.!!