I add this page in an effort to help and educate potential bulldog purchasers against a new form of criminals who are seeking any and every which way to steal your hard earned money. Puppy Scamming-what is it???? You open the classified puppy ads of your local paper(paper or on Internet) and ads scream English Bulldog Puppies(or any other breed you'd like to substitute here) for $200, $300, or even better FREE, you pay shipping. What's wrong with this picture?? Does it feel wrong, something not quite right-well if you think so, go with your gut feeling of "something not quite right" and steer very clear. So many people have contacted us telling of us how they were scammed or almost scammed by these criminals. Scammers will steal pictures from reputable breeders(this is why I do not post my puppies pictures on this website) and they put them in newspapers across the country. Scammers might even set up a free website(usually very professional looking) with all these beautiful puppy pix stolen from hardworking legitimate breeders to make their site look genuine. The scammers don't even have the sense to remove or black out the kennel name on the picture they have stolen. Alot of scammers say they are religiously affiliated and are relocating to Africa, Nigeria, where ever for a mission trip and they need to place the puppies fast and really cheap as they have to move. Well, all they are going to remove is your money. Normally they communicate only thru email. They might offer you a telephone number but the number is either nonworking, no one ever answers your call or they have a prepaid cell phone. Normally their mode of communication is untraceable(prepaid cell phones, free email addresses and websites). The scammers will tell you they only require a small shipping fee and cost of crate for $X amt of dollars. They request Western Union, Money Gram or a money order(all forms of payment untraceable). Here are some ways to protect yourself:
1. Research the breeder. Do they belong to a national breed club, local breed club or all breed club? Can the breeder offer vet or personal references? Check with AKC-has complaints been filed against the breeder?
2. Be cautious of "breeders" who are only concerned with the money. A legitimate breeder will have an interest in where their puppies are going and should have as many questions to ask you as you do of them. Be wary of breeders who request payment in a wire and then comes back and changes the prices due to increased shipping costs etc....
3. Try to meet the breeder or at least talk to them, get and check references. On site visits to the breeder allows you the opportunity to see the facilities the dogs are kept in along with the puppies. You can see the sire(sometimes sire is not owned by breeder and might not be on site) and dam and get a feel for what the puppy will look like. A legitimate breeder will want to stay in touch for the life of the dog and is truly concerned about their puppy's future. Always try to find a local breeder or someone within commuting distance.
4. Beware of quick delivery-most breeders cannot drop what they are doing to ship today or even tomorrow. It takes time to make arrangements for delivery. And even if they can, they have to deal with delivery schedules of the airlines(canceled flights, too warm to fly etc..), ground shipment or their own busy schedules to get the puppy delivered(for instance, I can only deliver on weekends as a general rule).
If you do like a puppy from a breeder who is out of your area here are ways to try to avoid being scammed: ask the breeder if a friend of yours who lives in the area can come by and view the puppy. If it is a scam, there will be a reason your friend cannot stop by. Have the breeder send new pix of the puppy you like, have them place a piece of paper with your name on the slip of paper and date the photo. Do this a couple of times. Most scammers do not have recent pix of the puppies. Remember they stole the pix from someone else and have no access to new photos of the pup. Rarely will you ever see a bulldog puppy under $1000. Most of the time, they range $1500-$3500. If the ad is too good to be true, it probably is. The Internet is a valuable tool-research the breeders name, kennel name, email address.....don't be naive and trusting of these criminals as they will steal your money, slip away and you will have no puppy. They are heartless and they make their living by stealing your money. Be wise, be careful and best of luck finding that perfect Bullie baby for you.
