is this a scam

[mollyanna]

Hi we just received this email from a seller that we were interested in buying a kitten from, we are looking for a red tom kitten to go with our girls. This add sounded to good to be true, please tell us your thoughts

Hiya , that's wonderful reading from you, we are almost so happy knowing one of our kittens got a nice home already, we think you are a right person and will not hesitate sending you the kitten you want, these kittens as earlier said are house and home trained and will fit any loving family, they are pure breed maine coon and , please once again we will count on your words as being an excellent family to the kitten , and since distance in regards to getting the kitten is a problem, we will use the courier service, we will use the best what so ever that will have excellent care for the kitten until arrival, and you will receive the kitten alongside the papers and micro chip, and the courier will cost about £20 or £30 hope that's not so much for you, and about the delivery, we will need this details off you: and let the details be

NAMES .......
HOUSE ADDRESS....
POST CODE......
CITY...........
COUNTY.........
LAND LINE PHONE NUMBER.....
MOBILE PHONE NUMBER.....

we are looking to re home the babies asap and even monday maybe good, then we just drop off kitten in the morning along with your details and papers of kitten , and the courier service , they will contact you via email or phone to confirm they have your kitten and chipped to be delivered to you, they will direct you how to make the total payment of £185 ( puppy and courier cost ) because i will choose the PREMIUM DELIVERY OPTION, after you make your payment, they will then issue your DELIVERY TICKET/KITTEN TICKET ONLINE, so you will know the arrival time and chip details, i

I HAVE ATTACHED THE PICTURES OF THE RED MALES SO MALE A CHOICE

Regard

[cooncatbob]

I don't know if it's a scam but I would never buy or sell a cat mail order.
If I was buying I want to see where the cat was raised and if I was selling I'd want to interview the buyers.
It's a living creatures not something you just box up and pop into the post.
I do realize it's a courier service no the regular mail but that makes no difference to me, I interviewed over the phone then drove a 1 1/2 to met the owner and the available kitties, I then had to make the difficult choice of which one to take home.

[pralinehalo]

Sounds like a scam to me... For a start they say puppy instead of kitten and the email is full of spelling mistakes, bad grammar and typos!
Offering to courier when they've never met you sounds suspicious too, I know some breeders will courier kittens but I understand that's normally when there's a pre-existing relationship.
Also £185 for a pedigree MC?! That's well under half what we paid...
I'd steer well clear if I were you!

[Wendy1969]

Yes this is a scam. They will ask you for bank details and claim they are going to courier the cat/dog/kitten to you. It does not exist. I've had many ongoing conversations with people like this. One claimed they were selling the kitten for a relative. I'm in Kent and they claimed the kitten was in Scotland. When I told them I was visiting Scotland so could collect, the kitten suddenly disappeared to Cornwall! Amazing. They will also claim so and so has got cancer/died/gone into a nursing home etc, etc which is why they are selling the cat/dog/kitten on their behalf. Its all a load of old sh*t. Please, please just ignore any further emails/contact from these people. They are the scum of the earth

[Wendy1969]

If anyone can be bothered to read all the following rubbish - this is one of my enquiries to what was obviously a scam ad for BSH kittens:

From: berlinda green <berlindagreen@hotmail.com>
Subject: British short hair kittens
Date: Wednesday, 2 March, 2011, 20:32


Hello there and thanks for the response to my ad. I am very happy that alas my cute little kittens will find a new home. The kittens are 13 weeks old now and ready to meet a new home, current on vaccines and ready to meet a new home. they are well socialized with kids and other household pets, including cats. I know i am going to miss them too much, but you will get them, if you promise to cater for them, and spoil them. My wife is 6 months pregnant at the moment, so there is no body to cater for this kittens. I got a technical leave, and we are at my wife's family house in Isle of man. We can't cope with the kittens, so we need a new home for them. We are giving them out for sale for £200 including shipping .
I will like to know where you are located and how soon you need the kittens. I will like to come drop the kittens myself. I will also expect regular pictures, so that i can see how the kittens grows. Get back to me at your convenience, so that we could see how the kittens gets to you.
regards.

Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2011 21:21:05 +0000
From: wendysacree@yahoo.co.uk
Subject: Re: British short hair kittens
To: berlindagreen@hotmail.com

Sorry but I am confused now. Your ad says: "kittens could be lilac and cream self lilac torte and colour points". The pictures of the kittens you have sent are of silver tabbies. Are these kittens registered, and if so, which registry? Also are what are these kittens vaccinated against? FIV? FELV? And are they wormed and flea treated? I already have cats so do not want to endanger my cats by bringing an un-protected cat into the house. I would appreciate an answer to these questions before we proceed.

From: berlinda green <berlindagreen@hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: British short hair kittens
Date: Thursday, 3 March, 2011, 11:38


hello Wendy,
thanks for the mail and i am very happy to read from you again.as a matter of fact i am very sorry for the confusion i put you through ok.it was just a mistake i made when placing my ad.so the pictures i send in the last mail are the kittens i have available for sale.the kittens are been registered under CFA.the kittens are been vaccinated against the following..

Feline Infectious Enteritis (FIe) also called Panleukopenia.
Feline Calcivirus (FCV) a strain of the common cold.
Feline Rhinotracheitis (FVR) or Cat Flu.

so you just have to get back to me with the sex you need and how soon you need the kitten.the kittens will come with all their health papers.so if that is ok by you then i will love that you gte back to me with your delivery details so that i can go and get the kitten registered to be delivered to you at your home address.i will need your delivery details as follows..

your names in full..?
your home address..?
your city/postal code....?
your contact numbers both mobile and line line numbers..?
the nearest airport to your location.

as soon as i will get all this details i will then take the kitten to the delivery company and get it registered to be delivered to you at your home address.i will be waiting to read from you.
my regards.


Date: Thu, 3 Mar 2011 16:12:14 +0000
From: wendysacree@yahoo.co.uk
Subject: RE: British short hair kittens
To: berlindagreen@hotmail.com

Hi there

I can come to the Isle of Man at the weekend as I have family who live there. If you can let me know where I can meet with you I will arrange all the travel details for this weekend.

Regards Wendy


From: berlinda green <berlindagreen@hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: British short hair kittens
To: wendysacree@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Friday, 4 March, 2011, 12:09


hello Wendy,
thanks for getting back to me.i would have that you come over to get the kittens yourself but right now my wife is hospitalized and i actually have limited time to do my own things so there is actually no time for me to meet up with you.so all i need from you is just your delivery details so that i can go and get the kitten registered to be delivered to you at your home address.home delivery will be will be the best option at this point in time.i will use a reliable delivery company that offers door to door step delivery ok.so i will be waiting for your reply.
regards.

From: berlinda green <berlindagreen@hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: British short hair kittens
To: wendysacree@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Friday, 4 March, 2011, 13:06


they are going to inform you on how you will go about with the payment ok.so you just have to email me the delivery details i requested so that i can take the kitten to the delivery company and get it registered for delivery.
waiting

And my final email:

I'm sorry but this sounds like a very strange arrangement? I am beginning to think that these kittens do not actually exist?

Funnily enough I didn't hear back from them...!

[jckkerrison]

Agree with everyone else,don't touch with a barge pole,these people rely on you seeing the babe & falling in love with it & then not having the heart to reject it,you have to feel sorry for the poor animals involved but while people do but this way they carry on doing it,thats how a friend who should have known better ended up with a beautiful "Blue & white" moggy instead of a MC....!

[H&SWells]

reading both the first email and wendy's email they have a very similar grammatical slant .......

[catslave]

There are definate similarities there, and the name is so similar to a respectable breeder (change B to M).

Molyanna there is one way to find out for sure, PM me the link or email address for the "breeder" and I will enquire about a different breed and see what response I get.

[pralinehalo]

Good thinking batman (catslave)!

[Joolz]

These emails are a scam and no kittens/puppies exist. it is just a variation on the old "your lottery ticket has come up/we need to move some money out of Nigeria/you have got tax credits from HMRC etc., I saw some reports a few weeks ago relating to something very similar.