A 48-year old woman from Bethlehem had long wanted to adopt a pair of English bulldogs. She paid $800 to have the bulldogs shipped to her home, police said. Alas, the dogs never arrived and the woman’s contact has asked for more money to expedite shipment.
The woman, not identified by police, of the 900 block of Itaska Street, exchanged emails with a person supposedly based in Florida regarding her intentions to adopt the dogs, police said. The person in Florida said the dogs would be sent from Nigeria and asked for a shipment cost of $ 700. By this time folks, be wary of the enormous red flag when Nigeria is merely mentioned in talks of adopting bulldogs. Scams these days comes in all sorts and sizes.
As any scammers do, the contact asked for an additional $100 later which the Bethlehem woman paid it, police said. The dogs were expected to arrive in the Lehigh Valley on Saturday, but no shipment came. When the victim asked her contact what happened, the city woman received an e-mail that stated that the dogs were in California and another $470 was required to ship them to Bethlehem.
One thing is for sure, the woman will never unite with the alleged dogs, and is unlikely to have her money returned to her.
Consumers need to exercise a great deal of caution when transacting business online. In case of animal adoption, it’s better to buy form a local source where you can meet the buyer in person. Be cautious of any products or money originating from Nigeria.
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