Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recieved an email yesterday about an 02 male het for hypo tangerine hondurian I had for sale.

The first email asked how much I was asking (which the ad plainly stated). I told him $150 plus shipping.

The following is the email I recieved from him:

chris john wrote:
Hello Thmas,
Thanks for your mail,Since the cost of your snake is $150 i just contacted my client about the cost of your snake and it present condition and he said there is no problem about that.So my client said he will be issuing you a certified cashier check of $1900 while you wire to me my Shipping agent that will come and pick it up at your location $1700 through western union and you deduct the cost of your snake $150 and keep the remaining $50 which my client said you should take for the terms of transaction and agreement between you and my client.So i will like you to send me your full contact information to where my client will be sending you the certified cashier check like this:
name.........
full address.............
city...............
state.............
country..........
zipcode............
cell/office/home phone number.......................
I will look forwar d to the requested information as soon as possible so that the check can be sent out to you immediately.Get back to me immediately.So i will want you to get back to me with the Pics of the snake,so that my client will be able to see what he is paying off.
Looking forward to your respond,
Best Regards,

I responded with:

Chris,

This sounds a little weird to me. I have never done a transactions like this before. Are you shipping the snake overseas? So the buyer will be sending me a check for $1900 and then I am to western union you the $1700 and keep $200 for myself? Who will be coming to pick up the snake? Am I packing it or is someone else? Who pays for the shipping? I only ship within the 48 Contiential US states. Who pays the Western Union fee? I do not ship an animal until all checks have cleared. Let me know and then I will give you my info.

thanks

tom

The email I recieved back from him said:

chris john wrote:
Thanks for your mail, If this is okay by you, provide your contact details and phone number so that payment will be made out to you pls if realy you are intrested pls i am in need of the
following daters.
FULL NAME.............
FULL ADDRESS............
CITY.....
STATE............
ZIPCODE.......
PHONE NO........ --

I responded with:

Chris,

You answered none of my questions and I do not just give out my info to anyone. I can accept a payment via www.paypa.com sent to (xtremeherps@yahoo.com). I do not understand what a "daters" is.

tom

This just all sound a little weird to me. Why would someone pay that much for a $150 snake even out of the country. I can import cheaper than that. Any comments

thanks

tom

xtremeherps@yahoo.com

Let me guess... His name is Fredd Anthon. He's from Holland and his email address is freddanthony_mix@yahoo.com
This is not the first time he tried this scam... Just ignore him.

No his name is Chris something and he is from Africa.

tom

Oops!
I didn't pay much attention to your post. He changed his name to Chris John now... Whatever his name is, I believe his cashier check is fake/counterfeit. He goes for your money, not your animal. He had offered me in the past a $4400.00 cashier check for a $1500.00 animal - said that his client owned him....

and has been reincarnated in many forms.... i got an email from nelson mandelas wife one, asking me to accept a check for multiple millions of dollars, keep a percentage and forward the rest back to a 3rd party... its just a scam nothing more, youll see more variations of this particular one because apparently when it works, they ride whoever their pony turns out to be for everything theyre worth.

report it to the authorities.

sean
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recycle your pets

n/p

I have also received this scam as have many others. The BOI on [bleep] has a very lengthy thread dedicated to this type of scam and dozens of people have received it. Many supposedly are in Africa needing you to help get them money that is supposedly in the US. YEAH RIGHT!
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Jaremy Douglas

Why isn't anyone doing anything about this? why ignore him?

Do we want to continue receiving these emails from these morons?

Please atleast report it to the authorities and see if someone can help to catch these idiots! They are attempting Grand Larcony / Fraud / Internet Fraud and more....

These guys need to be dealt with...

I would continue to ask for info until I can track him to it. Act like you want the deal, really want the $, just are a little weary and want more info 'to be sure'..
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'Tis not the stongest of the species that will eventually survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change' Charles Darwin
Thanks and take care - Joe Rollo

Many people who posted on the boi on f-au-na-cla-ssifieds did report the individuals but nothing ever came out of it because the messages were sent from out of the country and the US can't afford to track them down in Africa. I would still report it just in case it is someone in the US doing it.
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Jaremy Douglas

scam