East Texas

By KENNETH DEAN
Staff Writer

A Bullard puppy breeder was able to avert becoming the victim of an international scam by questioning things that did not add up. Her alertness possibly saved her a ton of money and a lot of heartache.

Marjorie McPherson said she recently placed a general merchandise ad in the Tyler Morning Telegraph for cocker spaniel puppies she was selling.

Ms. McPherson said she received a phone call through a relay service used by the hearing impaired asking her to e-mail them about the puppies.

"I didn't think anything of it so I e-mailed them the information," she said.

Ms. McPherson said the "interested party" then asked her to reserve a dog for them and said they would pay extra to have the dog shipped by someone they wanted to handle shipping, even though she offered to deliver the dog herself.

The party said they were in another state.

She said that, after talking to another breeder, she demanded the party give her an address to arrange shipping. The party then e-mailed back, "I will get back to you soonest."

Ms. McPherson said that didn't add up, so she sold the dog locally and a week went by with no word from the first party.

"Yesterday a DHL truck pulled up in our drive and there was a cashier's check for $3,200 to deposit immediately with a note instructing me to e-mail for shipping instructions," she said.

The advertised price of the dog was $300.

The breeder said she did not cash the check, but did e-mail back to ask for shipping instructions because she wanted to hear the details. What she was told was to send the extra money out of the check back to the "party" via Western Union.

The check turned out to be bogus, and if McPherson sent the extra money back before check cleared her bank as instructed the "party" would have cost her thousands of dollars and successfully scammed her.

Ms. McPherson said her bank told her that because she did not cash the check, they would not investigate and she learned through a Google search that her contact name was one associated with other Nigerian scams.

She said she wanted consumers to be wary of anyone responding to an advertisement offering to pay more than the asking price. She also reminded people in today's age that newspaper and other media outlet's advertisements are all put on the Internet to increase sales and their contact information can be obtained from those running scams.

"If you believe you have discovered a fraud, tell someone who may be able to do something about it," she said.