This is serious business, guys. I just got a letter from the state attorney general's office. It concerns puppies. Puppy crime!
- You've been warned!
"DON'T FALL FOR THE SCAM WITH THE PUPPY DOG EYES!" says the email from John Kroger's office. Yes, in all caps. The scam-a-lot alert warns Oregonians against emails advertising free puppies.
"The scam works like this: although the dogs are "free," the seller will ask to be wired money in advance so the puppy can be safely shiped [sic] to its new owner... A recent version of the "puppy scam" offered two registered English Bulldogs "free to a good home."
The puppy scam relies on the best intentions of animal lovers. Another version of the puppy scam involves a con artist posing as a "puppy mill rescue group". These ads claim to be seeking good homes for a batch of purebred puppies rescued from a puppy mill. In reality it is the puppy mill operator who has posted the ad and is looking to cash in - sometimes asking $1,000 or more per puppy.
