Beware of scams

protect yourself from animal scams

Like many other legitimate companies, Animalcouriers is finding its name and branding — and even its phone number — being used by scammers. Typical animal scams involve promising delivery of an animal — such as a puppy, kitten, parrot or monkey — using Animalcouriers as the designated transporter, and asking you to pay the transport costs upfront by Western Union or MoneyGram.

By using the name of a legitimate company like Animalcouriers, the scammer makes their own operation seem genuine.

what to look out for

Be wary of anyone offering you an animal, if:

  • The price of the animal seems very cheap — too good to be true
  • You are offered the animal for free (usually with a sob story attached), and you only have to pay for the transport
  • You are offered free transport, but are asked to pay travel insurance for the animal
  • You’re asked to pay using a money order (like Western Union or MoneyGram), with a payment address that’s a PO box or is in Cameroon (any legitimate company would invite you to pay by cheque, credit/debit card or bank transfer)
  • You’re asked to pay using paysafecard
  • There’s no phone number for you to call and check arrangements or, if the seller does have a phone number, it starts with 070 (00 44 70) eg 0701, 0702 — these numbers are very expensive to call, usually over 30p per minute.
  • The animal is coming from far away or even abroad, so it ‘makes sense’ to use a courier for the transport which the vendor says they will arrange
  • The website or email offering you the animal is written in poor English
  • The domain names for the website and the email address don’t match
  • The web address ends with an unfamiliar code, like .pages.tl, rather than .com or .co.uk
  • The contact details are sent from a free email service like googlemail.com
  • The contact details in the email and on the website don’t match
  • You are told of a problem with the transport once the animal is apparently on its way to you, and you have to send more money for the animal to continue its journey, otherwise it will be put to sleep
  • The animal will supposedly be delivered by Animalcouriers, but we haven’t been in touch with you directly

what you should do if you think it’s a scam

We don’t want you to fall prey to the scammers so, if you’ve been promised delivery of puppy, parrot, monkey or other animal by Animalcouriers and you are in any doubt at all about the genuine nature of the offer:

  • Don’t make any payment
  • Contact us immediately

We’ll be able to tell you straight away whether anyone has booked us to deliver an animal to you. And if you detect a scam that involves our company name, please let us know, as we want to try and prevent this happening to others. You should also report it to your local police who are working to build up a profile of scammers.

useful links

ActionFraud is the UK’s national fraud and internet crime reporting centre. It provides a central point of contact for information about fraud and financially motivated internet crime. You can report scams to them by phone or using their online tool.

Il existe en ce moment beaucoup d’escroqueries, d’arnaques et de fraudes concernant les animaux de compagnie. Parmi les signes typiques d’une escroquerie sont les suivantes :

  • Vous avez pris contact avec le vendeur de l’animal par internet
  • L’animal est gratuit, vous n’avez à payer que le transport
  • Il s’agit d’une histoire à faire pleurer dans les chaumières
  • Le vendeur vous a demandé de payer tous les frais par Western Union ou Moneygram et le bénéficiaire est au Cameroun
  • Le vendeur vous a demandé de payer tous les frais par paysafecard
  • Le numéro de téléphone du vendeur commence par 00 44 701, 00 44 702 ou similaire — les appels vers ces numéros coûtent très cher
  • Le vendeur vous harcèle pour effectuer le paiement
  • Vous avez du mal à vous mettre en contact avec le vendeur par téléphone

Si vous doutez l’authenticité de l’offre, nous vous conseillons de ne pas envoyer de l’argent, car il est probable que l’animal n’existe pas.

Im Moment gibt es viele Schwindel und Maschen bezüglich Haustiere. Folgende sind einige der typischen Zeichen davon:

  • Sie haben sich mit dem Verkäufer des Tiers per Internet in Verbindung gesetzt
  • Das Tier ist kostenlos, Sie müssen nur den Transport bezahlen
  • Es handelt sich um ein Rührstück
  • Der Verkäufer will, dass Sie per Western Union oder Moneygram bezahlen, und der Empfänger befindet sich im Kamerun
  • Der Verkäufer will, dass Sie per paysafecard bezahlen
  • Die Telefonnummer des Verkäufers fängt mit 00 44 701, 00 44 702 oder ähnlich an — es ist sehr teuer, solche Nummer anzurufen
  • Der Verkäufer bedrängt Sie, schnell zu bezahlen
  • Es ist unmöglich, den Verkäufer anzurufen

Wenn Sie Zweifel an der Authentizität des Angebots haben, dann schlagen wir vor, dass Sie kein Geld schicken, da das Tier existiert wahrscheinlich nicht.

Hay muchos timos y fraudes sobre la venta de animales rondando en Internet en estos momentos. Algunos signos típicos de que es un fraude son estos:

  • Contactaste con el vendedor a través de una página web
  • El animal es “gratis” solo tienes que pagar el transporte
  • Siempre cuentan alguna historia de pena
  • El vendedor siempre pide que le pague la factura a través de Western Union o Moneygram, y el beneficiario siempre está en Camerún
  • El vendedor te pide pagar con una tarjeta de paysafecard o Paga Seguro
  • El número de teléfono del vendedor empieza 00 44 701 o 702 o algo similar – llamadas a estos números salen muy caros
  • El vendedor te pide el pago con urgencia e insiste mucho
  • Es difícil contactar con el vendedor por teléfono

Si tiene alguna duda sobre si es una venta real o verdadera, propongamos que no mandéis nada de dinero ya que lo más probable es que el animal no existe