Sick scam tricks family to snap up 'dead girl's dog'

A FAMILY have spoken of their disgust after an online fraudster tricked them out of money for a non-existent puppy it was claimed had belonged to a dead child.

Alistair and Wendy Praties, from Gracemount, received a string of detailed and emotional e-mails from the "seller" – who went by the name Alis Peterson on the popular Gumtree website.

The seller told the couple, who were scanning the buy and sell website, that she was giving her Siberian husky dog to a good home because the puppy reminded her of her daughter who had been killed in a car crash.

The family were so touched by the story they even bought "Alis" a bunch of flowers and sent pictures of their home to prove the dog would be cared for.

But after sending 152 for the transportation of the puppy to the bogus seller via Western Union bank, they never heard from her again.

Mr Praties said: "We were shocked and disgusted to find this person, whoever they may be, had preyed on emotions to make a bit of money.

"She told us we didn't need to pay for the dog, only for its transportation from South Wales, because it reminded her of her daughter who had died in a car crash.

"You don't want to doubt those kind of upsetting stories but now we feel a bit foolish."

Yesterday, the Evening News discovered that the exact same husky dog was again being offered to a good home in the Edinburgh area. Three other non-existent pets were also pinpointed, using the same story as the one used in this case. It appears that the fraudster had set up a bogus pet delivery company to extract money from the unsuspecting family.

The couple have now reported the incident to police, who are investigating.

Mr Praties said: "We got worried when we saw the payment needed to be made to Cameroon in Africa, but we figured a lot of companies run in foreign countries now. When I got back after making the payment I had a funny feeling, so I checked out the website online.

"I couldn't find it anywhere, but there was a legitimate pet transporter in Northumbria (who) warned about the exact scam we had fallen for.

"We were shocked that somebody would sink so low."

A Gumtree spokeswoman said fraud was an industry-wide problem. She said: "We do our very best to protect our users online and the vast majority of them have a safe and successful experience.

"We work with law enforcement agencies to keep up to date on new scams and the latest fraudulent activities."

A police spokesman said: "Lothian and Borders Police are investigating after a man was defrauded of 150 following a puppy-buying scam.

"Anyone wishing to purchase online should be certain they are from a reputable buyer and should never carry out a transaction should they have any doubts over the authenticity of the offer."