Grandpa,
Here is a website you should know about: Petscams.com. There are individuals who offer to ship you a dog or cat for free or a ridiculous price. Be advised this website is trying to make us aware of the scammers. The frauds steal photos of legitimate web sites. I talked to a breeder who told me a woman lost $4,000 trying to get a bulldog. Do your homework before sending any money.
Grandpa,
Here is something to add to my previous E-mail. Under the petscams.com they list a web address beaulabpupshome.com. The picture they use comes from a breeder (Grandpa does not publish names, contact information, or personal information about private people) in Indiana. (The photo was apparently pirated from the legitimate breeder.) Look at petlabradorpuppies.com. This site offers to sell you a puppy for $600 with free shipping. There is no way a breeder can ship a dog for that price, according to (the legit breeder in Indiana). Just saying, do your homework!
Grandpa says; I received this information from a reader back in mid-March. A staff member was assigned to look into this and did an excellent job! After being in touch with several law enforcement agencies and attorneys general, we were asked to hold back publishing specific web site information due to ongoing investigations. Grandpa will not disclose any further details except to say that the above edited letters finally were OK’d for publication.
Grandpa is proud to cooperate with law enforcement and thankful to the reader who sent the original E-mail. This reader’s advice is correct: Do your homework to avoid being scammed. While working with the various agencies, my office received a form letter one can send to the various credit bureaus to freeze a credit file. It will prevent anyone from running a credit check on you. It will put a stop to those pesky credit card applications that you get in the mail as well as individuals checking your credit in order to steal your information for personal gain. Anyone who wants information on the freeze can send an SASE #10 envelope to Ask Grandpa at the mailing address below. Be sure to tell me you want the Freeze information.
To avoid being scammed, there are a few things you need to do to protect yourself. First is to shop local. Know your vendors and never buy anything on impulse. The same goes for your charitable donations: Donate locally. Never send money to a stranger. When you do purchase by mail, never use a personal check. The banking information printed on your check, those numbers at the bottom, is an open invitation to identity thieves. Never mail cash. Never give out personal information on the phone unless you initiated the call. Never talk or press buttons on the phone when you get a call from a machine (a robo-call). Just hang up. Never respond to junk mail or junk E-mail. And do not open an E-mail to “unsubscribe”. That proves your account is active. As the reader said, do your homework. I bid you peace.
Got something stuck in your craw? Ask Grandpa. Address your letters to Ask Grandpa c/o The Voice, PO Box 123, Aurora, IL 60507 or send an E-mail to askgrandpa@thevoice.us.