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Woman scammed when trying to buy puppy

UNITY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A Westmoreland County woman is out more than $1,400 after falling victim to a puppy sale scam.

Chanta Kolick shared her story only with Channel 11, explaining how excited she had been to purchase a husky for her husband. He suffers from multiple sclerosis and is in need of a companion when Kolick goes to work.

"We felt great finding a puppy everybody was happy in the family,” Kolick said.

She had saved up and searched online for the perfect pup for her husband.

Using Petfinder, she stumbled upon a puppy named lollipop.

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The so-called seller was a man claiming to be from Georgia.

"He seemed like he was an older gentleman; talked really nice, told us a little bit about the dog,” Kolick said.

She wired him $480 but then  received emails from another agency demanding $950 to send the pooch to the Arnold Palmer Airport.

After paying up, she learned animals can't arrive there.

She called state police.

"We found that the internet websites were now taken down and removed and the phone number appears to be what we call a burner phone,” said Trooper Steve Limani of State Police in Greensburg.

Limani warns people to be cautious when making online purchases.

Channel 11 did some digging and learned 80 percent of online pet ads may be fake.

The Better Business Bureau warns people not to buy a pet without seeing it in person and check to see if the pet's photo is on multiple sites. Also, use a credit card, in case you need to dispute the charge.

"It makes me feel really sad for people to be out here doing this stuff to people who work hard for their money,” Kolick said.

 

Cox Media Group

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