NKonui Bichon / puppy scam Reports & Reviews (1)
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SCAMPULSE
If you know any contact information for NKonui Bichon / puppy scam, help other victims by adding it!
Scammer's website nkonuicichon.com
Scammer's address Denver, CO 80220, USA
Scammer's email [email protected]
Victim Location WA 98204, USA
Total money lost $1,850
Type of a scam Online Purchase
I had been really missing my beloved Bichon Frise dog, Lilly, as July marked the sixth year since her passing. While my other two small dogs, a Bichon Frise/Cocker Spaniel mix and a Poodle/Maltese mix are lovely little dogs and I love them both, but I had a special relationship with Lilly, and I have never stopped grieving for her. I thought another Bichon Frise puppy would help with the emptiness I feel on a constant basis so began searching for the breed online.
On September 6, 2022 I found a website showing quite a number of 9 week-old Bichon pups for sale, complete with photos of each puppy. The prices were very reasonable, only $840.00 plus shipping beginning at $150.00, depending on how far the puppy had to travel. Initially, I thought it would be easy to just hop in my motorhome and take my husband, our two dogs, and our cat, and travel to Denver, Colorado to pick up the one I wanted. I found a female, named Lola, that I wanted as my deceased mother’s name was Lola and it just felt right to purchase this puppy. I started the ball rolling by submitting an inquiry on their website, https://nkonuibichon.com/.
After submitting my inquiry online, it only took a few minutes to receive a reply via text to my cell phone number, ************. They sent two pictures and a video of a puppy running around inside of a house. A person (I will refer to as “they” since I could not tell if it was a male or female) advised the puppy would be coming from Denver, Colorado. They also asked what date in October I would be there so they could plan. They also advised that they are a breeder and not a pet store and the pups were at their home. They stated they could ship to me on Thursday if that works for me. Shipping was going to be $150.00. They said I could pay the $500.00 and complete the payment on October 3rd. The next text asked for my complete address, phone number, and nearest airport. I told them I do not drive to Seatac and asked if the dog could be boarded on a shuttle and delivered to my door. We set up for that. So I made the deposit of $500.00 via Zelle to the email address of [email protected] as instructed in the text. I passed along my street address and cell phone number to them as instructed and received their address by text as:
Jeorosa Tantoh
1557 Tamarac St.
Denver. CO 80220
Phone: 720-759-5975
I asked for a copy of the contract. They told me I had to pay the remaining balance of $550.00 and then I would receive the contract via email the next morning. Again I went to Zelle via my bank, Wells Fargo, and paid the additional $550.00 to the same email address of [email protected] and listed Jeorosa Tantoh as the recipient. This was on September 7, 2022. So now begins the process of preparing for shipment from Denver, Colorado to my Everett, Washington home. Initially, I told them I would like to go there to pick her up but couldn’t arrive until after October 3, 2022. I received a frantic call from the breeder stating, in a mad voice I would describe as Asian, that he had been texting and emailing me concerning the contract. He wanted me to sign it and send it back to him. I advised I would take care of it right away. He hung up without even saying goodbye. I thought that was strange behavior for a breeder who just made a sale of a puppy.
They talked to me a bit more about not driving all the way there when they could have her delivered the next evening my 18:00. For both Zelle payments, I had to send screenshots of the transactions on Zelle and show a screenshot of my bank transfer (thank goodness only the last 4 digits of my bank account number were shown on my Wells Fargo activity page. I provided my address again, even though it had been provided in the original inquiry made on their website. I followed their instructions. I finally decided it would make more sense to ship the dog to our door rather than driving the many miles to Denver, Colorado to pick her up. The breeder advised it would be cheaper to have the pup flown in to my nearest airport and then she would be loaded onto a transport van and driven from Seatac Airport to my home. She would arrive by 18:00 the next day, September 8.
The next morning, while I was sleeping, there were texts coming in from them that I didn’t read yet. Recognizing the phone number as that of the breeder, I answered it. He Again sounding very gruff and in parsed English, he asked if I had checked my email for the contract, which I had to sign and email back to them and another email from the shipper that had the tracking number on it. Again he abruptly hung up without saying goodbye. I checked my email again and found the one from the shipper. All looked very professional and real. The shipper was Seal Express, and the tracking number was listed as LN00751662US. I checked the tracking number on the shipper’s link within the email as:www.sealexpressshipping.com/tracking. I checked on the tracking number and it showed Registered Onboard. It showed she had been dropped off at 6:50am to board a 2:00pm flight and would arrive at my house at 6:00pm.
I finally started to relax a bit, watching the time to know when the pup would be airborne per the tracking number. Unfortunately, the status repeatedly stated Registered Onboard and never changed.
Around noon, I received a frantic text from the breeder stating there was a problem with the kennel crate he took the dog in to be shipped by air to me. I went out to my email to read it. It was from Seal Express Shipping. It was in all caps and very longwinded. In somewhat broken English, like the people I was dealing with for the purchase of the puppy. It basically stated that due to harsh conditions and severe temperature changes, the “Pet Taxi” crate was insufficient to fly the puppy as the compartment, while pressurized, was unheated. It stated I was required to pick one of the three temperature-controlled crates listed and pay a deposit for whichever one I picked. There was First Class at $1899.00, Second Class at $1550 and Third Class at $1350. It further stated that if I chose not to keep the crate when the puppy is delivered, I would get a cash refund for the cost of the deposit minus 10% for the rental fee.
I advised by text to the breeder that I did not have that much money in my bank account. I asked if there was another way to ship or I could still plan to drive there and pick her up. He said I could do that, but a refund would take a long time to process for the shipping costs already paid. We had one hour to decide what to do and needed to hurry. I advised I only had $811.00 left in my bank account to last me until the third of next month. He stated he would check and see what he could do. A few minutes later, he said he could make up the difference if I could come up with another $1000.00 for the crate. I stated I didn’t have that much money. He asked if I could do $800.00 and stated that as soon as the dog is delivered at 6:00pm that evening I would get a cash refund after letting them take the crate. He sent me yet another video of puppies playing. He said I would get 90% of the full deposit back and could deposit it to my account and then Zelle the difference between my $800.00 and 90% of the $1550.00 back to him. I agreed. This time, it went to a different email address on Zelle of [email protected]. I asked who that was since it was a different name. He explained that his brother, Demarea Freeman, lives closer to the shipper and can go in and pay the money so the puppy could remain on that flight since the breeder had to get ready for his day job. It made sense at the time except the difference of last names for supposed brothers, Tantoh and Freeman. I reluctantly made the $800.00 transfer via Zelle and sent a screenshot of the transaction.
Nothing more was said so I thought everything was finally going okay. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to go to my bank until the next morning as it closed at 5:00 before the dog would arrive. At 12:40pm I texted again asking if the crate had been paid for and if shipping was on for today. He responded back stating “Yes, he is there working on it”. I responded with, “Oh good. Thank you again for helping to make this possible.” I felt relieved that someone was going to do a good thing and help cover the cost.
The clock ticked on: 6:00, 7:30, I was getting concerned. I texted the breeder back and advised she was not here yet and I was concerned that she would be hungry and thirsty. I heard nothing. More time passed until at 9:00 I tried calling him and got a recording that stated the number had been disconnected. I tried on my husband’s cell phone after several attempts it rang about six times and then went to a busy signal. Obviously, he had blocked my number and because my husband’s number was so close to mine, he chose not to answer it. I tried calling the shipper’s number but had to leave a message because it was so late in the day. I finally realized at this point that I had been snookered. I immediately went out to the website and sent another inquiry asking about what was going on. I have heard nothing. I went back out to Zelle and requested all the money back via the application. Also, no shipper has called back.
Later that night after shedding tears for the lack of receiving the puppy I had planned to get and losing a total of $1850.00, I started searching on the Web for these types of scams. I read that scammers will have websites with pictures stolen from legitimate websites of puppies they are allegedly selling. These “breeders” generally will not talk on the phone or give you their address and will do all correspondence by e-mail. They will not allow you to come see a puppy and insist on shipping the puppy to you. I wonder now what would have happened if I had driven the 4 or 5 days to Denver to pick her up? Would I have arrived at a house that had no knowledge their address was connected with, or would it be just dumb luck that I was “armed” when I went to the door of the crooks?
I continued reading that the buyer is required to pay for the puppy before shipping, but payment is made through a cash app like Venmo or Zelle. Some will even ask you to buy gift cards and take a picture of the front and back of it and to e-mail the pictures to them which they then can use to buy merchandise. After the initial payment is received, the scammer will ask for additional money for a crate, airfare, transporter fee, etc. Ultimately, the buyer will pay hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars, but no puppy will be shipped, and the scammer will disappear.
I went on Peoplefinders.com and looked up the address of 1557 Tamarac St., Denver, CO 80220-2036 and it shows the current owner as ******* * ******** I looked up the address online and found that it was a brick apartment building. Her phone number shows as ************** ******* ***** ** ********, LLC. Her email is ***********************. The other residents in the building show as: **** ******* ***** ********* ******* ****** ******* ******* ******* ***** ********* ******* ********* ****** ***** ********* *** **** ***** ***** ********* *** ***** ****** ** ***** ******** ******* ** ******* * ******* *** * ****** **** ***** ******** ** This is my story all the way through. The website remains up and running and the phone number is still live. These guys need to be shut down and sent to prison. I would be willing to help in any way possible. I carry a CPL in the state of Washington and have taken training classes on safe handling and usage of it. I contacted the Everett Police Department and spoke with Officer who told me I can do whatever I need to in order to provide information to the BBB, the FBI, and the Federal Trade Commission to get the websites and phone numbers disconnected that are associated with this crime. I will also file with the Denver Police Department since this is in their jurisdiction as well and offer my services to track these people down.