Amandine Brown

Melody – Apr 21, 2020

Victim Location 48116

Total money lost $400

Type of a scam COVID-19

I would like to report a fraud/scam i unfortunately fell victim to among all the fear, loneliness, and tragedy happening in our country, and the world. what has happened to me certainly is not as tragic as all that is happening to other people, but it is something i feel others are experiencing, and perhaps too embarrassed to report. i know i am embarrassed as the highly intelligent, capable woman i believe myself to be, and if i made poor judgement, i think many others have fallen for the same broken, deceitful promises as well.

i am a retired, 62 yr old widow, living alone. i lost my husband four years ago. i have been seeing a psychologist for over three years to help me deal with my grief, and the symptoms/disabilities that have come with such a major loss. I have ***** ******** ********* ***** **** ******* ******** ***** **********. she has helped me tremendously, and has helped with adjusting my meds to ensure i am able to function properly without "falling apart".

the pandemic, along with the social distancing, has made some of my disabilities even worse. especially the social distancing. i have experienced such deep loneliness since i can not see my children, grandchildren, family, or friends. i have been feeling, even stating to others, that i feel like i am losing my mind with no interaction, or physical comfort of a hug, massage (a major part of my therapy). it was suggested that perhaps getting a pet would help.

i have been wanting to get another dog. my last one died almost a year to the date of my husband….and i completely "broke" so to speak. let me preface with the facts that i had been suffering major losses since 2012 starting with my father’s death. 2013, my brother-in-law and work partner, passed unexpectedly at 45 yrs old, August of 2014 my dear mother passed. 2015 ended with the death of our 15 yr old dog, in 2016, as i mentioned my husband of 34 yrs. he was only 54. bringing me to 2017, and the dog (11 yrs old) i lost as mentioned above.

i have waited over three years to heal. to make sure that i could make the commitment to another living being. i felt i was ready, willing and able to love and care for a puppy.

i started my search several weeks ago. asking friends, looking in the paper. reading ads posted on boards, neighborhood group online, and the internet. we had gotten our last dog on the internet 14 yrs ago, and she was a wonderful.yorkiepoo i named Zsa Zsa. everything was legitimate, all went well for both parties.

i inquired on a few classified ads about yorkie pups last friday, 4-17-2020. one of the responses i got back was a very lengthy email, using all the words i needed to see. it was from what i assumed to be a woman, Amandine Brown from Adamsville, Alabama ([email protected]). we corresponded for several days, exchanged phone numbers, each of us trying to make sure the other was honest. lets just say i was honest. the other person was not. i was what i’m calling "puppy blind" and so eager to have that kind of unconditional love in my life again, i did not use the good sense that i normally use, or heed to the many "red flags" that were so ferociously waving at me…..puppy blind.

1st flag – a man called saying he was her husband, that she was ill. which is why they were looking for good homes for the puppies since she could no longer care for them, they had two supposedly, a male & female.

2nd flag – in order to ship puppy "to my door", he wanted me to purchase a certain pre-paid card (my vanilla visa) to show i was serious. (and typically a deposit is required in these transactions)

2rd flag – the card he wanted me to purchase could only be bought with cash only, so there is no record tying it to me i guess, other than the fact that i do have in my possession the physical card, and the receipt to show i bought it. i did however, text pictures of the card to seller.

4th flag – the clerk at Walgreens asked if i knew who i was sending card to, since so many frauds occur.

5th flag – the day puppy was to be shipped, i received an email from a pet delivery company, aka "Logistics Pet Delivery" ([email protected]), signed by Mrs. Mary Reigel, wanting $800 for "fully refundable" fees for environmental crate and insurance. the puppy was less than the fees – $600

6th flag – the company wanted the SAME type of card for payment. the phone number (720-593-6728) from the email for Mary did not answer when i called, the message said, "the text subscriber you are trying to reach is unavailable". i left a message, and got two hang up calls from same number. so i texted it.

there are more flags i foolishly ignored, and have no one to blame but myself.

i probably will never see the puppy or money….there probably never was a puppy. i lost more than the $400 i was scammed out of. i lost my belief in humanity. i only want to stop other people from falling victim to these frauds using something as pure and innocent as a puppy. they have hurt so many families, especially during the pandemic.

i have filed complaints with the FTC, IC3. IPATA, petscams.com, humane society, Birmingham and Detroit airport police departments, my local police department, google, verizon, apple, the classified website, and now you.

i do believe had i not been going through my mental and emotional issues caused by the covid19 outbreak and unableness to have physical contact with others caused my thinking to be irrational.

Please help to stop these horrible people who are preying on honest, loving, lonely Americans?