Royal Bengals

Victim Location 03448

Type of a scam Online Purchase

We are looking for a new kitten. http://royalbengalcattery.com/contact-us.html has an excellent website…but all automated answers. I knew the price was too low, but thought I’d check it out. With automated answers, they want my money. I called their number and there’s a foreign voice to leave a number. The website says they are in Maryland, but they will ship the kitten from TX.

Victim Location 23454

Total money lost $5,000

Type of a scam Online Purchase

I contacted the breeder listed on the above website (www.royalbengalcats.net). I told them I was interested in two of their kittens listed for adoption on their website. I should have known that it was a scam based on how low of a price they were asking for each kitten ($350). When the breeder called me about the kittens, he offered the two of them for an additional discount (both cats ($275ea), plus shipping fees ($150ea), and spay/neuter ($35ea) for a total of $920. Once the kitties were shipped on Thursday, the shipping company, Unique Logistics Company (which does not exist after have done some additional online digging) said I would need to pay an additional crate fee of $1500 due to the kittens having been spayed/neutered, (95% of which was refundable upon delivery of the kittens). I had my suspicions that it might be a scam since the e-mail was in all caps and the language used in the e-mail was written by someone who did not have a good grasp of the English language.

The shipping company then informed me that the kitties had been flown from Austin, TX to Nashville, TN since there were no direct flights to VA. They then informed me that it was too late in the day to transport the kittens the rest of the way. The shipping company then stated I had to pay $1800 for pet insurance, 100% of which was refundable once the kittens were delivered. I called the shipping company and told them I thought they might be scamming me. They insisted that they were not and that each state had different requirements for the kittens.

So I sent them the money and they e-mailed me the refund paperwork to show to the courier upon their arrival. The shipping company then informed me that I had to pay an additional $1520 for vaccinations and city permits (which, by the way, are only $25 per cat in my city, not $700). My next suspicion was that the e-mail listed canine vaccinations not feline. When I called the shipping company again, they insisted that this was not a scam and that I could get the vaccinations done by my vet upon the kittens arrival and that I only had to pay the $700 for the city/state permits (again, with all of that being refunded upon the pets’ arrival). The individual on the phone promised that that was the last payment necessary for my cats to get here safely and that there were no additional charges. However, later that day, the individual stated that the cats could not be sent without receiving their vaccinations and that he would pay $320 if I would pay the other $500. I said no. He continued to insist that I could not have the cats until I payed the $500.

I again said no, that I would not be paying any additional money, especially since they had guaranteed my pets’ arrival for Thursday night, then for Friday morning, then for Friday afternoon, etc. After not receiving any updates, I called them again today (3/24/2018) and they stated the cats had been sent via American Airlines on Thursday. I called the airline in Nashville, TN and they had no record of any pets having been shipped from TX to TN on that date (3/22/18). I then searched the ScamPulse.com and the other associated site logos that were listed on the shipping company website (http://www.uniquelogisticscompany.com/). The shipping company was not found in any of the databases and the logos on the shipping website looked like they were copy and pasted onto the web page. After some further research, I discovered an almost identical scam listed here on BBB. I called the shipping company and told them they were scamming me and that I wanted my money back. He continued to insist that they were not a scam, but that is a lie.

The names of the individuals the money was sent to via Wal-Mart2Wal-Mart and MoneyGram are as follows: Jarren Critch (Corsicana, TX 75110 (breeder), Don Buren (Austin, TX 78754), and Edgar Tchapgnin (Austin, TX 78754 & Dallas, TX 75240). DO NOT try to buy a cat through this breeder or pay any money to this fraudulent shipping company. This whole incident makes me sick to my stomach as I should have caught on sooner that they were scamming me.