A Perth woman says a conman stole her nine-week-old puppy after claiming to transfer almost £2,000 for the sale.
Lee-Anne Carle says a man fraudulently took her newborn Maltipoo from her home on Monday night.
She had spoken to a women via text who was interested in buying one of her litter-of-four for £1,950, however a man then turned up.
He showed her supposed proof of the bank transfer but the payment didn’t go through.
She says his phone has since been cut off and the police confirmed the details the man supplied were fake.
Fake details supplied by buyer
“I arranged for the lady to come and see the pups at 6pm on Monday,” said Lee-Anne, who bred her dog Coco.
“But a gentleman appeared in place of her. He said they had a two-year-old daughter who was very disabled so he came instead, which was fine — it seemed genuine.”
Lee-Anne had her 24-year-old son with her while the man was in attendance.
“The man seemed genuine and spoke about his daughter and the fact that he had moved up to Glasgow from London a few years ago,” said Lee-Anne.
She said he chose a female pup and then asked to pay via bank transfer, to which she agreed.
“So he did that and showed me that the amount had gone through from his bank, but I checked my bank and it didn’t appear.”
Lee-Anne said that the man stayed while they waited for the transfer to go through. After half an hour had passed, he offered to phone his bank.
“He phoned and it sounded like a genuine customer service adviser on the phone,” said Lee-Anne.
“They said it could take up to two hours and we confirmed the sort code and account numbers.”
However, the money still did not go through.
“On Monday evening, the social media apps went down,” she added.
“So we thought that would delay it even more.”
Lee-Anne phoned her bank who said the money had not transferred yet, but added that it could take up to two hours.
‘He got agitated’
The North Muirton resident was still a bit apprehensive, so she asked for the man’s details.
Lee-Anne said: “I took his name, number, address, all that from him.
“I also asked to take a picture of him for my own peace of mind. He did get a bit agitated and he had a mask on, but I asked him to pull it down and got the picture.”
There was no car parked in Lee-Anne’s street in Perth, but she saw him take the puppy into a white van at the corner of the road.
“He got in touch to say the pup slept all the way back,” she said.
“But then another hour passed, so I phoned my bank.
“The adviser said that they give two hours maximum and it should’ve went in well before that.
“She said ‘if it’s been as long as this, then I’m afraid to tell you there’ll be nothing going into your account’ and she said I should report it.
“I phoned his number and it’s been cut off. The police were here and they checked all the address details he gave me and they said his name isn’t registered at that address in Glasgow.
“So now he’s away with the pup and I’ve not got a clue where he is now.”
‘I feel sick’
Police told Lee-Anne that the man could have doctored a bank transfer beforehand and may have had someone pretend to be a customer service adviser on the phone.
“We fell for it,” said Lee-Anne.
“The police have checked and everything he told us was fake.”
She also claims that the vet did not write down the microchip number, so she could not report the pup as stolen.
“I’m feel sick, I’m just sick with worry of what’s happening to the pup now,” said Lee-Anne.
“You think ‘this will never happen to me’ but it just all seemed so genuine.
“I just can’t believe it. I can’t forgive myself for letting this happen.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We received a report of the theft of a puppy from a premises in Iona Court, Perth on Monday.
“The theft occurred around 7.30pm and inquiries are ongoing.”