http://www.kcci.com/money/17727566/detail.html
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Internet scammers send out thousands of e-mails each day hoping to separate you from your money.
But the Better Business Bureau is fighting back with, of all things, a golden retriever named Clancy, reported WLKY-TV in Louisville.
Clancy received a check in his name for $150,000. The dog belongs to Bruce Gadansky with the Louisville BBB, who received a scammer’s e-mail in which a Chinese company is allegedly searching for an American pay agent.
Gadansky replied, using the name “Clancy The Dog LLC.”
“I told them I was in the fertilizer business, which Clancy does a lot of, fertilizing the back yard,” Gadansky said. “That smacks of the truth. Then I waited. I didn’t expect to even get a response.”
On Tuesday, a very authentic-looking check from a real Canadian company came in the mail.
“I’m supposed to deposit the check,” Gadansky said. “I get to keep 5 percent and then wire back the remainder of that money. So I keep $7,000 and wire them back over $140,000. You’re wiring them back real money, but that check is a phony, and your bank will figure that out in a few days. It’s an old scam for which people are still falling.”
Gadansky is hoping Clancy can help the BBB deliver a message.
“The more people we can educate, the less (chance) there is that anyone is going to (be) nailed by one of these scammers,” he said.
