About the Museum
The Museum of Hoaxes is dedicated to promoting knowledge about hoaxes. (Click here for opening hours, etc.) On our blog we post about dubious- sounding claims, and whatever else strikes our fancy. The site is also home to the Hoax Photo Database, the Hoax Forum, and the Hoaxipedia.

Web Hoax Museum

RUDE ROVER
The Christmas dog with no class! He sings and toots Jingle Bells.
INFLATABLE TREE
Who needs the hassle of a real Christmas tree?
FARTING SANTA
Go ahead and pull his finger!

"... You're lucky to have mailed at this time because the puppy has just been placed on adoption by one of my customers, who went on a veterinarian work transfer with the West African veterinarian commission Lagos Nigeria, West Africa. He is giving the pup up for adoption because he cant take good care of the pup due to his busy and tight state of work. All he wants is someone that's homely and with a good christian home to adopt this young and lovely human best friend."

i think i've been dupped, too by a woman who's a christian missionary in lagos, nigeria. am supposed to receive the puppy, have shipping information with company name and tracking number but something tells me that this is a falsified company and i'm out $620 dollars and i'm not sending anymore

I just got that very email w/ the name Bessie Dredge in it. I sent an email to someone who was running an ad in Penny Saver for French Bulldog pups. I decided to Google the name Bessie Dredge, and low and behold I turned up here on this website!!

I saw the ad in a local free paper in Vermont for a free bulldog puppy to good home, e-mailed the guy who e-mailed back that his puppy already had a home but referred me to a friend in Nigeria who had one but had to get rid of it, all you have to do is pay $350 for overnight shipping. Tempting, but duh!
The two names used were Greg Femmy and George Lams. The big clue to me, besides it would be too good to be true, all of the grammatical errors.
Be Wary!

I wish there was more done to stop these cyber scammers.

HELLO IVE BEEN SCAMMED!!!!
hi my name is John and i wanna add this to the list ..i started on the 4th and i e-mailed this so called kristi!!!!which was kristihara on E-MAIL at yahoo.com which i seen on here reading these complaints ..and i wanted a puppy she said i can help ya ive just got rid of the last puppy i had but i have a dr osborn ..who had bought 2 the weather in nigeria wasnt good for the dog..he wanted a good home for the dogs i made the deal he said 400 i said ok he said send it western union..i then said ok take me a bit to get there and all i made my transactions and it came to find out the dogs were at the airport in africa and he then needed another 450 dollars to get papers done i told him no-way im on a fixed income and he had asked a friend of his and another friend and he said he came up with 250 and could i come up with the other 200 to get them onto the world wide courier service and i had argue and gave in i wanted the 2 puppys i told him he had..and then i called the courier service and they had told me that the dogs are going to london and there was a layover... i then said ok ...she then e-mailed me back and said they wont release the puppys im so sorry i love dogs myself (grrrr i said) ...but they need 325 dollars more for rabbie shots before they can leave london ..well i wrote her back and told her big time i think im being scammed..and to make this book short ive been scammed and they never ever sent an e-mail to me again i the whole time thought the dogs were sitting in the airport i was feeling bad for the puppys and all but i stopped there when i then typed in this drs name and it brought up this scam in africa nigeria and i then proceeded on and made a call to the news and they will get back to me on tomorrow the 7th and today the 6th of aug was the last i heard from her or the dr or the woman whom started the original scam...the one girl was kristi the other was lois goss and the dr barnhill is the same guy as dr osborn so im hoping they catch them im down 600 and i hope to see them all on the news with cuffs on and hopefully we can end this scam your welcome to email me at thanks and im glad i found you all i wasnt the only one but i feel for ya all too..and maybe will see something on the news on this scam when i get done talking to the news people here in MD..YES AND THE GOD AND TRUST THE WHATS YOUR NAME AND YOUR NAMES THE ANSWER for the pick up for the questions to get the money ... GOD BLESS ME WAS THE END OF THE E-MAIL I SAY BURN IN HELL SORRY ALL !!!HOPE WE CAN GET OR SEE THEM CAUGHT ONE DAY SOON..JOHN

I recently encountered one of these puppy sales. Local online classified listed CUTE and ADORABLE Bulldog Puppies. When I emailed, of course there was only one left. As we continued emails, the puppy had AKC registry, shots, and microchip BUT the seller was no longer in the local area. They moved to Victoria island Cameroon (Nigeria) for evangelical work. Adoption and shipping of puppy $380.00!!! WOW, a puppy normally $1500-$3000 shipped for $380.00? I will inquire if they'll accept PayPal for insurance reasons, but if they insist on Western Union I will tell them to have a nice day. IF SOMETHING SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT PROBABLY IS !!!

Ditto here in Vermont - Reverend Mccallister - fortunately I didn't get sucked in.

I also responded to an add stating it was in Vermont, but when I sent the email inquiring how much they wanted for the puppy, i was told she was free for shipping only. Many of the same comments, just pick them from some of your examples, and they pretty much make up mine. Of course, the "rev" is living in Africa now with his wife on a mission. Yup! Sure!!!!!!!

I hope others see these posts. I googled the email he gave me and found a couple of posts that it might be a scam. So then I asked him the name of the company that would ship, he told me, and I googled that and found this site.

thank god!
K

I forgot to add that I sent him a link to this site, and asked him if any of it sounded familiar.

I also told him I would post all of his info, email, and lingo in as many places as I could.

They just tried to scam me! Thank GOD for this website! I Googled Dr. Peter Gordon and it brought me here! Beware of these names and emails:

Nicole
Vickie
Heres some of what they said:

After I asked a few questions:
Thanks for your lovely interesting in my babies.but i am surprise that the whole world has turned to this. Not even a fear of God anymore. Well, I am actually among the people that wakes up in the morning and pray to God to change the unbelievers and the bad doers to change for better because Hell is hotter than Sun. So I wonder if I can ever found myself in train of those that are into bad acts.

Really there are some many crooks going out there..but i want you to know that the bad ones had spoil the good ones..and also know that i cannot do such a thing that will make my family name in black list or in shame..so i will pray to GOD to find me a reasonable and believable parent that will take good care of my babies, make sure you take good care of my babies as soon as they get delivered to your home.You can go ahead and send the money via money gram.Thanks and God bless you.
Awaiting for your mail asap



Thanks for the mail and interested in my baby....and also know that my baby will shipped togetherly with his FEEDING FOOD INSTRUCTIONS BOOKLET so that you can know how to feed my baby daily..here is the feeding food i use to feed my baby so you can also continue with the foods below;

1.Canidae Chicken, Lamb and Fish in Chicken Broth Canned Dog Food (12/13-oz cans)
2.Wellness Canned Dog Food - 6 oz - Chicken
3.Dry kibble
4.Merrick Dry Dog Food - Cowboy Cookout-COWBOY COOKOUT
5.Vitamin B-1 Thiamine Hcl & Yeast
6.Vitamin B-12 Cyanocobalamin & Yeast ..

Here is the information you will need to send the payment..Here is the Shipping Agent Western union Details to send the money to..

Receiver Name:FATAI JUNAID
City:ISLAND
State:LAGOS
Country:NIGERIA
Zip Code:23401
Question:who is the creator?
Answer:God

Hello and thanks for the interest getting my puppy. Kindly note that i have two yorkie pups which i'm willing to get a new home for. I have a male and a female. The female is named Terra while the male is named Cached. They're both 18weeks old and the female weigh 2.5lbs while the male weigh 2lbs.

Also, it was due to my missionary call that make me want to get them a new home. Me and my wife and three kids together with the pups are here in africa for our missionary call. So, after a while, i noticed that the weather here in africa is very bad for the pups health and i'm thinking to get them a new home back to the state. Also, please be informed that i'm not selling this pups to you but i'm giving them away for free to a god home where they'll be at rest and cared for. I don't know if you'll prefer to take both pups or you prefer to take either the male or female. Please let me know if you can create a good home for the pups.
Also see the attached files for the pictures of the pups. Kindly note that you and i will be splitting out the shippment cost of the puppies to you.

Please get back to me if you're interested and please provide me with your telephone number for me to contact you immediately.

Thanks and God bless you.

DAVID

I recieved the above email today. I did some searching and i came across this site, so i posted the email here, I hope other people read and this is similar to something you have gotten.

this is the senders David James


email

I told him i was fowarding the emails to the FBI and the ASPCA and I have.

BECAREFUL EVERYONE!!! DON'T SEND ANY MONEY TO THESE HEARTLESS, POND SCUM!!!!!!!

David James

I have been looking for a bulldog puppy for my boyfriend for some time now. I have came across so many scammers!!! Some rules to keep in mind:
1. If it seems too good to be true, IT IS!
2. Don't send money via Western Union or MoneyGram, ect.
3. They always say that they are in some African city on vacation or a mission.
Please don't be fooled like some of these other misfortuned people.

Hi,

I just have to believe that must of all this scammer are American, They migrated to west africa. I take my time to talk to one of them before i know that they're american.

i was also dumb enough to send money. i checked on a website that was nextdaypets.com and saw that there was bulldog puppies for $500 so i emailed "david cole" and he came back with this he just sold the puppy yadda yadda blah blah crap story. but you can contact "pastor wisdom rosieg" at AND she has two puppies for $800. so i emailed her and same story as all of yours send money for the puppies. after you send the money then there is something wrong with her crate and you need to send money for a new one. OH and here is the best part of the f**kn scam they tell you 'you will get your money back for the crates'
its all Bullcrap to me. i am a single parent and i can barely afford to by groceries. and they scammed us for $1400 roughly.. i couldnt believe it why do people do this s**t.

this makes me sick....the same creep posted one in my local newspaper just the other day,,,it is being investigaed as a scam...no one knew. ;(

I was talking to a KIRA LOOM about adopting a french bulldog for only 150.00......She just so happened to be in Africa working and said I only needed to pay for the shipping So I sent them the 150.00.....and now today they want me to send another 250.00 for the custum fee but they had already put in the 50.00 and i just needed to send them the 200.00.......Yup pretty much new it was a scam after that...........DUMB!!







Hi Katye,

Thanks for getting back to me,Here is Missy current pictures attached below I have taken Missy to the airport and all the shipping arrangement on how she will get to you as been done.

N.B She will coming over with all her paper work so you have nothing to worry about okay

Here is the shipping agent information you will need to make the payment :

Receiver's name : Reo Glance
Address : 16 Airport road
City : Surulere
State : Lagos
Zip code : 23401
Country : Nigeria
Amount sent : $150

Kindly get back to me with the Reference number and the Full sender's name you use in making the payment.Missy will be shipped first thing tomorrow morning west Africa time as soon as the shipping agent confirm your payment today, and I will get back to you with the flight details and all the information you will need to receive her as soon as they ship.

Waiting to hear from you

God bless you
Kira

I had found a french bulldog online for 150. so I had emailed the person and a KIRA LOOM had e-mailed me back saying it's still for sale and they just needed my information...and ended up sending 150 to them and then the next day they needed 200 for a custom fee...uhh kinda knew it was a scam them........DUMB!

Hi Katye,

Thanks for getting back to me,Here is Missy current pictures attached below I have taken Missy to the airport and all the shipping arrangement on how she will get to you as been done.

N.B She will coming over with all her paper work so you have nothing to worry about okay

Here is the shipping agent information you will need to make the payment :

Receiver's name : Reo Glance
Address : 16 Airport road
City : Surulere
State : Lagos
Zip code : 23401
Country : Nigeria
Amount sent : $150

Kindly get back to me with the Reference number and the Full sender's name you use in making the payment.Missy will be shipped first thing tomorrow morning west Africa time as soon as the shipping agent confirm your payment today, and I will get back to you with the flight details and all the information you will need to receive her as soon as they ship.

Waiting to hear from you

God bless you
Kira

I was fortunate enough to be suspicious from the get go. I told them I wouldn't pay anything until I had the puppy in my possession. They wrote back they would pay the shipping and then I could send them the payment when I got the puppy. After I agreed several hours passed and I got another email saying how sorry he was but "customs" wouldn't release the flight number the puppy was on until he paid an extra $210.00, that he didn't have the money and I had to send it asap or I couldn't pick the puppy up. I told him I guess someone at the airport was going to be getting a free puppy, because I told him I wouldn't pay before I got the puppy and I meant it. No I am not a Bitch... He was shipping the puppy to JFK-LAX airport in Newark, NJ. ? JFK - NY LAX Los Angeles, does he really think everybody is that stupid.

Thank god for this website!! I was just about to leave for the bank to get money and Western Union the money when things just weren't making sense. I responded to an ad in the paper it said they were getting rid of the bulldog "babies" because of the extreme heat in Nigeria. If that was the case, why would they have the "babies"? Isn't it always extreme heat in Africa? So I figured before I went to the bank I had better Google bulldogs in Nigeria because this just didn't feel right. When I did, this was the first website that popped up!! I began reading these posts and almost everything here was in the e-mail!!!!!
THE E-MAIL ADDRESS OF THIS "PERSON" FOLLOW--

I cannot believe these sorry ass-holes!! This makes me so angry!! Is there anywhere I can report this? Report the e-mail? I also was given information on where to wire the money, will this name and address do me anygood on reporting this!??!