Online dog scam warning: Concern after Derry man's pups offered for sale online

A Derry man has warned dog owners about a scam after seeing his new-born pups for sale on Gumtree. The man, who does not wish to be named, contacted The Derry News to make us aware that photos of his new born pups had been posted to gumtree.com offering them for sale for £150 with a £50 deposit. He said he had no intention of selling his dogs and was only alerted to the fact they were listed by a concerned family ever. The man said he was unsure if it was an attempt to scam people out of money or if those responsible had intended to steal the dogs from his home. He contacted police and was advised to contact Gumtree and the advert has since been removed. He explained how he found out that his dogs had been featured on the site. “It was unbelievable,” he said. “I just couldn’t believe that this was happening. It was lucky that a family member saw it by chance when they were on the site. “The photograph that they used were photographs that belonged to the owner of the father of the pups, my dog is the mother. “She put the photos on her Facebook page and I asked her if she happened to recognise the phone number on the ad or the name and she had no idea.” He said that he was worried about a potential attempt to steal the pups. “I was not sure what the person’s intentions were, whether they intended to try and con people out of the deposit or come here and take my pups, but I can’t imagine anyone being so stupid as to give somebody £50 for a pup they have not seen. “I phoned the police and they said they can’t do very much but that I should contact gumtree and report it. “I contacted them and half an hour later the ad was no longer on the site.” “I just couldn’t believe what kind of people are out there, especially going into other people’s Facebook accounts and taking photos. It’s ridiculous.” The man said he had contacted the seller posing as a potential buyer. He asked if there was any possibility he could see the pups and potentially pay a deposit, but he was told that the pups were no longer for sale. The Derry News contacted the number listed on the online ad but received no reply.