Is this a scam?

[HairlessHawaii]

Hi,
My name is Erik. I live in Hawaii and Im trying to find a sphynx for my two girls as their first pet. They are allergic to most cats but really want one. I figured this breed would be a good choice. Anyways, since we live in Hawaii its really hard to find specific cat breeders on in the islands. We are very limited. I came across this website and im very skeptical. If it is a scam its very impressive. Its not a classified posting, its actually a website. Heres my email response:

Hello , Thank you for contacting us about our Sphynx Kittens . They are still available and ready to go as soon as possible and we are asking for $700 each. We are currently selling our kittens at a 40% discount, We have been breeding Sphynx for years now and have much love and affection for the breed. They have great temperament and loving personalities. Petra is still available and she is a very lovely and friendly kitten if you are looking for a best friends and good companion then Petra is the best kitten for you. She is a Pure Hairless Sphynx kitten , She is HCM Tested, she is a powerful, smart, beautiful, loving and loyal kitten , Sphynx are hairless so they are hypoallergenic cat breed . visit our website once more on the available kittens section by clicking on Available Kittens | PRECIOUS CATS

Kitten Information...............,

Name……….. Petra

Sex…….........Female

Age................. 10 weeks old

Breed..............Pure Sphynx kitten

Documents which Kitten will be coming with.. Registration papers ,Vaccination certificate, 2 year health guarantee , shots up to date, Crate.
Kitten Come with a Huge Starter Kitten Pack and Lots of Continued Support! Pet Insurance

Temperament: She is Reliable, Friendly, Kind, Confident, Trustworthy, Intelligent . Petra is well trained and very friendly with kids and other house hold pets. She is house trained

-We are a Small Sphynx Kiten breeding Family located in Bakersfied , California (CA) , Petra will cost you $700 and this money will include shipping and delivery fee of the kitten over to your location .

Please do answer the questions below as we just want to make sure that our kitten will be in good hands.

Are you a breeder?

Have you had a kitten before or now?

Do you have kids?

What is your occupation?

Do you have a vet you will take the kitten to?

Thanks for getting back to us we wait to read back from so that we can proceed with the next step so that the kitten can be place in your home.

 

[Yoda mom]

@HairlessHawaii welcome to the lair family

read through the link and lots of red flags, mentions Star Main Coon cats, testimonials are for Hairless Zone cattery,, treated for Giardia, HCM scanned ( not done till a year not a 10 week old kitten).... the more section of their own site every link has conflicting info like it was copy and pasted ... too many red flags for my liking.

please feel free to post a thread looking for a reputable breeder so members can chime in.
also PM'd you t links from the info center about reputable breeders, fraud tips and , info that sphynx are not really hypoallergenic

kudos to you reaching out and researching
tagging @Laulau on the big island

 

[admin]

It has scam written all over it, remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. How to Detect fraud sphynx cat adoption ads

 

[Catzzzmeow]

Yikes agree with the others. I’d run. What to expect from a responsible sphynx breeder


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Catzzzmeow]

@HairlessHawaii after reading through testimonials it is 100% a scam. One of the testimonials they stole from my breeder in NJ. I sent to my breeder and she just responded that she knows a person who got scammed by them and the police are involved. Stay clear. This person is using other breeder’s material to scam people.

 

[Toa and Ross]

Woth @Catzzzmeow response you know for sure it's a scam.
What I want to add is that the so called breeder say sphynx are hypoallergenic. That is not true. I'm allergic fof cats myself and I am also allergic for sphynxs.
People can be allergic to the hair, the dander and the saliva of a cat. When you're allergic for the dander and saliva you'll still be allergic to sphynx cats.
I'm allergic to hair, dander and saliva. I'm able to deal with the allergies quit well. But I would recommend to make sure you know what your daughters are allergic too before getting a sphynx

 

[Yoda mom]

@HairlessHawaii tagging @Laulau for recommendations for responsible breeders.

so glad you jumped in to join us and do your research.
yes, every bit of it like I PM'd is scam... a good example of what things to look out for in ads.
even the testimonials was obviously cut and pasted scammed mentioning other cattery names,
health guarantee scammed with Main Coon cats, etc... the red flags go on and o


be sure to read through the great links on reputable breeders, fraud, and allergies

feel free to PM any other ads you may be looking at for an extra peek

agree with @Toa and Ross about allergies and finding out what the girls are allergic too.

keep us updated

@Catzzzmeow wow... small world. thanks for sharing

 

[Kelnym]

To me, the easiest tip off is that the price includes shipping, which makes no sense.

I'm a former breeder (not sphynx), and first, it was always preferable for buyers to come do pick ups in person, so that was always given as an option no matter how far away they were. Second, shipping cost is entirely dependent on where one is shipping to, and it isn't cheap to fly a kitten anywhere, much less Hawaii.

Add to that all of the nonsense that includes just enough buzz words to satisfy a non-educated buyer who may have googled for 30 seconds about the breed, even if the content is total jibberish.

As others have said already, absolutely DO NOT get a sphynx until you know if your children are allergic. There are furry breeds that are better for some allergies.

It is not fair to put a little kitten through being shipped just to find out that it makes your kids sick and then probably have to be shipped again.

 

[Bunnyinmi]

Hi,
My name is Erik. I live in Hawaii and Im trying to find a sphynx for my two girls as their first pet. They are allergic to most cats but really want one. I figured this breed would be a good choice. Anyways, since we live in Hawaii its really hard to find specific cat breeders on in the islands. We are very limited. I came across this website and im very skeptical. If it is a scam its very impressive. Its not a classified posting, its actually a website. Heres my email response:

Hello , Thank you for contacting us about our Sphynx Kittens . They are still available and ready to go as soon as possible and we are asking for $700 each. We are currently selling our kittens at a 40% discount, We have been breeding Sphynx for years now and have much love and affection for the breed. They have great temperament and loving personalities. Petra is still available and she is a very lovely and friendly kitten if you are looking for a best friends and good companion then Petra is the best kitten for you. She is a Pure Hairless Sphynx kitten , She is HCM Tested, she is a powerful, smart, beautiful, loving and loyal kitten , Sphynx are hairless so they are hypoallergenic cat breed . visit our website once more on the available kittens section by clicking on Available Kittens | PRECIOUS CATS

Kitten Information...............,

Name……….. Petra

Sex…….........Female

Age................. 10 weeks old

Breed..............Pure Sphynx kitten

Documents which Kitten will be coming with.. Registration papers ,Vaccination certificate, 2 year health guarantee , shots up to date, Crate.
Kitten Come with a Huge Starter Kitten Pack and Lots of Continued Support! Pet Insurance

Temperament: She is Reliable, Friendly, Kind, Confident, Trustworthy, Intelligent . Petra is well trained and very friendly with kids and other house hold pets. She is house trained

-We are a Small Sphynx Kiten breeding Family located in Bakersfied , California (CA) , Petra will cost you $700 and this money will include shipping and delivery fee of the kitten over to your location .

Please do answer the questions below as we just want to make sure that our kitten will be in good hands.

Are you a breeder?

Have you had a kitten before or now?

Do you have kids?

What is your occupation?

Do you have a vet you will take the kitten to?

Thanks for getting back to us we wait to read back from so that we can proceed with the next step so that the kitten can be place in your home.

Yes that is a scam. They have another website with kittens for $500. When I emailed them i got about the same info. What really worried me was the amout for flying the kitten from CA to MI was only $140. That last sentence is not worded correctly and made alarm bells go off for me.

 

[Yoda mom]

@Bunnyinmi thank you for sharing ... glad you saw the red flags and are chiming in to let others know.

 

[Bunnyinmi]

@Bunnyinmi thank you for sharing ... glad you saw the red flags and are chiming in to let others know.

It is just sad that they play on peoples heart strings with animals.