Buying question

[Sterant]

Well that settles that!

 

[harris]

The sewer rat scammers are on the rise lately. They've been all over fauna.

 

[Sterant]

Doing a google image search is always a fantastic way to see if a scammer is using someone else's image in a fake add. If you go to images.google.com and click the image of the camera on the right side of the search box, you can upload a picture and google will search for other instances of the image on the internet. This will at least give you an indication of the origin of the image.

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

one quick way to sort out a scam from not a scam is to use https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/1325808?hl=en most scammers do not have the tortoise so they are using someone else's photo.

Ask them for a reference or someone else you can talk to to verify they are indeed legit.

I've bought many $1,000 worth of animals from people I have not met, and not found myself in a bind, as I talk to people who know them directly. Pretty much like you have done here by consulting TFO.

The person's name is their credential. If nobody knows them (a ghost) chances are then near 100% i'ts some kind of scam.

Seems like there may be lots of people out there who are not known. Not so. They either bought the tortoises from someone, that's a reference, sold before, that's a reference, had the animal to a vet, that's a reference, or reproduced it them-self, Back with images - that's a reference.

If they bought the tortoise ten years ago and never been into the 'tortoise keeping community" then maybe I could be convinced that's why they don't have a reference, but then I'd not buy the tortoise.

 

[zovick]

Thank you Kyle and to everyone that applied to my post. I actually went to the website that they told us was posted on and found some articles on the way to purchase their pets. They said do not use Western Union, those are usually scams and you have no protection. They recommend only using PayPal. I have contacted my seller and sent pictures of their articles from the website they posted on and told them that I would pay for the turtle via PayPal but would not use Western Union. So if they will not let me use PayPal. I will not be purchasing this turtle… Thank you again everyone

Hello Nancy,

Good thing you checked on this tortoise before making the purchase. It appears to be a scam as evidenced by use of the photo belonging to someone else.

My primary reason for responding is to advise you that unless both you and the seller have Captive Bred Wildlife Permits, you may not buy a Radiated Tortoise from a resident of any state other than the one which is your own legal residence. Your profile does not indicate where you live, so I am trying to help you avoid a problem.

IE, unless you live in CA, you could not (legally) purchase the tortoise in that ad from a seller who resides in CA.

 

[Yvonne G]

Does this tortoise look familiar? https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/28-pounder-male-radiated.55076/

You have such a good eye, Cameron. Yup. . . that's Aldabraman's picture for sure, and he's NOT giving away his radiated tortoises.

 

[Yvonne G]

@Nancy Taylor : I don't know if you've come back to read the comments on this thread, so I've sent you an alert to bring you back. Two good things have been said - That's Aldabraman's picture of the radiated tortoise, plus, unless you have a permit, radiated tortoises cannot be sold across state lines. Please read all the comments above. We don't want you to lose your money.

 

[teresaf]

Gosh I hope youresdages got to her in time...

 

[the Turtle Shepherd]

Does this tortoise look familiar? https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/28-pounder-male-radiated.55076/

good job

 

[Nancy Taylor]

Hello Nancy,

Good thing you checked on this tortoise before making the purchase. It appears to be a scam as evidenced by use of the photo belonging to someone else.

My primary reason for responding is to advise you that unless both you and the seller have Captive Bred Wildlife Permits, you may not buy a Radiated Tortoise from a resident of any state other than the one which is your own legal residence. Your profile does not indicate where you live, so I am trying to help you avoid a problem.

IE, unless you live in CA, you could not (legally) purchase the tortoise in that ad from a seller who resides in CA.

Thank you for the message to come back and read the post. The tortoise I was interested in buying lives in the same state I do, Texas. But it did end up being a scam. At least I paid through PayPal and was protected and got my money back. After I determined it was a scam, I even went to look for another radiated tortoise and contacted a completely different person regarding their tortoise… The picture of this tortoise was different than the one I previously tried to purchase. But it turns out that they replied to my request telling me she was selling it for a sick friend and I needed to contact her directly. She provided me the owner’s name and phone number. Which you can only text by the way… And guess what… It was the same lady I have been dealing with for 2 1/2 weeks with the scam I was involved in. The lady then emailed me and told me that her friend had forwarded my email to her stating that I was already dealing with this seller and it was a scam. I told her I expected her to forward them to you since y’all are working together in the scam. Unbelievable

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Thank you for the message to come back and read the post. The tortoise I was interested in buying lives in the same state I do, Texas. But it did end up being a scam. At least I paid through PayPal and was protected and got my money back. After I determined it was a scam, I even went to look for another radiated tortoise and contacted a completely different person regarding their tortoise… The picture of this tortoise was different than the one I previously tried to purchase. But it turns out that they replied to my request telling me she was selling it for a sick friend and I needed to contact her directly. She provided me the owner’s name and phone number. Which you can only text by the way… And guess what… It was the same lady I have been dealing with for 2 1/2 weeks with the scam I was involved in. The lady then emailed me and told me that her friend had forwarded my email to her stating that I was already dealing with this seller and it was a scam. I told her I expected her to forward them to you since y’all are working together in the scam. Unbelievable

Golly.
How unpleasant some people can be.
Sorry you had to go through this.

 

[zovick]

Thank you for the message to come back and read the post. The tortoise I was interested in buying lives in the same state I do, Texas. But it did end up being a scam. At least I paid through PayPal and was protected and got my money back. After I determined it was a scam, I even went to look for another radiated tortoise and contacted a completely different person regarding their tortoise… The picture of this tortoise was different than the one I previously tried to purchase. But it turns out that they replied to my request telling me she was selling it for a sick friend and I needed to contact her directly. She provided me the owner’s name and phone number. Which you can only text by the way… And guess what… It was the same lady I have been dealing with for 2 1/2 weeks with the scam I was involved in. The lady then emailed me and told me that her friend had forwarded my email to her stating that I was already dealing with this seller and it was a scam. I told her I expected her to forward them to you since y’all are working together in the scam. Unbelievable

There are Radiated Tortoise breeders in TX. There is fellow named Jay Russo from Houston who has young ones right now at reasonable prices, too.

You can tell him I referred you and text him at: 832-452-4495