The SCAM

Someone tried to scam us again.  It happened once before when we had monster van for sale on craigslist.  This time, Daren and Natalee were trying to find an adorable dog that Natalee could get for her birthday.  They found the following ad on pennysaverusa.com:

Quality White YorkshirePuppies For Home Sale
Price: $100
Location: Inyokern, CA 93527

registered Yorkshire puppies for re homing for more about our Yorkshire Terrier puppies Email us via jamesclarkson83@live.com for pics and more information about them a;so why i am given them out,Email us also on (jamesclarkson83@live.com)

This picture was included in the ad.  You can see why Daren and Natalee were so thrilled that this dog, for a mere $100, was located only a few miles from our home.
     I was getting ready to lay down for a nap when Daren told me that he had emailed the guy and was waiting to hear back from him.  Before falling asleep I told him how a friend had recently told me that so many online pet advertisements are just from scam artists that offer to ship the dog from a distant location such as Hawaii.  I found it hilarious when I woke up that sure enough, the "guy" (or little old lady?) had emailed back and was currently living in Hawaii.  What a surprise!
     This is the email we got back:

> Hello,
> I have a male and female puppies still available
> to go to a good and caring home. they are always happy being together.
> they love to go out for walks, parties and picnics . Right now i do
> not really feel as
> keeping them anymore especially how i lost my (kid &Husband) in an
> accident and i will also be going in for surgery .i will be sending
you the puppy/puppies from here ok .i hope it wont border you . things
have been hard for me ever since and am presently not in any position
of keeping the puppies any longer .I am presently transferred to
Hawaii and i am with the puppies here.. the puppies are
12weeks old and the delivery will take some hours to reach your
location ok . i have to get a legal document that certify and confirms
you as the new owner of the puppy/puppies you get from me ok . its
going to be done legally but easy and fast here in my location ......i
will pay the transportation charges for the puppies to be delivered to
you ok . so what you will only pay for is the adoption fees including
crate . So for one puppy you will be paying $180 and both puppies you
will pay $310 all the fees include both adoption and crate fees for
the puppies.
Do let me know which of the puppies you are interested in taking
......You are also free to take both puppies which is more preferably
since they love to play together depending if you can take good care of
them .Email me your delivery information , which will also be used to
get the puppies delivered to you as follow;
Full Names
Country
State / City
Home Address
Phone Numbers
Zip Code
Nearest Airport to your Location
i wait to read from you soon ....
(4 more similar adorable pictures were attached)

After reporting the mysterious email to a fraud center, this is the email we sent in return:

Uh, no thanks. We only responded to your ad because you said you were
located in Inyokern, which is close to where we live. We would never
buy a dog from Hawaii because it's too risky that it's just a scam.
You will probably have better luck finding a home for them locally. I
have a friend in Hawaii who might be interested if you want me to
contact them for you.

I really wanted to write something much worse but I was worried that if they are very evil people they would retaliate.  Daren was concerned that it really was a sweet, little old Japanese lady who recently lost her husband and son. He kept telling me to say something like, "If you ever have the dog back in Inyokern please contact us."  But I really just couldn't.  The pictures are adorable and I can see why he hated to give up all hope.