UPDATE!!!!!!! If anyone asks you to cash a check for them....

[Edwina's Secretary]

That woman was the biggest phony ever on PetTalk (and that is saying alot!)

She did not have a Phd - which was rather evident as she rarely constructed a simple sentence correctly. I don't remember now where she claimed to have taken her doctorate - but I checked because I could not believe it. (College degrees are one of the easiest things to verify.) As someone pointed out recently - if you have to tell people how educated you are - you probably aren't.

Her on-line "university" was laughably bad - offering course in magic spell casting and other such crap. Until it was shut down for non-payment.

Watching her spin her stories was interesting. She is a scam artist. I wonder how many people sent her money for her various "crisis"?

I have a letter sent to the former CEO of one of my clients. From some Asian country. Offering, because his last name, blah, blah, blah...the author of the letter will share the millions left in a bank account that belonged to Saddam Hussein. All he has to do is....blah, blah.

Same scam - different scope.

Offering part of the money if you will just help them out with this financial transaction.

I am willing to bet you if you had been able to cash that check and send her the money it would have been "lost" and FedEx or whatever would not have been willing to accept responsibility and she would have been back on your doorstep with the next step in the story.

Or you would have been responsible for the bad check while she disappeared into the night.

So maybe you are lucky to have gotten out now.

[sasvermont]

I was never a fan of the person involved in this mess. Donna, you were friends with her, but that was your decision. I always thought her posts were a bit off, as I have felt about a few other odd souls who have posted here from time to time. I, too, didn't believe she had her PhD, but I never checked.

I feel sorry for anyone who rips off another, especially a so called friend.

Many years ago, I signed a lease for someone who swore they would live up to their commitment and of course they did not and I was stuck with a lease on an apartment 2000 miles away from where I was living. It worked out but it cost me a ton of money. Yes, it was between a friend and yours truly. Live and learn.

There are so many scams out there today.

I am sure Donna has learned her lesson. (((((((((((((((Donna)))))))))))))))

[cassiesmom]

He also, as a favor to me, checked to make sure Lexie Joon was there and in good condition. She was. Getting Lexie Joon back, unfortunately, is not an option.

Did he say why not? I am disappointed about that.

I am so sorry, Donna. You are guilty of being too nice. It's hard to break that habit isn't it? I'm like that too.

*raising my hand*

[moosmom]

She WAS a friend I THOUGHT I could trust. I'm surprized you found out so much about her, ES. This has been a very trying experience for me but I can assure you, it will never happen again.

She lied to the police chief and told him the check was for a secret shopper and telling me it was for her "widow's benefits. I called DCF on her to insure the safety and well being of her son and there was an active investigation going on, so she told me they were holding her check till the investigation was complete and closed.

The reason I won't be able to get Lexie Joon back is because I'd have to hire a lawyer and go through the courts. And I can't afford a lawyer. I thought because I have the original contract from the breeder that it would be easy. It sucks. But Chief Lukas has assured me that Lexie is there and in excellent health and condition. Everytime I think about her with that scam artist, I start to cry. I feel like I let her down. Hindsight has 20/20 vision. I'll believe her sending me my $110 back when I actually see it in the mail.

I'm going to go light a candle for Lexie right now that she stays safe and happy.

Thank you all so much for helping me through this.

[phesina]

Here is another candle for Lexie Joon: http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/...ng&cid=9668944

[Catty1]

Donna...how heartbreaking! Just a thought...is there anything the breeder could do?

Lexie Joon may be ok though...my best friend and her fiance had a basement and the couple upstairs yelled a lot and were noisy. Yet their two cats and dog were healthy, friendly and well cared for.

Sometimes people mess up members of their own species alone.
Prayers and hugs!

[momcat]

Hey Donna, You did the right thing by getting the police involved. I tend to think this individual knows where that check came from. I worked as a bank teller years ago and remember that we were not allowed to cash a third party check without the manager's approval.

As for Lexie Joon, could any of your rescue contacts maybe be able to connect you with someone in the perp's area that could keep an eye on things and possibly make her go "poof" if things do get out of hand?

[moosmom]

Making her go "poof" is not an option as she takes her EVERYWHERE. They are joined at the hip.

[cassiesmom]

a candle for Moosmom and Lexie: http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/...ng&cid=9690965

[Catty1]

I seem to recall that Lexie turned into a therapy cat for cardiac stuff...though I really don't know if I believe that. Certainly Lexie Joon COULD do that...but I only have the owner's word to go on.

[jennielynn1970]

I was talking to my boyfriend about this scam, and he said you got off a lot easier than 2 people from the town where he grew up. How about this...

Couple agrees to cash check for another friend, only to find out it is a bogus check and that is was one of those "cash this, take so much of the money, and send me the rest of it" deals, and then to find yourself ARRESTED for cashing the bogus check?! They ended up in jail for 3 YEARS. Don't know if there was more involved with their scam, but getting jail time for a check someone else asked you to cash for them, and nothing happened to the other party, that's just wrong.

[moosmom]

No check in the mail yet. Looks like it's time for yet another call to the Police Chief.

[orangemm]

I work in a bank and this kind of thing happens all the time with our clients. They'll come in with checks for thousands of dollars that they "won in a lottery"...except they never entered one!

it's always a scam. One of my best friends went through this a month ago. She was selling a whole bunch of craft items on Craigslist and this guy emailed her that he wanted it all, to take it off the listing, that he was overnighting a check for the entire thing. He was "unaccessable" by phone because he was in North Dakota (huh?).

I told her if she got a check to take it to her bank and have them verify it. Sure enough it was bogus.

Never ever do this for anyone!!! So many people have been ripped off it isn't funny. One woman here lost almost $10,000 because of lowlifes like this.

I'm so sorry you had to go through this, but thankfully you didn't lose a huge bundle. $100 is bad enough, but think if you had done what she asked. Yikes!