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Horse Buying Fraud
09/04/03

Reported with permission from Equine.com ***************************************************************************

A very serious matter has come to our attention and we feel it is our duty to inform our users regarding any type of large-scale fraudulent activity that may be taking place related to this industry. We strongly believe in educating everyone to create an environment that is beneficial to both the buyer and the seller.

People selling horses are receiving buyer inquiries from a third party regarding the purchase of a horse from a potential buyer in Nigeria or Africa. This inquiry commonly attempts to arrange the purchase of the horse with a cashiers check covering the price of the horse and shipping. After the horse has been shipped, they commonly ask you to refund the shipping charges as part of a „finders‚ fee‰ arrangement.

Unfortunately, the cashier‚s check that is sent is counterfeit. This fact is not uncovered until the horse and the finder‚s fee have been forwarded to the scam artists.

To protect yourselves and others against this type of activity, it is important to try and obtain as much information about the buyer as possible. If you suspect the buyer may be involved in this or similar scams, please forward any information you can obtain to the following organizations:

For U.S. complaints use the Federal Trade Commission Consumer Complaint Form: https://rn.ftc.gov/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01

For Canadian Complaints contact the Royal Canadian Mounted Police: http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/scams/scams.htm

To help you in recognizing these types of scams, we have provided below a list of indicators. They are only guidelines, and as always, should be tempered with common sense.

- Big Promises Claims such as offering more money than the asking price without an initial conversation regarding the horse are almost always a sure sign of a scam. Be careful of any individual who wants to send you more money than you are asking for.

- High Pressure Tactics Be wary of individuals asking you to speed up the transaction beyond your comfort range. Again, a legitimate deal probably isn't going to move as fast as your money. Don't let yourself be pressured -- think things through.

- Requests for financial information. Don‚t give out any bank information without establishing a comfort level with the buyer or seller.

- Always get something in writing. You should never complete a transaction without first writing down the terms of the deal and have each party sign it. If you can‚t afford a lawyer to draft up a contract, you still should write down the terms of the deal in plain English and get it signed. Any buyer or seller that is hesitant or resists is usually a sure sign of a potential problem.

- Remember the old saying, "If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is."

I would like to thank you for helping us keep our industry true by spreading the word about fraudulent buyers and sellers. Equine.com is doing its part, so please help us by doing what you can too.

Aaron T. Bromagem President Equine.com

____________________________________ Reported on: 4/13/03 Ms. Peichel -

Thanks for your alert on the e-mail. This thing is quite widespread and has come to be known as the "Nigerian Scam." It has been circulated widely on the internet and through the U.S. mails.

A number of people haven't been as astute as you in detecting the aroma that this thing gives off, and have been taken for some sizeable amounts.

The federal government is quite aware of it and has been working diligently to shut it down, but to no avail. There is a suspicion that the perpetrators may have connections in the Nigerian government, so enforcement efforts meet a wall of resistance. Our government continues to work on it, however.

The bright side is that the word seems to be getting out, and recipients of the offer are becoming more suspicious. The U.S. Secret Service has excellent information on this scam on their website at: http://www.secretservice.gov/alert419.shtml

Again, thanks for sending this along.

Sincerely,

Jack Jarpe, Consumer Protection Division Office of Mike Hatch, Attorney General State of Minnesota

www.ag.state.mn.us consumer.ag@state.mn.us

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