A Florida cancer patient says she lost more than $4,000 after falling victim to a scam falsely advertising puppies on the internet.
Danielle Garcia-Culp, who has been fighting the disease for four years, says that she was conned trying to buy the pet to support her through her illness.
Garcia-Culp, whose cancer has progressed to stage four, told News 6 at she saw an advertisement for an Australian Shepherd on Facebook.
She says that the dog had “eyes that said ‘I will love you forever” and arranged to have it delivered all the way from Pensacola to her home city of Umatilla.
As she waited for the dog to arrive, a delivery agent sent her a picture of what she believed to be her pet in a crate. Accompanying the image was a tracking number.
Garcia-Culp says that she also received a request for a $700 refundable deposit for the crate rental. Then came a request for a $1,500 deposit for pet insurance.
Shortly after, Garcia-Culp received yet another request for a deposit. Eventually, she had paid out around $4,450.
“I can only imagine somebody going through a similar situation I am, you know, and that puppy being almost like a lifeline and then it’s not real,” she said.
The outlet uncovered that the delivery company, which was named Global Logistics Transport Solutions, was registered through the European-based company Hostinger.
According to Hostinger, the company was involved in a logistics scam.
“At the time of your outreach, we had not received any prior reports about this website through our official abuse reporting channels,” Gediminas Gasiulis, a Product Communications Manager at Hostinger, told News 6.
“Following your inquiry and our internal investigation, we determined that the website in question was involved in a fraudulent 'fake courier' scheme - a type of logistics scam.”
Hostinger has since suspended the website, accusing it of violating its terms of service.
When the News 6 contacted the Facebook page where Garcia-Culp said she found the puppy, they received an automated response. Then, they received a reply which simply said: “Who?”
“She abandoned her pup at the delivery agency,” the person behind the page responded when given Garcia-Culp’s name. Meta told News 6 that it is looking into the outlet’s inquiry about the page.
Last month Garcia-Culp launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise $4,000. According to the campaign page, she lost her job at some point after receiving her stage-four cancer diagnosis and has struggled to find work since.
“Right now, I’m applying for disability, but that process can take months,” she wrote. “In the meantime, I’m struggling to cover my medical bills and basic living expenses.
“Every day is a challenge, but I know I’m not alone - there are so many kind people out there who want to help.”
The Independent has contacted Meta for comment.
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