Mohave Daily News: State

PHOENIX (AP) - Ads appearing in Arizona online and print classifieds offer English Bulldog and Yorkshire Terrier puppies and all you do is pay for shipping.

The hitch is when contacted by e-mail, the giver says they're on a religious mission in Africa and they need a few hundred dollars to ship the dog.

The con artists get the money, and the dog, if there ever was one, is never shipped.

The Better Business Bureau and the American Kennel Club have issued warnings about the scam.

‘‘This particular 'Nigerian missionary' scam seems to be coming to a head right now,'' said Daisy Okas, a spokeswoman for the New York-based AKC. The club started getting complaints last month and knows of at least a half-dozen victims.

One of those taken in the scam is Michelle Messmer, 23, of Mesa. She spent $1,200 between January and March on a Yorkshire terrier that never arrived.

The seller claimed to be in Illinois and originally wanted $350 to ship the dog.

After Messmer wired the money, she said the excuses started piling up. The seller claimed the person who was supposed to ship the dog had an emergency and took the dog with him to Nigeria.

The ‘‘shipper'' then e-mailed her and said he and the dog were returning but were stuck in customs. More money was needed to get the dog out.

Then, the dog got sick, and the vet bill needed to be paid.

Messmer, feeling heartsick and embarrassed, had enough and stopped sending money. ‘‘It was very sickening,'' she said.

The fraud has been around since at least December, according to the Better Business Bureau of Central/Northern Arizona.

Scammers focus on popular and expensive breeds, such as English bulldogs and Yorkshire terriers, the BBB said.

The sellers post local phone numbers as a way of giving themselves credibility. The phone numbers turn out to be disconnected or are a church or business that has no relation to the ad, the BBB said. Buyers then turn to the ad's Internet e-mail address.

Crooks on the other end of the Web begin gearing up and luring unsuspecting animal lovers into the con.

Breeders say it's important for people to know who the seller is and where the seller lives so the buyer can return the pet if there are any problems.