| new twist...
LOS ANGELES - A new online scheme ropes in people who want
to save puppies from desperate fates in Nigeria -- only
to lose hundreds of dollars or more to scam artists. The
Council of Better Business Bureaus and American Kennel Club
Tuesday plan to issue a warning about the newest scam from
Nigeria, The Los Angeles Times reported Monday. The scheme
uses phony Web sites, MySpace postings and print ads to
appeal to puppy lovers -- usually showing pictures of cute
bulldog pups that have allegedly become stuck in Nigeria,
or other countries, and are being offered free to new
owners. Some postings offer pricey English bulldogs at deep
discounts, the newspaper said. When people respond to the
ads, they are asked to send in hundreds of dollars for
expenses -- shipping, taxes, shots and the like. Some
victims of the scam said they were fleeced for more than
$1,500 for their "free puppies," but no matter how much
money they forked over, they never got the puppies. | 
