Man charged with duping Western Pennsylvanians in online puppy scam

A Cameroonian man has been extradited to Pittsburgh to answer charges that he was running an online scam purporting to sell puppies.

Desmond Fodje Bobga had an initial appearance on the charges on Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Maureen Kelly. He is being held in the Allegheny County Jail and charged with fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, forging seal of court and aggravated identity theft.

Investigators said that he created a website, since deleted —lovelyhappypuppy.com — listing puppies, including miniature dachshunds and chihuahuas, for sale. Then, once the customer made the first payment, he would request additional money, sometimes adding up to thousands of additional dollars, false USDA certifications, shipping, vaccinations and covid-19 quarantine.

The criminal complaint lists six victims, including people living in New Brighton, Pittsburgh, Cheswick and Marion Center, as well as Texas and Iowa.

Bobga, who was attending college in Romania, had been in custody there for five months. He was extradited to the United States in the last two weeks.

According to the criminal complaint in the case, in March 2020, a New Brighton woman was looking online to find a puppy to buy for her mother. She came across a website listing mini dachshunds for sale.

The woman submitted a request for information, investigators said, and on March 11, 2020, received a text message from a man who said that a dog named Pansy was still available for $500.

The price later increased to $600, and the woman paid as instructed — by getting $600 in Walmart gift cards and sending pictures of the cards and pin numbers.

The woman then received an email from dachshundshome99@gmail.com containing a transfer of ownership document.

The woman was told that Pansy would be shipped by plane from Houston to Pittsburgh through an entity called “Pets Fly America,” with an expected arrival two days later.

The email also provided a tracking number for Pets Fly America’s website to monitor Pansy’s status.

According to the complaint, the woman then received messages from a different number for a person purportedly involved in shipping the puppy. Those messages said that something had come up in Pansy’s transport, and that she had been held over in Oklahoma.

“According to the sender, one of the issues included Pansy being quarantined due to being exposed to covid-19 on the flight. As a result, the sender indicated that Victim-l needed to send additional fees to ensure Pansy’s safe transport, including the need for an air-conditioned shipping crate and insurance fees,” the complaint said.

Overall, investigators said, the woman sent $8,500 in international wire transfer payments between March 13 and March 21.

Over those eight days, the complaint said, the woman exchanged 900 text messages with the alleged scammers.

Through search warrants associated with the phone numbers and email accounts used in the exchanges, investigators were able to track Bobga to Babes-Bolyai University in Romania. They also were able to use those emails to identify two of Bobga’s classmates whose names match those the alleged victim was in contact with.

A woman in Fruitland, Iowa, who also wanted a mini dachshund, was identified as a victim in the complaint as well.

She was contacted on March 4, 2020, and told that a dog named Tina was still available and would cost $600 including shipping.

The next day the woman made a $300 deposit, again using Walmart gift cards.

After the woman paid the remaining $300, she received an email from petsflyamerica@outlook.com advising that Tina had arrived in Chicago but that she lacked appropriate insurance, which required a $950 refundable payment, the complaint said.

The woman sent the money through PayPal. She then received another notice that she needed to pay $890 for vaccines and an air-conditioned crate. Investigators said she sent that money in a wire transfer.

It was when the woman received an email asking for $1,500 for a refundable U.S. Department of Agriculture pet and livestock permit that she refused to send any additional money.

Another email address used in the alleged scam was lovelyteacupchihuahua1@gmail.com.

Other alleged victims, including a woman in Indiana, Pa., tried to buy a teacup chihuahua for $600; and a woman from Cheswick was going to buy a chihuahua named Bentley for $600.