Gloversville couple to give free puppy to victim of Texas scam
A Gloversville couple said they want to make a difference after a scammer impersonated them on Facebook to try to sell puppies for $850.
Victoria Chapin and Jordan Twardy said a scammer stole their puppy photos and videos. The couple really is trying to sell puppies, but a scammer managed to trick one woman in Texas, who reached out to Chapin to say she hadn’t received her puppy.
Chapin spoke to the woman, named Shirley Alred, and they realized it was all a scam.
“After that, we talked, she cried a bit and I just explained with scams you have to be careful,” Chapin said.
The couple decided they wanted to make it right.
“My husband and I talked about it, and he said, ‘We should send her a dog,'” Chapin said.
Twardy said he wants to pay it forward.
“We did not take her money, but I have an opportunity to fix it,” Twardy said. “If everyone just took a second to help each other, you don’t have to help everyone, but help one person, and down the road, they’re going to help another person.”
Alred was shocked.
“I was astonished. I couldn’t believe it,” Alred said to NewsChannel 13 via video chat. “I can’t believe that someone would do this for me.”
The couple let Alred choose what puppy she wanted. She chose a reddish-brown male, currently named Brownie by one of Chapin and Twardy’s children.
Alred said she’s going to name him Elvis.
“I have a 12-year-old Sheltie right now, so that’s why I wanted another one, because he’s getting frail,” Alred said. “They’re so smart.”
Alred wants to warn people about the scam that tricked her. The scammer said they wouldn’t accept Alred’s Visa credit card, and insisted she pay by gift card.
They told Alred to go to CVS, and buy Apple gift cards, worth $500 and $350. Once Alred read the card numbers over the phone, her money was gone, and the scammer went radio silent.
Chapin said she has changed out all her photos and videos on Facebook of the puppies, and tells future buyers she will do live video chats with them so they can see the puppies for themselves. That’s something the Better Business Bureau suggested.
Rachel Tiede will dig into what you should watch for, and how you can avoid falling to a scam like this one, Wednesday Live at 5 p.m. and on WNYT.com.