Joe Mueller
 

SCAM ALERT!

Here is all the information I have.

Name: Joe Mueller (also spelled Muller in one place)

Email addresses: jmueller12thman@gmail.com, cardiackid75@gmail.com, thereticman@gmail.com

Fauna name: 12th man

Location: Supposedly Puyallup, WA


So I was hoping I would never have to go through this but I need to warn others. I was taken for a ride by a gentleman I met here on Fauna. Unfortunately, Fauna was our main means of communication and I received an email stating my inbox was 90% full. I deleted some to make room. I don't have every single message received from him but I do have all that I sent.

I inquired about a male albino retic he listed as being available on 7/29. Once I asked for more pictures, I received pictures from two separate email accounts. I had let him know that we had recently taken in a dog that was having trouble with its eyes and needed a surgery. The surgery was quoted for $1,300 so there is no way I could pay until Friday and asked if there were any way possible he could hold the animal. He agreed and didn't have an issue with it.

We continued talking every evening about reptiles, our personal lives, anything and everything. We both worked nights so Thursday night/Friday morning (8/4), at 1:05AM I sent payment. It was $325. He let me know he had received it and would be shipping Monday. He asked for my zip code to check the weather and said everything looks good.

Monday (8/7) rolled around and I never got a message with tracking information or anything. I sent him two messages. He responded that evening, apologizing and telling me work was crazy busy. He also claimed his app logged him out for whatever reason and assured me he would ship the following day. That was the last I've heard from him. I have sent multiple messages here and a message to all of the email addresses I've encountered with him.

Here comes my biggest mistake of all - I felt as if he had done me a favor by holding the animal and as if I could trust him after all the time we'd spent talking. I sent payment via friends and family so I would absorb the fee. If I wanted to be nice, I should have just sent an extra $15 or something.

The red flags were there, I was just too excited to see them. His Fauna account was created 7/26. He used 3 separate email accounts. I could find no trace of his name on any other social media platform. There was no record of him anywhere on the BOI or feedback pages on Facebook.

I reverse image searched the pictures he used and couldn't find a trace of them anywhere else so I thought they were authentic.

Don't ever do friends and family unless they 100% are friends and family! I'm going to attempt to have something done through my bank but the chances are slim I would say.

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https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...99e4cb871a.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Sorry to hear that you got ripped off, but thanks for sharing your experience and the reminder not to use friends and family. If you used PP backed by a credit card you may have some options, worth checking into.

Keep an eye out for him posting other ads and post a link to this thread if you see them. Hopefully you can help someone else avoid getting screwed over.

Trusting someone with less than a week on the site is a bit of a red flag. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a few different accounts