Do not buy from Herphobbyist91
 

This seller accepted $370.00 for 4 Elgaria multicarinata on Sept. 4, 2018. The seller submitted a message claiming the lizards were not doing well. I asked the seller to try and rehabilitate the lizards and in two weeks let me know if the lizards were healthy enough to ship -or- refund my money. Since that message, the seller has not contacted me. The seller goes by two names; David Ramos on this website and by Daniel Gonzalez via PayPal. His email is denzellll91@gmail.com.
We did have a successful transaction for 3 Elgaria kingii one year ago. I'm not sure if this seller is a true scammer or if he/she died or went to jail. Either way, I'm out $370.00. I am trying to dispute this with PayPal. I will report if successful.
Sincerely,
-Kit Knight

Why did you not update your other thread? I guess the refund did not work?

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...d.php?t=666668

Because Daniel/David saw that particular thread and responded. I thought for sure we were going to resolve the issue. He/she never said why there are two names, either. Because I have not heard from this person in over a month, I have no choice now but to report this seller as a bad guy. Bummer.
-Kit

Why is this post so vague? The seller accepted 370, from who? The seller "submitred" a message, to who? Shipping date? Disclosure of admittance to sick animals? Two weeks rehabilitation, lol, to satisfy your acceptance of shipping? Woweee! Please post any and all correspondence you have regarding this deal.

From your original post of 8-28-18 (again)
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...d.php?t=666668

"Story: Seller with 4 Elgaria multicarnata photos. He wanted $65 each plus $60 flat rate shipping. I paid via PayPal within hours of the post, with extra just in case shipping was more ($370 total). Seller asked if I could "confirm receipt" before lizards were shipped to release the funds. I refused, within hours seller refunded PayPal money.
Conclusion: likely a scammer."

Did you, or did you not get your $370.00 refund for those lizards, Kit? A simple yes or no will do. Thank you.

The flags are already waving for seller's dual names, just answer refund question, please.

No, I did not get a refund.

Thank you, Kit. I was just trying to understand why you had previously stated the seller issued a refund, but then you posted this new warning.

I'm sorry you did not receive your money back. Obviously Herphobbyist91 aka David Ramos / Daniel Gonzalez / denzellll91 @gmail.com is one to be avoided.

This issue about 'David' vs. 'Daniel' was previously brought up in a prior 2016 BOI report. 'David' said the following regarding 'Daniel'...

Anyone see any red flags based on the kinds of animals being offered for sale?
Issues if you lived in Arizona vs. California?

'David' & 'Daniel', or simply just Daniel?

Account: herphobbyist91
David Ramos
Tucson, AZ
herphobbyist91@gmail.com

Account: dagonzal91
Daniel Gonzalez
Modesto, CA
dagonzal91@gmail.com

OK here's my story. My friend saw he post an ads about selling Ensatina eschscholtzii platensis with the price of 60 each, and he said he can did 400 shipped for all 6. BTW the name was Minh Nguyen, with that Daniel's email address as payment, so who knows which one is real name or they can be a squad. So I paid at 25th Sep and he told me he can did the shipping "next Monday", when that Monday got passed he told me 80 degree temperature was not good for shipping so another NEXT MONDAY. I said fine so I missed the good time to apply refund through PayPal. When the second Monday was there, he told me the package got returned and he wanted to do refund. AND that's all , no more next move. I tried to apply refund in PayPal but the system said the period was too long to apply so I got failed. Email address is denzellll91@gmail.com.

Thank you for posting this Yinpeng. At what point did the name "Minh Nguyen" come up? Do you have any screen shots of your conversations? I'm sorry this happened to you.

Found it. We already dealt with this account for stolen pictures, false location, etc. IP is not from Utah, but rather comes from the same area as "Daniel" in California. It was banned.
minh_n52@yahoo.com

Daniel Adam Gonzalez
Resume: https://digondesigns.wordpress.com/aboutresume/
General Info

• Age: 23
• Birth: 12/18/1991
• Location: California
• Degree: Associate of Science – Computer Graphics
• College: MJC
• Profession/Specialty: Graphic Design / Digital Art
• Skills: Photography, Photo Retouching, Website Development, Illustration, Layout Design (Magazines, Books, Etc)

exoticpetrrd@yahoo.com
Dagonzalez1991@yahoo.com
herphousereptiles@yahoo.com
(209)496-8376
(209)250-8440

https://www.facebook.com/Dagonzalez91

Same PayPal email in both:

Daniel Adam Gonzalez is a computer graphic designer (see resume above).
He created a previous fake account here offering design services:
Account: ArtisticAlias
Fake Name: Denzel Adam
artisticalias@yahoo.com

The PayPal email and the fake account both match 'Denzel'.
All IPs for all accounts come back to northern California (Modesto, Sacramento, San Fransisco area).

Around 10 accounts thus far can be tied back to Daniel.

It appears Daniel is an avid hiker. It appears he is repeatedly trying to sell native California species and changes his location via fake accounts in an attempt to do this.

Great work Robert
Sounds like another artist to avoid.
so sad our hobby is becoming more and more infected with this disease.

I feel truly sorry for those who are now out of money from this as no matter what anybody here says it is near impossible to recover relatively small amounts of money through interstate transactions.

Yinpeng

I know you say time limit for Paypal has expired ( I thought it was 60 days but maybe not?).
However, how did you fund that? If by credit card you may have recourse through your credit card company, worth a try if so.

Thanks Kevin.


Down the rabbit hole we go further.

Daniel has been on here scamming at least since July.
aka: Daniel Garcia
aka: Hilary Garnica

Daniel also lists himself as: Exotic Pet Rescue Rehome & Distribution
https://www.facebook.com/exoticpet.rrd.98
Here is the other BOI on these other aliases: http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...ghlight=daniel
PayPal address is itshetwisty88@gmail.com

Well, no one can say that he isn't dedicated to his craft. Imagine if he put so much energy into legitimizing himself and running a reputable operation instead of dedicating himself to scamming through a continuous stream of fake accounts. What a waste of ambition.

Yinpeng, how long ago did your transaction occur? Did you transfer money through PayPal using a credit card or a bank debit card with a credit card logo? If you did you can go back through your credit card and file a dispute. I have seen this Gonzalez character at some of the reptile shows in the area, and in doing a thorough search the only Daniel a Gonzalez that I can find in Northern California lives at home with his mommy and daddy in Modesto and I have the address and information for he and his parents along with phone numbers if it is appropriate for me to post? In addition to that I would hope that people will start filing a complaint with the Local District Attorney's office when people pull scams. I have had a couple of incidences and I took an hour and filled out every Complaint Form for every agency with jurisdiction and found that I would get my money back swiftly. These bad apples need to go.

I wonder if this bad guy has actually completed any sales in violation of the Lacey Act, or just taken peoples' money and never sent the animals?

Maybe an fws report is in order

Essential salamanders are a beautiful and amazing species we have in California . They are beautiful and intelligent . Depending on where you are located their patterns and colors differ , even some have different eye colors . We still know so little about these gorgeous amphibians . I found one in the Sierra with my nephew a year ago and he still talks about it like we found pirates gold . I hope I run into you on the trails , not to get physical , but to explain to you how sad it would be to not find Essential's in our mountains around California.

* Ensatina haha sorry Little heated and it got auto corrected.

Trying it again today: http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...d.php?t=675928
dg8000431@gmail.com
Ensatina eschscholtzii xanthoptica

I have been offered Ensentina by a David Melendez on Facebook. I now assume it is this same person.

Also note, the image in this thread, pretty clearly shows WC animals. http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...d.php?t=675928
I have ZERO sympathy for those individuals that will ignore such a big red flag in their desire to acquire an animal. These animals were clearly illegally obtained, yet OP had no problem ignoring the law in their pursuit of these animals. In my mind, OP is worse than the scammer because they actively encourage wildlife smuggling yet only get upset when it doesn't work out for them.

The same can be said for Taricha, if you suddenly acquire adult Taricha, I lose every bit of respect I have for you and will never sell you an animal. The caudata world is filled with people who have zero morals.

Hey All,
Good news, because I did buy the Alligator Lizards with PayPal protection, I just received a refund for $370. At least PayPal can protect us, which leads me to a good piece of advice: never pay someone as a "friend" or "family" on PayPal. Always pay them as a business. Best,
-Kit

That is good news. I am glad to read that you were reimbursed.

Yes, good news. Way to start your Thanksgiving holiday.

So glad PayPal came through and yes that is excellent advice from you.

Got me and another person too but I was refunded

Any further contact information to add here? Aliases/Names, Paypal, phone numbers, email, etc.? Even the smallest things add up.

Went to purchase arizona mountain kings from a daniel Garcia. Sent money via PayPal was never sent animals never refunded by him. Had to put in a claim threw PayPal and was finally refunded. Was back in june I'm at work now so dont have exact info but I'm betting my dollar this is same person. Seems to be repeat offender that when in need of money comes and lists on fauna.

Robert u commented on this when I listed on the boi so maybe u can access bud. I'm betting this is same person tho.

Hi Kit, I wanted to offer a suggestion. Consider a different avatar image. If was this seller, I probably would have taken a look at that and run the other way. I would have at least refunded you.

Not sure if you were trying to be funny but you've failed.


Anyway, I'm happy to hear you were refunded Kit. Hopefully all the negative experiences from folks in this thread are enough to keep more people from giving this "seller" money.

Looks like nlmiller got banned. I'm glad to see it - his posts were just annoying trolling and stirring stuff up. bye bye!

Daniel Gonzalez tried his scam again yesterday under a now banned account.

Account: Casper dole
Listed false location: Seattle, Washington
email: Theherpothecary@gmail.com

Deleted Ad read as follows:

Well my colonies must sense the rainy season because they have been doing “what comes natural” like crazy. Therefore it’s time to thin out my collection a bit. All of my salamanders are cbb, the original wild cought pairs were generations ago.
I’m letting a few baby and juvenile Ca. Slender salamanders, as well as a few pairs. These little guys are amazing, I’ve kept them for years and they still keep me interested, they will sometimes coil up as a defensive move and try to look like a snake, but they just look adorable instead. A very hardy animal these salamanders can withstand quite a bit of temperature variation as well as requiring no special lighting which makes them a great pet for beginners or experienced hobbyists. And watching them eat with that projectile tongue is awesome!! They don’t require a lot of space so they are the perfect addition to a living vivarium of any size. Room temperature has been the best in my experience. Long slim bodies and tails, some with fire red patterns and others brown or tan, some darker, with big gold flecked eyes!

I also have a few Hell Hollow slender salamanders, these are very similar to the Ca. Slenders but have a much more dramatic pattern that looks more like a fiery oil painting.

B. Attenautus
Babies and juveniles are $20
Single adults are $25
Pairs are $50
B. Diabolicus (Hell Hollow slenders) are $40

These guys will ship with a cup of living moss!

I’m unable to upload pics on here right now for some reason but I can text or email them to anyone interested. Just PM me