On
May 10, 2005 I came across an ad in the classified section
of Kingsnake.com that read "1.0 Snow Boa $3300 Shipped".
The seller "Joshua Wright" e-mail address jwexotics@aol.com
and I exchanged letters for a few days before I sent him an
e-check through Pay-Pal. On May 17th the check cleared and
the money was removed from my account and transferred to his.
An e-mail was sent by Josh letting me know that he had received
the money and was ready to ship the snake. That was over a
month ago and I have not received the snake nor has he returned
any of my e-mails. I'm writing this letter for my website
readers to inform you of the possible fraudulent act of Joshua
Wright. I must admit my first thoughts were concern that something
may have happened to Josh. I wondered if he had been injured
or worse.
On
June 2, 2005 a friend of mine called and told me that he had
found a post on Kingsnake that read "Has anyone seen
or heard from Joshua Wright at jwexotics@aol.com ?”
I rushed to open the ad and found that it had been written
by John Davis an investment quality ball python breeder from
New Jersey. John's email address is Jersey71@aol.com. John
had a similar experience with Joshua Wright. On or near the
same day John contacted Josh through Kingsnake Classified.
Josh was supposedly selling a 1600 gram adult female albino
ball python for $4,000. E-mails and phone calls were exchanged
and John sent Josh the money through Pay-Pal.
More
than a month has now passed since either John or I have heard
from Joshua Wright. We have both contacted Pay-Pal, our banks,
the Spokane Police Department and the FBI.
We
are waiting for information that may explain what has happened
to Joshua Wright and our money.
If
anyone has information that may help our situation please
contact me at (408)981-6694 or contact the Spokane police
department at (509)625-4100. The police report number is 05-179634.
A
week or so after there was no response from Joshua Wright
I had my bank pull the $3300 from Pay-Pal's account. Pay-
Pal has confirmed that there is no money in Joshua Wright's
Pay-Pal account. Pay-Pal has responded by letting me know
that if I don't put the $3300 back into their account they
(Pay-Pal) will take me to collections. I have used Pay-Pal
in the past with confidence. The confidence that Pay-Pal advertises
is being threatened by the reaction I have received.
I
have been breeding and selling snakes for many years. This
is the first time I have experienced anything like this. I
still have the highest regard for the professionalism and
ethics of the herpetocultural community.
Please
be careful. There may be someone out there that is only interested
in your money. Thank you for your time.
---------- Brian Gundy of For Goodness Snakes
