Consumer complaint received 2022-08-04
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: ASSOCIATED BANC-CORP (TX)

On Saturday, XX/XX/2022, I made a purchase from a supposedly trustworthy pet adoption website. The website is XXXX The first transaction I was asked to make was {$650.00} for the transport of my pet. I did sign an online contract to ensure that my pet would be delivered in a healthy condition. The first person I was supposed to transfer money to was XXXX XXXX, whose email is XXXX. However, the transaction did not go through XXXX, as XXXX XXXX 's banking was apparently not working correctly. I was then given a second account, supposedly belonging to XXXXXXXX XXXX husband. The name on the account was XXXX XXXX and his email is XXXX. His email worked for XXXX and the transaction of {$650.00} went through successfully. 

Shortly after this, on Sunday, XX/XX/2022 I received an email from XXXX They were telling me that I needed to pay to rent a special crate for my pet. I had been warned by XXXX that this was coming, so I did not see anything out of the ordinary. The email also said that I would be refunded 98 % of what I paid to rent this crate. I signed an email contract concerning this refund. I then sent two payments that equaled {$1500.00} to XXXX XXXX, whose email is XXXX. The first time we attempted this payment, XXXX put a hold on the account and failed any other transactions. When we explained this to XXXX through email, I was told to by XXXX gift cards equal in amount to {$1500.00}. My husband and I were uncomfortable with this and opted to call our bank ( Associated Bank ) in the morning to resolve the issue with XXXX. On Monday, XX/XX/2022, XXXX emailed me to tell me that I needed to pay for pet insurance to move my pet. The cost of this was {$1900.00}. Again, I was told that I would be fully refunded at the delivery of my pet. I sent the payment and there was no hold from XXXX. I also signed an emailed contract stating that my total refund at this time would be {$3400.00}. 

On Tuesday, XX/XX/2022, XXXX emailed me again telling me that I needed to pay for vaccinations and a legal form to transport my pet across state lines. They told me that the amount would equal {$1600.00} and that I would be totally refunded once my pet arrived. Again, I sent the money, but XXXX put a hold on my account. I called my bank to try to get this figured out and they were unable to remove the hold immediately. When I explained this to XXXX  via email, they once again told me to buy them XXXX gift cards. They also threatened that my pet could not be delivered because they would have held her for over 72 hours. At this point, my husband and I started researching both XXXX and XXXX and found that neither have a good reputation outside of their own websites. Realizing that we had probably been scammed, we called the bank to cancel the final payment of {$1600.00}. In subsequent emails, we have asked if we could drive to where our pet supposedly is. We have been told that is not an option, but that my husband could pay instead. We did not reply to that email. On XX/XX/2022, I received a call from XXXX asking about the payment. When I said, we could no longer afford the dog, he continued to pressure us into buying the XXXX gift cards to which point I hung up.