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South Jordan Journal

WVCPD Investigators Searching for Victims in “Puppy Fraud” Case

Sep 20, 2016 05:05PM ● By Bryan Scott
Press Release submitted to City Journals


The West Valley City Police Department is searching for victims in a puppy sales scam that's been going on for more than 2 years. Since April of 2014, 30 year old Chad Nielson and 26 year old Brittney Moore (pictures attached) have been selling Husky puppies using on-line classifieds such as KSL.com. The pair would advertise the puppies for $350 each and collect deposit money from people interested in purchasing a dog.

While the victims waited for their puppy to be old enough to come home, the suspects would often contact the victim and offer the "pick of the litter" in exchange for a larger deposit. Victims say the pair would also sometimes ask for more money, claiming that the puppy was sick and needed extra medical care. The sellers would promise that the extra cash would count as payment in full for the dog.

In the end, the victims would never receive their puppy at all. When it came time to pick up the puppy, the victims say they couldn't reach the sellers and if by some chance, the victim did get in touch, the suspects in the case would say that the puppy had died and promise a refund that would never come.

Many times these cases would be counted as a civil matter for victims to pursue through the courts, but thanks to the close attention and diligence of our WVCPD Investigations Bureau, this pattern of suspected criminal activity was discovered and is about to be presented for prosecution.

So far, we've identified 14 victims of this fraud, but we suspect there are others out there. We are asking anyone who attempted to purchase a puppy from Chad Nielson or Brittany Moore and never received the dog, to contact us at 801-840-4000 to file a report.