CATNAP CONMAN; Fraudster's ransom demand for pet.Byline: BY MAURICE FITZMAURICE A HEARTLESS conman targeted a cat-lover with ransom demands for her missing pet. Tortoiseshell Lily was last seen in the Mountain Road area of Newtownards, Co Down, on New Year's Eve. Distraught owner Fiona McDonald pasted posters across the town pleading for the six-year-old's safe return and made appeals in newspapers. But it was when she put an ad for information on an internet site she was targeted by a mystery man who claimed he had her beloved cat - but wanted cash before he would hand her over. Ms McDonald said: "He told me he had fed the cat and wanted my husband to meet him to make the handover n. 1. The act of relinquishing property or authority etc. to another; as, the handover of occupied territory to the original posssessors; the handover of power from the military back to the civilian authorities s>. . He said he would only give us Lily once cash had been transferred to a Western Union account." Luckily Fiona did not hand over the cash without doing research. She found the area of Belfast he claimed to live in only had a handful of houses and none of the residents had ever seen her cat. And when she checked the web for scams, she found Western Union pet ransom demands was a global scam. She added: "My hopes for getting Lily back were dashed but this guy kept sending me emails wanting money." "He's definitely one of these conmen who scan internet ads for missing pets and then targets owners. "If this had been a pensioner PENSIONER. One who is supported by an allowance at the will of another. It is more usually applied to him who receives an annuity or pension from the government. they might well have been tricked into handing over a bundle of savings. "It's disgusting, and people need to be warned not to fall for this." Fiona is still appealing for help to find Lily. She said: "If anyone has any idea where she is, please get in touch." There have been hundreds of petnappings across the UK since 2006. It's thought of the 520 cats and dogs Cats and Dogs A slang term referring to speculative stocks that have short or suspicious histories for sales, earnings, dividends, etc. Notes: In a bull market analysts will often mention that everything is going up, even the cats and dogs. that go missing every day, 150 have been snatched for ransom. Charity DogLost has warned animals have been stolen at knifepoint knife·point n. The sharp end of a knife. Idiom: at knifepoint Under threat of being stabbed or cut with a knife: was mugged at knifepoint. and offered back to their owners for cash. The issue hit the headlines last year after the suspected theft of actress Liz Hurley's labrador pup - and a German shepherd German shepherd, breed of large, muscular working dog perfected in Germany at the turn of the 20th cent. It stands about 25 in. (64 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs from 60 to 85 lb (27.2–38.5 kg). owned by crooner Engelbert Humperdinck. CAPTION(S): TARGET Lily & her owner Fiona |
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