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Authorities dog canine con man By Dani Dodge A Phoenix, Ariz., con artist who preyed on owners of lost pets appears to have moved on to other small communities since a July 30 Mail Tribune article revealed his scam. After bilking several Rogue Valley residents out of hundreds of dollars, he�s moved onto Merced, Calif., and narrowly escaped capture outside a Western Union office in Arizona. He�s been at work in at least six communities nationwide. "He either reads the paper or gets a hint that something is going on," said Jackson County sheriff�s Sgt. Rich Fogarty. "Why run the risk of getting caught when you can go across the U.S. and you�ll be safe?" For months, a man from Phoenix, Ariz., has been placing calls to people who advertised lost dogs in the Mail Tribune. Apparently, he was finding the dog ads via the Internet. He tends to target victims who advertise a reward. The man, who uses different names but recently has used the initials B.J., calls collect from different Phoenix-area pay phones and says his boss stole the lost dog. After a series of calls, B.J. offers to steal the dog back and send it home on a plane for the price of a dog carrier and a ticket: $350 to $500. Before hitting the Medford area, someone working the same scam victimized people in Moshiem, Tenn., Dallas, Texas, Spartanburg, S.C., Merced, Calif., and a Connecticut community. In Spartanburg, he also quit calling after a story ran in the local paper. "He�s dealing with Connecticut and South Carolina and playing on people�s desire to get their pet back," said Lt. Ron Ghana, spokesman for the Spartanburg County sheriff�s office. "The guy � if he�s clever and he�s already proven himself to be � can do this indefinitely." But when Western Union special investigator Gary Maher, Merced Police Department detective Harry Markarian and a Merced victim teamed up a few weeks back, they came close to outsmarting the man. Kevin Collins had sent $500 to B. J. a little over a month ago in an effort to get back Kiko, his border Collie mix. Of course, Kiko never arrived on a plane. Collins renewed his ad, and then got B.J.�s call again two weeks ago. B.J didn�t realize he was redialing the same victim. Collins � the fifth known victim in Merced � got in touch with Detective Markarian. Again, Collins said he would send $500. The way Western Union works, B.J. could pick the money up at any office, so authorities traced it. "Western Union told him there was a mistake when he wanted $500. He got nervous." Markarian said. "He walks across to a pay phone and calls his victim and says �Hey what�s going on?� ""Then the police rush the door. He saw it all." Collins said he was disappointed the sting didn�t work. "I was so close to getting him and I wanted him so bad," he said. "Though, I�d really rather have my dog back." David Holcomb, a 25-year-old Medford man tried to be careful when B.J. called him five months ago after he lost his boxer Rayi. B.J. gave him the same story he gave other area lost dog owners, and seemed to know things about the Medford area that lent credence to his story. Still, suspicious, Holcomb agreed to send B.J. $100 for the dog carrier and B.J. agreed to take Rayi to the airport where Holcomb could work out the rest of the details with the airlines. Holcomb never got another call after sending the money. He later called Medford police, but there was nothing they could do. "He was just slick," Holcomb said of the Arizona caller. "It just amazes me, because I�m a conservative, cautious person. But we learned the hard way we were scammed." Fogarty, the Jackson County sergeant, said the best way to avoid being victimized is not to take collect calls and to definitely not send money to someone you don�t know. Tell the person who claims to have your dog to take it to the local Humane Society Shelter, where you�ll work out the details. Fogarty said eventually B.J.�s number will be up. "I think he�s smarter than a guy stealing a six-pack out of 7-Eleven," Fogarty said. "But no rocket scientist." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA