But a quick check on the email of the advertiser found that it belonged to a scammer who had already been operating in the UAE and was now trying to commit fraud in Saudi Arabia. Arab News contacted [email protected] and quickly the story changed. The birds were in Oman. All that was required was SR800 and they would be shipped to Saudi Arabia.

That would be impossible. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), since the outbreak of Avian Flu, the import of birds to Saudi Arabia has been restricted. Tero Cruy could not be dissuaded, just pay the SR800 to the shipping agency and the birds would be on their way. In fact, another pair had just been shipped to Italy.

Soon the "shipper" contacted Arab News at the email address given to Cruy. [email protected] wanted SR800 sent through SAMBA Speedcash in order to bring the birds to the Kingdom. Knowing it was a scam, it was time to torment the crook. The criminal phoned and emailed several times to beg Arab News to send the money so the birds weren't returned to the shipper. He eventually agreed to accept just SR400 in advance and the remainder on delivery. Such funds were never sent.

Additionally, a scheme was put in place for the crook to be contacted through many other email addresses, supposedly by people who wanted the birds. The criminal was kept busy for two weeks while his advertisements were removed from message boards and forums. Arab News discovered that the same fraudster was offering teacup Chihuahuas, Yorkshire Terriers and German Shepherds, too.

If you are interested in adopting a pet or re-homing a pet in Saudi Arabia, use the websites of reputable organizations such as saudipaws.com. There are many pets looking for homes and the SR800 given to the pet fraudsters for shipping a non-existent creature would buy a lot of cat food.