Hastings woman paid £1,300 in counterfeit notes for puppies sale

A Hastings woman is appealing for information after she was paid £1,300 in counterfeit notes when she sold her three miniature poodles.
The three dogs Sam Brodie thought she had sold on Sunday. Picture: Sam BrodieThe three dogs Sam Brodie thought she had sold on Sunday. Picture: Sam Brodie
The three dogs Sam Brodie thought she had sold on Sunday. Picture: Sam Brodie

Sam Brodie, 47, accepted a cash purchase from two men and a young boy who agreed to travel from Portsmouth to her house in Willingdon Avenue, St Leonards, on Sunday (January 6).

The men had initially agreed to buy one puppy before proposing to buy all three once they arrived in St Leonards.

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Sam said she and her mum were concerned by the proposal but the two men promised the dogs would be going to a loving home and talked them round to selling them for £1,300.

However, when she took the cash to the bank on Monday she was told the notes were all counterfeit.

She reported the incident to the police who told her there was little they could do.

Sam said: “I first reported it to two police officers down the road from the bank and then called Hastings police station once I got home and they took all the information down.
“But, as we don’t have enough information, police said they have decided to close the case.

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“I’ve given police the number for the two men which is still active but we haven’t heard anything.”

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Sam said her brother David called the number and spoke to a man who said he had puppies for sale.

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As a result, David made an appeal on his Facebook page to help track down the dogs he believes were ‘stolen’ from his sister.

He added: “From what my sister has told me, two men and a boy came to the house to buy a puppy but then offered to buy more of them.

“My sister and mum were concerned but they promised her they would be going to a loving home and talked her round to letting them go. They handed her £1,300.

“She went to the bank the following morning to pay it in only to have it taken away as all fake notes.

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“She is upset and worried. She has been to the police but has basically been told she was unlucky.

“So I’ve up the post up on Facebook and I’ve had a very good response and maybe a lead but again the police are not interested.”

A spokesman for Sussex Police said: “On Monday evening, January 7, we received a report that on the afternoon of Sunday, January 6, a St Leonards woman was paid in counterfeit notes – £1,300 in £20’s – for three puppies.

“She did not discover the notes were counterfeit until she took them to her bank on the following day.
“The matter has been noted for intelligence purposes but there are no current lines of enquiry.”

Sam asked anyone who knows where her dogs might be, to contact us on [email protected].