primewaytransit.com

I am reporting a suspected online pet-purchase and shipping scam involving the website primewaytransit.com and an associated seller who instructed me to pay through my Chime account. After paying the seller for a live animal, I was directed to this website, which claims to be a shipping company. The site provided a tracking number and then contacted me via its built-in chat, stating that my ‘shipment’ was on hold due to an alleged insurance requirement. I was told I must pay an additional ‘refundable insurance’ fee of $200 before delivery could proceed, with the promise that this fee would be ‘100% refundable upon delivery.’ When I questioned this, the site’s representative/bot stated: ‘we can’t carry a live animal…without an insurance,’ implying that they cannot legally transport the animal between states without my separate insurance payment. Based on my research, this appears to match a known pattern of pet-shipping scams: a fraudulent seller, a fake or complicit courier website, fabricated tracking, and escalating demands for ‘refundable’ fees such as insurance or permits, with no intent to deliver any animal or issue refunds. The website also appears to use stolen or fake photos of people on its ‘About’ page to impersonate legitimate staff. I believe this conduct constitutes deceptive practices, misrepresentation, and attempted financial fraud against consumers. I request that the FTC investigate this website and its operators, and take any appropriate enforcement action. I am prepared to provide screenshots of the website, the tracking page, the insurance demand, the chat messages, and records of my Chime payment to assist in any investigation. [BBB Scam Type: Online Purchase] [Business: Suzan Haynes] [Location: MI, USA- 48166]