Fairfax has been enticed into prominently running an infamous classifieds rip-off in the news section of The Age, with a fraud expert confirming to Crikey the ad for female English bulldog puppies was almost certainly a scam.

The Age ran the notorious advert over four consecutive days — yesterday, finally, on page three. Crikey understands similar ads cost well over $3000, before adding a 50% loading for premium page three positioning.

Crikey curiously pointed to the ad

The Age gets bitten by puppy ad scam