If you are considering a new furry friend to fulfill a Christmas wish, you may have considered purchasing a puppy online. But as I have warned in the past, the world of online puppy sales is plagued by scams. The BBB reports that at least 80% of the sponsored advertising you see when searching for pets may be fraudulent.
In Amarillo, Texas, a consumer purchased a 10-week old puppy online for $850. After the initial purchase, the seller of the puppy contacted the consumer and demanded an additional $500 for a climate-controlled crate for shipping. The seller threatened to report the consumer for pet abandonment if they didn’t pay the extra money.
With the fear of getting in trouble, the consumer sent the additional funds. However, after a week of phone calls between the two of them, the seller disappeared and could no longer be contacted. The consumer was left feeling frustrated and scammed, with no puppy and the loss of $1350.
Puppy scams are a type of scam where unsuspecting buyers are duped into purchasing fake or nonexistent puppies online. The scam often starts with a fake website or online advertisement for a litter of puppies, which may include pictures and detailed descriptions of the puppies for sale.
Once the buyer expresses interest in purchasing a puppy, the scammer will often ask for a deposit or the full purchase price to be paid upfront. The buyer may be told that the puppy will be shipped to them, or that they can pick it up in person once the payment has been received.
However, after the payment is made, the buyer either never receives the puppy, or is contacted to cover additional fees, shipping, health issues or last minute vaccinations. Scammers may even provide fake documents, such as health certificates or shipping documents, to make the sale appear legitimate.
When looking for a new pet, it’s important to avoid getting scammed. Here are a few tips to help:
Always try to see the pet in person before purchasing it. Attempt to do a live video call to view the animal, meet the breeder, and evaluate the facility. If a seller is only willing to communicate through email and text, it’s a scam.
Do a quick internet search. Use a reverse image search to see if the photos you have appear on multiple websites. You can look up the text in ads or testimonials to see if the seller copied it from another site, scammers often copy legitimate breeder websites to look more authentic.
Check out petscams.com if you have found a website from which you may want to make a purchase. This site tracks complaints, catalogues puppy scammers, and tries to get fraudulent pet sale websites taken down.
Avoid payments by methods that make it hard to trace recipients such as gift cards, Venmo, Zelle, and money transfers such as MoneyGram or Western Union.
Research prices for the breed you are interested in adopting. If a purebred dog is advertised for free or at a huge discount, and then you are asked to pay for things like vaccination or shipping, it’s probably a scam.
Finally, consider adopting a pet from a local shelter or rescue group. It will make you and the adopted pet very happy!
If you would like more information on puppy scams, contact Better Business Bureau at 419-223-7010 or visit https://www.bbb.org/all/petscams.
Reghan Winkler is executive director of the Better Business Bureau serving West Central Ohio. The BBB may be found on the Internet at bbb.org/us/oh/lima.
