Report highlights pet scam dangers
When Nancy Farquharson’s corgi died three years ago, she first looked to shelters to find a new pet. But the more she searched, the more she longed for her beloved dog, Butterscotch, or at least one that resembled her.
Her hunt for a replacement corgi got her researching breeders. Most were expensive and all were too far away to visit in person. Farquharson thought she found the solution when she stumbled upon a website advertising Pembroke Welsh corgis from what appeared to be a small familyrun business.
But after forking over more than $1,000 for a dog that never arrived, she realized she had been the victim of a scam, and experts say she’s not alone.
A report released Tuesday by the Better Business Bureau estimates that thousands of consumers in the Bay Area and the country have fallen prey to some form of pet scam
and lists over 1,000 puppy-related swindles on its online tracker.
“I said to myself, what did I miss, because it just felt so logical in my head,” said Farquharson, who lives in the Sacramento County town of Orangevale. “I didn’t think I’d get emotional, but I was. I was so angry.”
In 2015, the Federal Trade Commission found more than 37,000 complaints involving pets, the majority of which are related to pet sales scams. That number could be even higher because past FTC studies indicate less than 10 percent of fraud victims file a formal complaint.
Small mistakes on the website and a policy of taking only cash didn’t strike Farquharson as too out of the ordinary and the family selling the puppy didn’t seem out to reap huge profits. She wired $745 for the pooch, but then was told to send more money for a refundable fee to get a shipping crate. When the corgi was delayed in transit overnight, she was asked to pay a $350 boarding fee for the extra night her new pet had to spend in the airport. When no dog arrived and Farquharson began demanding her money back, the seller dropped out of contact.
Jarrod Wise, spokesman for the Better Business Bureau, said victims have lost between $300 to $1,000 apiece to the scams. Buyers are often asked for a onetime payment to secure their pet, but con artists will continue to ask for money, claiming to need it to cover medical and shipping costs.
Scammers will create fake websites and upload photos of puppies taken from real breeders’ sites. The bureau advises potential buyers to research images they find on sites to see if they appear elsewhere.
“Most people are smart enough to know not to send money to a foreign country,” Wise said at a news conference Tuesday at the Berkeley Humane Society. “We’re hoping this report will spur law enforcement to do more,” Wise said. Annie Ma is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ama@ sfchronicle.com Twitter: @anniema15