Beware of scams when buying a puppy, police say
If you're planning to add a furry friend to your family during the holidays, police are warning you to beware of fraudsters.
Puppy scams are becoming more prevalent and Det. Dana Gehring with Edmonton Police Service's cyber crime unit believes it's connected to the COVID-19 pandemic. Police say 17 online puppy scams have been reported to them since October 2019. Sixteen of these occurred since April of this year.
“Our worlds are turned upsidedown right now. We can't hang out with family, we can't hang out with friends. So I think you're finding people are trying to find some sense of normalcy and are trying to find companionship,” he said Tuesday via Zoom.
Victims of puppy scams risk losing hundreds or thousands of dollars, which may be impossible to retrieve. Online puppy scam victims lost a combined $40,000 in Edmonton over the last 13 months.
“You're going to see the average loss is around $2,400. The highest loss ... was over $12,000 that one person incurred. So those are some significant funds, especially now in a pandemic.”
Fraudsters attempt to emotionally manipulate their victims. For instance, they may claim the puppy is waiting for them in an airport or shipping facility, and will have to stay there until the prospective owner pays, police say.
Most scams follow a similar pattern.
Victims searching for a puppy online find fraudulent websites or ads with prices which are lower than expected for a purebred. After paying — scammers often request payment via etransfer, Western Union or Bitcoin — sellers add additional costs on top of the price for the puppy, including insurance, vet bills, shipping and quarantine housing fees, with demands that all costs must be paid before the puppy is sent.
A lack of contact information on the seller's website, using stock photos of puppies, and being pushy or threatening are all red flags.
To avoid a scammer, police recommend: researching adoption prices and fees ahead of time, searching a seller's full name and mailing address online with the keywords “scam” or “complaint,” doing a reverse-image search of the puppy and seller, meeting both the breeder and puppy in person if possible or over a video call, asking the breeder questions about the breed's traits and history, requesting proof of health records or registration, using Paypal or a credit card which has fraud protection, and to be patient, as legitimate breeders will not be overly pushy because they want to see their animals go to a good home.