BBB says pet scams on rise due to virus

Agency views case in Huber Heights as cautionary tale.

The Better Business Bureau warns there has been a spike in pet scams in which an online search ends with someone paying hundreds of dollars ormore to purchase a pet that ultimately doesn’t exist.

Common scam tactics include telling buyers they can’t meet a pet before paying, as well as asking for money to pay for items like climate- controlled crates, insurance and a coronavirus vaccine. Scammersmay also say buyers who wanted to pick up the pet couldn’t due to coronavirus restrictions.

The BBB shared a story of a Huber Heights resident searching for a Maltese puppy after recently losing his dog. He found one online, agreed to pay $800 for it via Zelle, and twohours laterwas told the puppywas with the shipper, whowould contact the buyer directly.

The shipper contacted the buyer, and asked for another $ 1,940 via Zelle or other cash-transfer service for a climate-controlled crate, telling the buyer to pay immediately to avoid a delay. The buyer declined, and after declining a further offer to split the cost, the buyer said they would just come pick up the dog.

The shipper said they would get back to them with an address and never contacted them again.

Lawenforcement and the BBB warned pet shoppers should take “extreme caution” while searching for pets.

The BBB recommended shoppers always see the pet in person before paying any money, perform a reverse image search of the photo of the pet, do research on fair prices for the breed and be skeptical of deep discounts. The BBB also recommended checking local animal shelters for pets.

TheBBBsaid victims of pet scams are urged to contact Petscams.com, the Federal Trade Commission and the BBB Scam Tracker.

According to the BBB, reports of these scams have risen as the pandemic dramatically increased demand for pets, especially after cities and states began to impose tighter restrictions. The BBB said it received nearly 4,000 reports in 2020 from the U.S. and Canada, with more reports in April than in the first three months of the year combined.

As the holiday season arrived, the rise of scam reports continued, with 337 complaints in November, compared to 77 in the same month in 2019.

The BBB said that the medianamount lost in these scams in 2020 is $750, with most of the reports coming from people ages 35-55.