Pet Scams
Where is my puppy?
Pet scams are on the rise! Scammers and criminals will say anything to grab your attention. “FREE PET! Just pay for shipping. Here is the name of the shipper: O’Brien Animal Transportation.” Don’t be a victim! Do your research.
Some things to consider:
-Purebred animals are NEVER free! If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is
-The phone number they gave you is most likely a disposable Google Voice number
-If the seller has directed you to “our” website and it’s not animaltransportation.com and it’s some sort of variation, that’s not our website
-Non-refundable forms of payment such as wire transfers or loaded cards are generally not required by any reputable pet shipping company
If you still think there is an animal and proceed with the pet purchasing process, here are some things they will say to entice you to give them money:
-The crate didn’t meet airline standards and you need to pay for a different crate
-The pet needed medical attention so you’ll need to pay for the services before transport
-It’s too warm/cold so they need to input special devices (A/C or heating pad) to keep pet comfortable
-Date in mind didn’t work with airline so you have to pay a “change reservation” fee
Stop right here and do NOT pay anyone!
Here are some questions you can ask the breeder/seller/owner:
-Where is your facility located? If they are unwilling to give you their address, or a meeting location, it’s a scam
-What veterinarian did you use to obtain the required documents and vaccines for pet travel? What’s their address and phone number so you can call and verify this information?
-What type of payment do you accept?
*If they say the dog is free and you just pay the pet shipper – it’s a scam!
*Any sort of prepaid form of payment is a scam – ReloadIt card, Visa/Mastercard Gift Cards you buy at the grocery store, Money Gram, Western Union, Cashier’s check, Money orders, etc.
We get emails and phone calls multiple times a day and we’re very familiar with these. Trust us when we tell you it’s a scam.
OATS RECOMMENDS THAT IF YOU SUSPECT A SCAM, OR THAT YOU ARE THE VICTIM OF A SCAM, CONSULT THESE WEBSITES FOR INFORMATION:
The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA):
We hope this has been helpful. We are not able to assist you in obtaining any loss of funds or reporting scams to the authorities.
