When your pet gets lost, you can feel devastated and some people have the heart to take advantage of your misfortune. There are many reports about scammers who defraud pet owners who want nothing more than to be reunited with their pet.
If you are a pet owner, you must be aware of these pet scams so you can easily spot a scammer. This is because it can happen to you or even to your loved ones. You do not want to be scammed and you do not want them to experience it as well. That is why the different types of lost pet scams are discussed here.
If you put an ad in a local newspaper for your lost pet, especially if you are offering a reward, someone might call you claiming they have your pet.
These “scam” callers will usually ask for a reward in advance. If you do not want to pay until you can claim your pet, they will threaten to hurt your pet so you will get pressured and send money.
You have a better chance of avoiding this scam by not disclosing the reward you are willing to pay or mentioning anything about a reward.
This scam starts when someone calls you claiming that they think it is your pet they have found. After talking to you and getting information, they’ll apologize and tell you that they’ve made a mistake – they do not have your pet. After that, they pass on the information they got from you to their partner. This set-up happens in a short time. The scammer uses the information so another person can call you and claims they have your pet who will then ask for a reward before releasing your pet to you.
This is another way for them to extort money from you.
As a response to your ad, someone might call you claiming he is a trucker and has your pet. A usual claim would be that “he found it injured while he was driving in an area”.
The person will then suggest that your pet had to be taken to the vet, which he paid first. Consequently, he’ll ask you to send him money so your pet can be released from the vet. And then, the person will say that your pet will be sent back with another trucker who is going your way. The bad thing about this is that aside from losing money, your personal information could be at risk as well.
A person will call you, claiming that your pet was found in another state and make up some excuse how it could have happened. They will ask you to send money to pay for a kennel and plane ticket so they can ship your pet back to you. After receiving your money, the scammer can no longer be contacted. This can be devastating and frustrating.
A big red flag that you are being scammed is asking for money in advance before releasing your pet. In order to check if the person really has your pet is to give specific detail about your pet that you did not disclose on the flyer or to them while you were talking. What is better is to ask to see your pet before giving them money.
Here are other preventive measures you can do:
It is frustrating, heartbreaking, and devastating to lose your pet, but you can contact Lost Found Rewards in case you lost your pet or you found one.