Pet Scam

Warning: Beware of Pet Scammers

Running adds on Facebook, Craigslist and other social media platforms and using images of cute pets as bait, Scam artist disguise themselves as pet relocation services by offering their victim’s false promises of having a puppy or kitten by free adoption or a low price for an expensive breed for just “shipping fees”.

These crooks are using real companies names and logos of legitimate pet relocation companies and through utilizing free online services like free websites and free emails they try to rip off their targets by asking to be paid through an untraceable transaction like Western Union or Money Gram to faraway locations mostly in west Africa.

B.P.R along with the community of Pet Relocation services around the globe consider its their responsibility to spread public awareness against all these criminal activities, true it might be tempting getting the puppy of your dreams for free or for an irresistibly low price with the urgency of limited time window but this how the Scammers is hoping you get hooked by photo of pet that doesn’t exist.

Basic Red Flags you should look for :

• They ask for Person to Person Payment by Western Union, MoneyGram or other similar services.
• They use free email clients like Gmail and Yahoo.
• They don’t provide with a direct phone number and if they did it will be mostly with Westren Africa countries code numbers and they rarely pick up the call.
• They have Poor Spelling and grammar in their email.

Note: The International Pet and Animal Transportation Association IPATA which B.P.R is a member of provides an annual report on pet scams websites and comprehensive guidelines on “how to tell its a scam” and other important topics click here to find out more.