Anyone who has an animal companion they love knows how horrifying the thought of losing them is, and anyone who has ever had a pet wander off knows the feeling of anxiously wanting them home safe. Scammers know this too.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars are lost every year to missing pet scams. This particularly cruel scam targets pet owners who put up “Missing Pet” signs, post Pet Amber Alerts, and post ads on sites like Craigslist.org. There are several ways this scam works, but the ends are the same: coerce the pet owner to hand over money and then vanish.
Sometimes the pet owner will get a call, text, or email from someone locally claiming to have found the missing pet. Sometimes the caller will claim to be a long-haul trucker who found their pet while on the road and needs money to board the pet until the caller or another trucker can bring the pet home. Sometimes the caller will claim to be from out of state and need money for a kennel and a plane ticket. In all these cases, they will need money in advance and if this money is not given immediately they will often threaten to hurt the pet to get their way.
Red Flags:
· They want money first. Money will be the first priority, they will want it in advance and they will try to induce a heightened sense of urgency to get you to act without thinking.
· They will try to avoid meeting you face to face.
· They will resist sending a picture of your pet when asked, or they will send you a picture from your missing pet ad or even from your social media. Remember, scammers can find you on social media based on your contact information.
You can make it harder on scammers to con you by limiting the physical description of your pet. This may seem counter intuitive, but don’t mention birth marks or unusual features or include them in photos. That way, if you get a phone call, you can ask for a physical description with details that only you know. Always checked for spoofed emails and phone numbers and be wary of misspellings and grammatical errors. Never give money in advance and especially never wire money.
If your pet goes missing and you opt to put up ads, expect some scams. Understand that you will be in a state of heightened panic and urgency and prepare yourself to be on the lookout for red flags regardless.