Pet Scam
From the time a person is a child they develop a love for pets. Even adults love pets, and most people have a dog or cat at some point in their lives as a companion. Unfortunately, pet scammers take advantage of these feelings to cheat people.
Puppy mills are held by several con artists around the world. Sellers receive these animals from brokers through shipping. These sellers advertise the puppies through the Internet or through other means of advertisement to unsuspecting buyers.
On the Internet they will often show a picture of a very attractive animal. This animal is offered at a very high price as a purebred of championship quality. If you want to buy, money is always required up front. However, the animal you pay for is far from the animal that you get in the end.
Another problem with pet scanners is that they state that the animal has all its shots and is in good physical condition. However, the dogs buyers get often die not long after they get there. Don't buy from a source that lacks certification or any sort of validation.
For the most part, a buyer of a pet is paying for a specific pet that has a picture on the website. In reality, there is no animal at all and the money is gone. Due to the large amounts of money paid for what is claimed to be a championship dog, many people have lost small fortunes. Stay aware of this potential problem and always take the time to check with a service such as reverse-phone-searching.info/480/596/ to verify the person who calls you is truly who they say they are.
One of the more common pet scams is advertising the animals are going to be shipped from another country (overseas)and the only thing buyer is responsible for the shipping charges. The scammer then keeps the money and never sends a pet. The buyer can do absolutely nothing to recover the money.
Pet scammers have many stories to tell that sound legitimate. Sob stories abound about pets who were abandoned and are just looking for a good home, which you might provide. There's even a current tale about people overseas who are being forced to give up their pets for a variety of reasons. Of course, all of these situations require money up front.
The best way to avoid pet scammers is to know who the pet is being purchased from. Try to get to where you can meet the pet face to face, or trace the lineage of the dog. You'll just end up regretting buying an expensive dog online sight unseen. Reputable breeders are known by other people, and it should be easy to check them out. Also, you should be seeing red flags anytime someone requests money be paid before you see what you're buying.
