Scammers Target People Who Are In Distress About Their Lost Pets

Don’t send payment in advance.

Scammers Target People Who Are In Distress About Their Lost Pets

Scammers are becoming more sophisticated to stay ahead of moderators.  If anyone asks for money before a service is provided, you should be skeptical.  When you have lost a cat or a dog, it is very likely that you would do anything to get them back.  You probably aren’t sleeping.  Maybe you have never been in this situation, so you don’t know what to expect as far as what services are available.  To give you an idea of what to watch out for, here are some of the common types of scams.

You may receive a text message that your dog or cat has been found, and all you need to do is send a code.

You may receive a comment on your post on Facebook or other social media that the person received excellent help from someone and you should send a text message to their number.

You might receive a message from someone claiming they are with a reputable, known service, such as Three Retrievers Lost Pet Rescue, a company that has been around for 10 years and has documented successes.  The person contacting you will send you a link or a screenshot from our web page, but then direct you to send money to some other number, probably through WhatsApp or a similar app.

There are other ways you can be scammed, but these are the main ways to be aware of right now.

The text message scam is very cruel because for a moment you will believe that they really did find your pet.  I have seen people go through this, being elated and relieved that their nightmare is over, only to learn that someone was taking advantage of their grief and anxiety to attack them in a vulnerable moment.  This can happen to you any time you post your number publicly, on Facebook or craigslist or wherever.  I believe it is a bot that skims numbers from places where lost pets are posted.  It’s possible that a human is doing every step, but it happens so quickly and automatically, and the scam is identical every time, so it seems like the behavior of a bot.  Because it is a bot, probably not even originating in this country, it is unlikely to stop any time soon.  If you receive a text message from someone claiming to have your pet, don’t automatically accuse them of being a scammer.  Reply: “Great! Please send me a current picture of my pet.”  Most likely, they will make some excuse why they can’t send a picture.  Within a short time, they will ask you for a code.  It may be a code for access to your Google account or access to your phone.  I don’t really understand how it is supposed to work, but they typically ask you for a code.  It’s very possible that this scam almost never works, but since it is a bot, it just will keep propagating forever.  Probably someone will tweak the bot to make it more effective in scamming money, so please be on the lookout for this type of scam.  If anyone calls you or texts you that they have your cat or dog, don’t get your hopes up too quickly.  Be sure to verify that they have your pet.  Never send money in advance.  Don’t agree to meet them somewhere other than a police station.

You may receive a comment on your post from someone expressing sympathy for your situation and directing you to text a number of a professional who helps in these situations.  Your first red flag is that they don’t say the name of the person or organization.  Hopefully, the person spamming a group with this type of scam would be caught by the moderators and banned quickly.  I clicked on the profile of one person doing this, and I saw they had been targeting the same groups for many months without getting blocked from those groups.  Below is an example.  I reported this profile. If he does get blocked from Facebook altogether, no doubt he already has another fake account lined up to continue.  Scrolling through his profile, I found hundreds of these posts in groups all around the country.  He has changed the phone number at least ten times.  I’m sure his scam will become more sophisticated as he learns what pitches get people to send money, and how to seem legitimate and avoid being banned.  Again, this type of scam can be defeated if you just don’t send money before a service has been delivered.

Another type of scam is a bit more involved, and undoubtedly there is a person behind it, adjusting his responses depending on what you say.  Last month I was contacted by a person who thought they had hired me to help in another state.  I asked her to send me screenshots of her communications with the scammer.  She had sent $150 to a phone number through WhatsApp.  That person had sent them a link to my web page and claimed they were affiliated with me, approved by me.  She didn’t verify that before she sent the money. She was quite confused when she learned that I had no prior knowledge of this person.  My web page states right up front that people may try to use my credentials to try to scam owners of lost dogs and cats.  I never ask for payment upfront, so if someone is asking for upfront payment while claiming they work with me, preserve all communications and send an email to jim@3retrievers.com.  And don’t pay them, obviously.  They have done this same scale with other well known organizations.

I’m sorry that people are attacking you when you are most vulnerable.  It is becoming so common that you should pretty much expect it when you have a lost pet.