Buying puppies especially online is at an all-time high. This means there are more people than ever searching for a new dog or puppy. As the crooks of this world catch on to this news and believe me, they have already caught on and much faster than the honest people just looking for a puppy, PUPPY SCAMS rise by zillions.
Combine a crook with the digital world where more and more people are shopping at their desk or armchair using a phone or computer and you got yourself a real mess. Here are some tips of how to spot a puppy scam.
Puppy scammers post "fake litters online" or pretend to be a breeder or someone they are not trying to take advantage of the explosion of puppy sales going on everywhere. What this means to the buyer is when you find that "perfect puppy usually online," you will be asked by the scammer to send either a deposit to hold, half the amount of puppy or even full amount of puppy while scammer promises to either ship the puppy to you or deliver the puppy to you and even may give you an address to travel to pick up your puppy, then when you get to the address they gave you, it is a fake address or a real address of "someone not having any puppies at all." If it is a scam after you send your money to these crooks you will never hear from this person again and if they give you a number to call, the number will be disconnected. It is like a robbery or being robbed. Robber gets their goods, and they ride off on a black horse while dressed in black never to be seen again.
Number one rule here is, be very careful of who you send money to. If at all possible, don't send any money until you have the puppy in your hands and you exchange money for the puppy you choose or chose by photo before the meeting. Of course, this is not always possible when you are buying a puppy from a website, and they have multiple offers for that puppy; reputable breeders usually require a deposit or down payment in order to insure YOU are honest about buying a puppy from them. If you have to transfer money by wire, use Pay pal or a credit card.
Beware of buying puppies from "Craigslist" as many scammers/crooks use this place to list fake puppies, using photos they steal from other people who actually have the puppies to sell. Other ways might be to steal personal information from a reputable breeder or someone with puppies to sell and pose as that person, always though behind the scenes trying to get YOU to send them money BEFORE you receive a puppy.
There are reputable breeders who will require deposits made through a reputable source such as PayPal. Anytime you send money through PayPal, if you do not receive what you paid for you can get your money back through PayPal. I would not recommend any other money sending source except PayPal and try to limit your transaction to just a deposit to "hold a puppy for you," rather than sending the full amount.
You will get your money back from PayPal, but sending the least amount you can hold the puppy so the breeder "knows you are serious about buying, " as crooks work in both ways. Breeders have to know sometimes you are really going to buy this puppy so they can withhold it from other buyers and sometimes a deposit through Pay pal is the best route to go.
Fraudulent sellers are oftentimes outside of the U.S. They could be from Hong Kong! They don't like to operate by phone calls. Their methods of communications are most often done by emails.
Fraudulent sellers will use copycat puppy photos or stock photos that can be found on multiple websites. Anybody can make a copy photo of a puppy posted on one of the puppies for sale websites and claim it to be their own puppy to be sold. Fraudulent sellers in the US or outside the US can hide their phone number by only communicating by email and not even using text messages as with text messages the phone number appears.
Reputable breeders will always communicate with you by phone or video chat and/or in person before selling you a puppy. Even a text message from a reputable breeder can be seen by the buyer so you know who you are talking to through text. Talk by voice to the breeder as well to confirm the transaction is being done by someone who actually has puppies to sell to you.
Even if the breeder delivers a puppy to you after you choose a puppy from a photo, you should still have the right to "refuse buying" that puppy, so the choice to buy or not to buy always remains in your hands. Usually if people are being honest about buying a puppy and the breeder is honest about selling puppies, the transaction will take place when the buyer sees the puppy in person after seeing it by photo.
Crooks on both ends of the deal can appear in that someone may pretend to be buying a puppy and go through the whole nine yards, then at meeting actually perform some kind of crime against the puppy seller or breeder.
Scams and crooked deals and crimes do not only occur from "someone trying to sell a puppy they don't have.," a perfectly innocent breeder delivering upon what they promised may also experience wrongdoing.
It pays to stay alert, and in a well-lighted area where there is appropriate police patrol when delivering puppies in person to buyers. Avoid allowing "strangers" to pick up puppies at your home.
Another scam fake sellers might use is "sketchy payments." The fake seller might ask for wiring of money or payment by gift cards. Avoid this type of transaction as it is unlikely you will get your money back. Paying by credit card or Pay pal are typically safer ways to pay as well as paying "in person when the puppy is delivered to you."
