The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically increased demand for pets as people seek adding a pet to the family to ease the loneliness and tension of prolonged time at home. Many feel that they now have more time to train a puppy. With this rising demand has come a spike in pet scams, in which an online search ends with a would-be pet owner paying hundreds of dollars or more to adopt a pet that ultimately doesn’t exist.
Better Business Bureau advises extreme caution when shopping for a pet online, especially in light of scammers’ evolving tactics. Soon after cities and states began to impose tighter restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19, BBB Scam Tracker saw a spike in pet fraud reports, with more than 3,200 reports received in 2020 from the U.S. and Canada. Data from BBB Scam Tracker shows more reports about fraudulent pet websites in April than in the first three months of the year combined.
At the current pace, pet scams reported to BBB will be nearly five times as many as in 2017, when BBB published its first in-depth investigative study on pet scams. The projected dollar loss from these scams is expected to top $3 million, more than six times the total loss reported in 2017.
The pandemic has given scammers a new tool in their arsenal: many fraudsters are telling would-be pet owners they cannot meet the animals before sending money. Petscams.com, which tracks and exposes these scams, recommends using another tool popularized by COVID-19 - video conferencing - to meet the animal and owner virtually before buying as a way of reducing scam vulnerability. Before buying a pet online, see the pet in person. You can also do a reverse image search of the photo of the pet by searching for a distinctive phrase in the description.
Do research to get a sense of a fair price for the breed you are considering, and think twice if someone advertises a purebred dog for free or at a deeply discounted price. Check out a local animal shelter online for pets you can meet before adopting.
