Spot Pet Scams
A purebred puppy at a third of the normal price, photos that melt your heart, and a seller who is always just about to ship it — pet scams run on emotion. The breeder does not have a dog; they have stolen photos and a script. The price that seems too good is the tell, not the bargain. The pattern matches other advance-fee cons: pay first, receive nothing.
TL;DR / Quick Fix
Quick fix: a puppy priced far below every other listing is the scam's engine, not your luck. Insist on a live video call with the animal, reverse-image-search the photos, never wire money or pay in gift cards, and verify the breeder exists before sending anything.
Follow these steps
- Treat a too-good price as the warning. Scammers price below market to trigger urgency and stop you comparing. A healthy purebred puppy has real costs behind it — a price far below every other listing is the scam's engine, not your luck.
- Insist on a live video call with the animal. Ask to see the puppy live, doing something specific you name — holding up two fingers, showing a named toy. Scammers refuse, delay, or send pre-recorded clips that cannot respond.
- Reverse-image-search the photos. Save the listing photos and search them. Scam listings reuse photos stolen from real breeders and other victims' posts — a match elsewhere ends the deal.
- Never wire money or pay in gift cards. Legitimate breeders take traceable payments and give receipts. Wire transfers, gift cards, and crypto are the scammer's payment methods because they cannot be reversed.
- Verify the breeder exists. Look for a real website with history, verifiable reviews, a physical address, and registration with a kennel club. A seller who exists only in chat messages does not exist.
- Visit in person when possible. Nothing beats seeing the puppy, its mother, and the living conditions. If distance makes that impossible, treat every other step above as mandatory, not optional.
What NOT to do
- Do not pay a deposit to reserve a puppy you have never seen live. Deposits are the scammer's payday — the puppy was never real.
- Do not trust a seller who cannot do a live video call. Every excuse — broken camera, no signal, sleeping puppy — is the same excuse.
- Do not let urgency rush you. Someone else wants him today is pressure, not information; real breeders vet buyers slowly.
- Do not accept delivery-only deals with no visit option. Shipping a live animal you have never seen is how the money disappears.
Frequently asked questions
The seller sent a contract — is it legit?
Scammers send fake contracts; a PDF proves nothing. Verify the person and the animal independently — contracts from strangers are decoration.
What if I already paid?
Contact your bank or payment provider immediately to try to reverse it, save every message as evidence, and report the listing to the platform and local authorities. Gift cards and wires are rarely recoverable.
Are adoption listings safer?
Reputable shelters are, since you meet the animal. But scammers fake rescue listings too — the same video-call and verification rules apply.