From the time a person is a child they develop a love for pets. This is carried over into adulthood and, at one time or another in life, almost everyone has a dog or cat. Unfortunately, pet scammers take advantage of these feelings to cheat people.
A lot of these scam artists run puppy mills around the world. Sellers receive these animals from brokers through shipping. Internet ads are then put up by the sellers, attracting buyers who take their word for it.
On the Internet they will often show a picture of a very attractive animal. They'll claim that the dog is a championship breed and charge a lot of money. 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. Many of the buyers who fell for this game got a puppy that was sick and/or died soon after. Buying from any source that is not certified is not a good idea.
In many cases the pet purchaser sends the money for an animal pictured on the Internet. However, the buyer receives no dog and they can't get their money back. Lots of people have lost hundreds to thousands of dollars because they thought they were buying purchasing a purebred champion - which are extremely expensive. It is always a good ideal to use telephone look up services such as cell-registry.com/440/232/ in able to verify what the caller is actually whom they claim to be.
There is one variant of the pet scam that claims that the dog has to be shipped from out of the country, and asks for money to cover shipping. The scammer then keeps the money and never sends a pet. The buyer can do absolutely nothing to recover the money.
Be prepared for many legitimate sounding stories from the pet scammers. Stories often revolve around abandoned pets from people who love their animal, but can no longer keep the pet. There are other stories about people who go overseas and have to abandon the pet they own. In addition, every one of these circumstances will demand prepayment of any money required.
Being aware of who you are buying the pet from to start with is the best defense for not being scammed. Try to get to where you can meet the pet face to face, or trace the lineage of the dog. The idea of buying any unknown animal, either overseas or here at home, is setting yourself up for trouble. 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.
