CULVER CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PuppySpot, the nation’s most trusted service for connecting dog lovers with responsible breeders, today called on victims of puppy scams to provide information on their experiences with criminals as part of an ongoing company effort to fight puppy scams.
“PuppySpot is in a unique position to make a difference by identifying and exposing scam artists who abuse the big hearts of animal lovers for their own financial gain, but we need the public’s help,” said Greg Liberman, Chief Executive Officer of PuppySpot. “It’s truly heartbreaking to interact with innocent people who just wanted to add a puppy to their family, and instead, were preyed upon by the increasingly complex scams set by criminals. We want to do even more to help, and the next step is creating a clearinghouse to collect information that can be used in partnership with the appropriate local, state and federal authorities.”
Have you lost money trying to add a puppy to your family?
Dozens of fraudulent websites and online classified ads are created every day to lure unsuspecting puppy lovers into traps that purport to be responsible sources, whether families allegedly looking to adopt out a dog, or breeders, rescues or shelters looking to place dogs. As with romance scams, these criminals often employ detailed scripts and complex digital operations that allow them to target potential victims and lead them through convoluted email conversations that aim to mimic the traits and practices of legitimate sources. Often, the puppy in question never exists beyond a fake profile picture, taken from another website.
Have you received a sketchy report of someone who claims to have found a long lost pet of yours?
This type of scam is relatively new and only came to the nation’s attention earlier this year when Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge issued an alert about fraudsters scraping information from social media to target heartbroken pet owners. They claim to have the pet, which may have been missing for weeks or months and presumed lost forever, and then ask for payment for transporting the dog home.
PuppySpot encourages anyone who’s had an experience like this to send us an email at FightPuppyScams@puppyspot.com. Anonymous tips are accepted, although providing a name and contact information will better aid our efforts to bring scammers to justice.
PuppySpot will announce further details of its anti-scam initiative in winter 2017/2018.
About PuppySpot
PuppySpot’s mission is to make lives better by placing healthy puppies into happy homes. Based upon a fundamental belief that finding a puppy does not have to come with so many x-factors, PuppySpot does not ask for trust, but seeks to earn it through transparency and action. PuppySpot is a USDA-licensed company and winner of the Feefo Gold Trusted Service award, an independent seal of excellence that recognizes exceptional businesses, as rated by real customers. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
