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  • Geebo 8:00 am on October 9, 2020 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , puppy scam,   

    Family loses puppy to illness in Craigslist scam 

    Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve been warning consumers about one version of the puppy scam. This is where phony online dog breeders will sell you a puppy that doesn’t actually exist. After they’re paid, the scammers will start asking for more money in the form of things like shipping fees or special travel crates. Even though a victim may lose hundreds or thousands of dollars, at least an animal isn’t being actually abused.

    Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the second type of puppy scam. This is where people will breed puppies with little regard for the animal’s health and well-being. The animals are often bred in squalid conditions without receiving any medical care. The term backyard breeder is often used to describe these scammers as they are usually not certified to be actual breeders.

    One family in North Carolina recently purchased a puppy from a Craigslist seller for $300. When asked about shots, the sellers told the family that they did the shots themselves because they didn’t want to take the puppy to the vet due to COVID-19 concerns. Once the family got the puppy home it became obvious that something was wrong. The family took the puppy to the vet where it was diagnosed with hookworms, roundworms, and anemia. Within less than 24 hours of bringing the puppy home, the puppy had to be put down. When the family tried to contact the seller, the phone number had already been turned off.

    As always, when it comes to adding a new pet to your family we recommend adopting from your local shelter. More often than not, not only will the animals have had competent medical care but the odds are they’ll be with your family for quite some time. If you decide to buy from a breeder, make sure they are a licensed breeder that’s in your area.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on September 4, 2020 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , puppy scam,   

    Don’t ignore red flags in puppy scam 

    Don't ignore red flags in puppy scam

    As has been previously stated, puppy scams are on the rise due to the number of people looking for new companions during the current pandemic. Online puppy scammers will create legitimate-looking websites while posing as puppy breeders. The scammers will offer purebred puppies at well below market prices. After the victim pays the initial fee, the scammers will start asking for more money for things like shipping fees and specialized travel crates. Even if the victim pays for all of these supposed services, they never receive a puppy because the puppy never existed in the first place. While these may seem like reasonable charges on the surface, they are red flags indicating the scam. However, sometimes even the most obvious red flags can be ignored.

    Recently, in Louisiana, a woman was looking for a new Yorkie puppy. She found an online listing for Yorkies and was asked to send in payment for the puppy. She was asked to send the payment to somewhere in Africa. With all due respect to the countries of Africa, there are two African countries that are synonymous with scams. The most infamous one is Nigeria where a multitude of overseas scams take place. This is where the legendary Nigerian Prince scam or 419 scam comes from. The second and somewhat lesser-known country is Cameroon. In earlier days of the internet, the puppy scam was known as the Cameroon puppy scam due to the number of puppy scams originating from the country.

    Sending money overseas for a puppy is a huge red flag that you’re being scammed. If you want to avoid being scammed when looking for a new pet avoid using non-local breeders. Even if you find a local breeder online, do a reverse image search of their animals to make sure the images weren’t stolen from other websites. If you have your heart set on a purebred, you can’t cheap out. Pets listed at below market value online are usually either non-existent or it’s a ‘backyard breeder’ that is potentially selling dying animals.

    As always, we recommend adopting a pet from your local animal shelter. Some shelters even have waiting lists if you’re looking for a particular breed. If you’re not looking for a particular breed we still recommend visiting your local shelter. You never know which animal there will capture your heart.

     

  • Geebo 8:58 am on August 4, 2020 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , Little Rock, , puppy scam,   

    Airports do not have pet departments 

    Airports do not have pet departments

    The Better Business Bureau is saying that they’ve seen a dramatic increase in the amount of puppy scams that have been happening since the start of the global pandemic.

    If you’re unfamiliar with the puppy scam, it’s when scammers will advertise puppies for sale online but the puppies don’t exist. A good way to tell if an online ad for a puppy is a scam is if the supposed breeder is advertising the puppy for much less than what the breed normally costs.

    Once you’ve paid for the puppy, the scammers will start adding on extra charges. Often they’ll claim it will be for things like special shipping crates or customs fees.

    Recently, the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, Arkansas has been reporting a number of people calling to speak to the airport’s pet department. Commercial airports like this don’t have pet departments. Often, the scammers will pose as an airport’s non-existent pet department to try to claim additional payment from the scam’s victims.

    This scam starts with the official-looking websites scammers have that make it look like they’re legitimate dog breeders. A great way to see if a breeder’s website is a fake is to do a reverse image search to see if the pictures of the puppies appear anywhere else on the internet. Scammers will take pictures from off of Google Image Search since they don’t have any actual puppies.

    As we always suggest when shopping for a new pet, the best way to protect yourself is to adopt from your local shelter. Many shelters have lists you can sign up for if you’re looking for a specific breed. Not only is this more cost-effective but you’re also helping the shelters continue to in assisting their efforts.

    But if you have your heart set on a certain breed, buy from local dog breeders. Even then, do your research on the breeder to make sure they’re raising their animals humanely. Unfortunately, there are too many ‘backyard breeders’ who are looking to make money quick by selling sick pets.

    Adding a pet to your life is a life-changing event and you should be properly prepared for such a momentous occasion.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on May 29, 2020 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , puppy scam,   

    Scammers target man whose dog passed 

    Puppy scammers still finding victims during pandemic

    Adopting a pet into your home is a great way to deal with not only loneliness but also anxiety and depression during the current crisis. That’s exactly what one Los Angeles-area man wanted to do especially after losing his beloved canine friend of 16 years.

    The man was looking to adopt a Rottweiler puppy but found the prices from breeders to be too high at $3,000 to $4,000. Unfortunately, the man turned to one of the worst places you can go to adopt a pet, Craigslist.

    The man found a listing for Rottweiler puppies but the people giving them away were supposedly in Montana. The person claiming to give the puppies away said they had to because their son was a breeder who died from cancer. All the man had to do was pay $280 to an alleged shipping company called Blessing Air Movers. When the payment through an online app didn’t go through, the movers asked for payment in Walmart gift cards. Then the shipper asked for more money for a special crate to ship the puppy in. Of course, the puppy never came and probably never existed.

    While our hearts break for this man, the number of red flags in this scam may have set some type of record.

    For example, when adopting a pet, you should try to only deal with local breeders. Fraudulent out of state shipping costs are a hallmark of this scam. The scammers also had a sob story for why the puppies were being given away at such a discounted rate. These stories are used in several scams and often involve a relative dying or a military member shipping out among others. Then there’s the shipping company that uses a vaguely religious name. Many scammers use religious subtext in their scams either to gain the trust of someone of that religion or just to appeal more trustworthy in general. Both payment options of a cash app or gift cards should have also been red flags as these are often used by scammers to receive untraceable or unrecoverable payments. And lastly, if you find yourself having made a payment to a potential scammer and they keep asking for more money to rectify the situation, it’s more than likely a scam.

    As always, we recommend adopting a pet from one of your local shelters. As even mentioned by the SPCA of LA in the article, shelters will often have purebreds in their population. Some even have reservation lists if you’re looking for a particular breed. Not to mention that the cost will probably be minimal or even free.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on April 24, 2020 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , puppy scam,   

    Of course there’s a coronavirus puppy scam 

    Of course there's a coronavirus puppy scam

    With the current stay at home orders, many people are turning to pet adoption to combat the inherent loneliness associated with the quarantine. Pets have been shown as a way to help combat the depression and anxiety that many people are experiencing for the first time. However, before we get to the heart of the matter, we’d be remiss if we didn’t advise our readers that pets are a commitment. You should only get a pet if your current financial situation allows it and you plan on keeping your new friend once the quarantine is over. It doesn’t help anyone if you have to give up your pet.

    Online puppy scams are nothing new. The way they normally work is a scammer posts an ad online for a popular breed of puppy at a heavily discounted price. Once you pay the scammer they’ll either just take off with your money or try to bleed more money out of you with fake charges like insurance or shipping costs. Many scammers will say that something went wrong during the shipping process and more money is needed to correct the issue. In the end, you’ll end up out of a lot of money and have no puppy to show for it. Now, scammers are saying that you have to pay extra to have the non-existent puppy shipped because of coronavirus safeguards. Most scammers will also try to have you pay through untraceable means like wire transfer and gift cards.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8ep7knWsKI%5D

    If you’re thinking of adding a new furry friend to your life, try to shop for your pet locally. We always advise adopting from your local animal shelter as they have many healthy and friendly pets available for adoption. Some shelters even have notification lists where you can be informed if you’re looking for a certain breed. If you’re going to deal with a breeder, please make sure they’re a licensed breeder as there are too many backyard breeders selling sick pets just for the money.

    Just like any other transaction, you’ll make the best choice once you’ve done your research before making a big life decision like getting a puppy.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on December 20, 2019 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , puppy scam,   

    Puppy mill dyes dog to disguise breed 

    Puppy mill dyes dog to disguise breed

    This seems to be the season where scammers will go to extreme lengths to fleece you. Just recently, we posted about a rental scammer who went to great lengths to disguise his identity. Apparently, these extreme scams aren’t just limited to real estate. Several families in Southern California are suing an alleged puppy mill for selling terminally ill puppies. However, it’s not just the fact that the backyard breeders were selling sick animals but it was also the way in which they tried to disguise the breed of the dog that left at least one family feeling heartbroken.

    One family involved in the lawsuit have an 11-year-old son who wanted a Goldendoodle puppy. He worked hard helping out at his father’s business to earn the money to buy the puppy. He found the perfect puppy through an online ad. Sadly, a few days after the family got the puppy home, the puppy started getting sick. When they took the puppy to the vet it was diagnosed with the deadly parvovirus. The puppy had to be put down. It turned out that the puppy wasn’t even a Goldendoodle. When the family washed the puppy, red dye washed off of the puppy. They were even told the puppy was a female and it turned out to be male.

    This story should serve as an example of how many online ads for puppies are scams and how little these so-called breeders care about the animals they’re selling. As always, we recommend adopting a puppy or even an older dog from your local shelter. If there’s a specific breed you’re looking for, only deal with licensed breeders. Look into what needs and behavioral patterns the dogs have and research the breeder as well to make sure they are ethically raising their animals. If a living creature such as a puppy is being sold at a discounted rate, there’s usually a reason why the animal is being sold for so cheap and it’s never good.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on November 22, 2019 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , puppy scam,   

    Don’t buy a sick pet for Christmas 

    Don't buy a sick pet for Christmas

    With the holiday shopping season upon us, many people are probably thinking about purchasing a pet for their family for Christmas. This decision should not be taken lightly. Pets should only be bought for immediate family members after a long discussion about pet ownership. Buying a pet for someone who might not want one could saddle someone with a decades-long burden they may not want. For example, you may not want to buy a rambunctious puppy for your elderly grandmother. That could result in disaster. Sadly, there’s an even more heartbreaking reason you may want to reconsider buying a pet for Christmas.

    We can’t stress this enough but never buy a pet online. Usually, there are two types of scams that involve buying pets online. The first one is where the scammer takes your money and the pet doesn’t really exist. The second is the even more heartbreaking one where backyard breeders or puppy mills sell you a terminally ill puppy. A quite disturbing report recently surfaced out of Southern California where a pair of people were selling puppies on various online marketplaces. Many of the puppies they ended up selling allegedly had already contracted the deadly parvovirus. This left many families devastated and in debt after having to pay for expensive emergency veterinarian services.

    As always, when it comes to buying a new pet, we always recommend going to your local shelter first. Not only will you be bringing your family a new member but you’ll also be giving an abandoned pet a new and loving home. If you have your heart set on a purebred dog there are shelters that do have them. However, if you’re going to the professional breeder route try sticking to licensed and local breeders. Anyone claiming to be a breeder and offering you a purebred pet at a too good to be true rate probably doesn’t have the pet’s best interest at heart.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on September 10, 2019 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , puppy scam   

    Majority of puppy listings are fake 

    Majority of puppy listings are fake

    We’ve discussed the puppy scam in great detail many times before. For those of you who may not be familiar with it, it’s when scammers advertise puppies for sale online but the puppy doesn’t exist. Instead, the scammers get you to pay for the puppy up front before disappearing with your money. They usually have you wire the money to them so they can’t be traced. So just how common is this scam? The Better Business Bureau estimates that 80% of online sponsored ads about pets could be bogus.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qDUVMyFvGA%5D

    That’s not even taking into account the number of backyard breeders or puppy mills who are selling sick pets to unsuspecting customers. Often people will breed popular breeds of dogs just to cash in on their popularity. Too many times these unlicensed breeders will have little regard for the animals’ health. There have been many instances where a dog was sold online only for the new owners get the puppy home and discover that the new addition to their family had the deadly parvovirus.

    As always, if a deal seems too good to be true, especially for a living creature, then it probably is. If you are going to purchase a pet, we always recommend avoiding online and the pet store as they tend to be avenues for frauds and puppy mills. Instead, we recommend either dealing with a licensed breeder or your local animal shelter. Even then, consumers should still do their research into these facilities to make sure the animals are being treated ethically.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on May 8, 2019 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , puppy scam   

    Sick puppies still being sold online 

    Sick puppies still being sold online

    As we have stated in the past, Geebo does not accept any listing that’s selling or giving away pets. One of the reasons we do this is to try to prevent puppy mills and illegal backyard breeders from continuing their abusive practices. Sadly, some of our competitors do not share our stance and allow these practices to flourish. In turn, consumers are still using these platforms to purchase purebred dogs only to find out that the puppies are sick or dying.

    In Albuquerque, a family bought a miniature schnauzer off of craigslist for a steal. After they took the puppy home it turned out that the puppy’s health records had been faked and the puppy died from the deadly parvovirus. In Lehigh Acres, Florida a couple bought a husky puppy from someone claiming to be a professional breeder on craigslist. When the couple took the puppy to the vet it was reportedly sold at too early of an age and was infested with hookworm. That puppy shortly died soon after as well.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB8vi5otfWc%5D

    This has become an all too common occurrence. When purchasing a living creature as a pet you shouldn’t look for bargains to be had as that usually means there’s a reason why the animal is being sold for so cheap. The same caveat applies to puppies as it does with most things being sold online; if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. If there’s a specific breed of puppy that you have your heart set on, do your research. Look into what needs and behavioral patterns the dogs have and research the breeder as well to make sure they are ethically raising their animals. We also always recommend adopting a puppy or even an adult dog from your local shelter. Adopting a new member of your family is not something that should be done rashly. Carefully think it out before adding an addition like this to your home.

     

  • Geebo 9:05 am on March 13, 2019 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , puppy scam, Quad Cities   

    Pet flipping seen at shelters 

    Pet flipping seen at shelters and NY to crackdown on pet stores

    Previously, we’ve discussed many times why Geebo does not accept ads for pets. Not only does it discourage pet scams but mainly the policy in place is to discourage puppy mills from proliferating and causing further abuses against the animals they produce with little regard for the animals’ health and safety. As an alternative option, we almost always recommend adopting a pet from your local shelter and we still do. However, now at least one shelter and possibly more are encountering some of the same problems we do.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teUq9PtVKJo%5D

    For example, there is an animal shelter in the Quad Cities area of Iowa and Illinois that’s been noticing a disturbing trend. They say that they’ve been finding some of the animals they thought they had found homes for turning up on Facebook and Craigslist as being either back up for adoption or up for sale. In some cases, the animals are being flipped like you would flip a house. In that case, the shelter is banning those people from adopting any more animals from the shelter.

    In other cases, people just don’t feel that the animal they adopted is a good fit and try to find a different home for it online. In turn that animal could be taken in by someone who doesn’t have the animal’s best interest at heart and could potentially be an abuser. The shelter states that they would rather see people who aren’t happy with their pet adoption to bring the animal back to the shelter as they are better equipped to find the animal a more suitable home.

     

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