Puppy scammers are some of the worst human beings on the planet in my opinion! They prey on people’s love of and compassion for animals, especially dogs.
I hope this post and others that I’ve written over the years will help prevent just one person from getting scammed by these despicable people.
Just one of many stories like it of someone getting scammed by a puppy scammer
A grandmother in Ohio found someone selling teacup Chihuahuas and thought she had found the puppies of her dreams.
That dream started to crumble when after months and multiple payments to the seller she began to question whether she would ever see the puppies or her money again.
The woman told the local news station “what is the reason for taking someone’s hard-earned money and breaking their hearts”? “I can think of no reason apparent reason”.
The woman wanted to remain anonymous because she had not told her family that she spent nearly all her savings trying to get a dog.
It all began, as many puppy searches do, with a search online for “teacup Chihuahua puppies”. Chihuahua was the breed that she and her family had had when growing up and that is the breed she had her heart set on.
She found a seller that was ready to give her puppies away.
She gave a price of $300.00 each. She thought that was a pretty good price for Chihuahuas.
The seller told her that she needed money to drive the puppies to where the woman lived. She thought that was a reasonable request. So she sent her the money.
Then the woman told her that her car had broken down and she asked for more money to fix it so she could make the repairs and make the trip.
So the grandmother paid her even more money and the seller told her that another woman was going to deliver the puppies to her.
The sellers continued to ask her for more money in gift cards and CashApp payments all the while sending the woman hundreds of emails and text messages.
These people preyed on her compassion for dogs telling her they were stuck in cages until she paid.
“Chihuahuas only weigh about five pounds, they’re not very big, so it doesn’t take that much for them to starve.” the woman said.
The woman filed a police report, however, officers were unable to get in contact with the scammers. She said the officers told her anyone trying to get paid using gift cards is usually a scammer because the cards can not be traced.
next up: read my interview with a responsible breeder who legitimately sells her puppies online:
HOW TO AVOID BEING SCAMMED BY A PUPPY SCAMMER
Have you been a victim of puppy scammers? I hear every single day from someone who was heartbroken because of a puppy scammer. Especially since the pandemic crises, puppy scammers have been cropping up everywhere.
These despicable scammers (although I have an unprintable name for them) will appeal to your emotions, take your money, and leave you with no puppy and no way to get your money back. They prey on people that are desperately looking for a pure-bred puppy to love and care for.
