The holiday season is here! You may think to yourself, it has been a rough year with the pandemic on top of other stressful life events. You finally decide now would be a good time to add a four-legged member to your family. You do a little internet search and find a website that sells puppies. Is it legitimate or not?
According to the Better Business Bureau, "Scammers love to take advantage of people when they are in a high emotion situation. The excitement of buying a new pet can cloud good judgment, and victims can be hurt financially and emotionally when they realize they have lost their money along with hopes for a new pet."
The Better Business Bureau strongly urges you to do your research. If you are interested in a certain breed or puppy, find out how much they typically cost. If the website lists the price to be too high, or the opposite, too low, think twice from purchasing from that site. It is also recommended to conduct an internet search on the breeder or organization's name.
A resident from Reno recently reported to the BBB Scam Tracker their experience with a puppy scam:
"My wife and I were looking to purchase a dog and found a website. The initial price was $700. We needed to extend the delivery date by three weeks and additional charges were added for food, vet appointments, etc. for an additional $200 twice. The new total was $1,100. Once we were ready for the puppy to be shipped, there was another $155 added. Then, on the day of shipping, another $700 was added for insurance and another $250 for the shipping crate.
"The puppy was then to be shipped from Minnesota to Nevada, but instead went to Utah. Then the state pet border control wanted $500 for each state in order for the puppy to continue its journey to North Las Vegas. These last charges of $1,950 were to be refunded upon delivery. The plan was to have a transport service deliver the puppy to us. We never heard from them again. Our total investment is $3,205."
Remember, when purchasing a puppy from a website, make sure you did your research and know for certain you are not dealing with fake sellers. Once you make a payment online and realize you were dealing with a scammer, you won't be able to get your money back. Another option you can look into is to consider visiting your local animal shelter and adopting, instead.
For more tips on how you can protect yourself from scams,
