People looking to purchase an alpaca are being warned that scammers are taking advantage of those hoping to buy one online.
Key points:
- Scammers are targeting people who are looking to buy an alpaca
- One victim lost $500 to a scam after putting a deposit down
- The Australian Alpaca Association is encouraging buyers to be diligent
The Australian Alpaca Association said it had come across scams, particularly on Facebook, that were leaving people red-faced and hundreds of dollars out of pocket.
Rita Soares, a breeder in Central Victoria and the association’s social media coordinator, said it was upsetting to see this happening in the industry.
“It’s really frustrating because there are wonderful people all over Australia who do great things with alpacas,” she said.
“It’s a shame there are people scamming others for quick money.”
Ms Soares said she came across a Facebook page claiming to sell alpacas that had many people following it.
“There were lots of comments of enquiries of people wanting to buy the alpacas … and lots and lots of people following the page,” she said.
“When I looked further, there were alpacas in snow that did not look like Australia.”
She said it was “suss” as the page had a “really wide range” of places it was supposedly selling the alpacas in from Victoria to Adelaide.
