ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)- Americans love their pets as shown by the number of pets in homes. Approximately 70% of U.S. households now have one, according to the American Pet Products Association 2021-2022 National Pet Owners Survey.
As they did with other forms of fraud during the COVID-19 pandemic, scammers took the opportunity in 2020 to take advantage of people seeking furry companions. There were 337 complaints of puppy scams in November 2020, compared to 77 reports in November 2019, according to the Better Business Bureau (BBB). People reported losing an average of $750 on pet scams.
The International Pet and Animal Transportation Association (IPATA) website allows people to report pet scams. More than 100 were reported last month in March, according to their database. However, there are warning signs to watch out for when shopping for a pet online or searching for a pet to adopt.
Pet adoption scams, or rehoming scams, lure people in through advertisements saying a pet needs a new home (to be rehomed). There are several giveaways that can clue people into a potential scam, said the Animal League Defense Fund (ALDF).
Rehoming warning signs
- An ad that doesn’t include information about the pet’s personality, behavior, and health or an ad with spelling and grammatical errors
- The person rehoming a pet does not ask…
