Consumers are losing even more money to pet scams on average as they’re dealing with crooks who repeatedly demand hundreds of dollars in extra cash for bogus charges, like travel insurance and heating or cooling devices for special crates to ship pets across state lines.
Victims who thought they found a new furry companion online ended up losing an average $850 in puppy and pet scams so far in 2022, up 60% since the Better Business Bureau began tracking such scams in 2017.
If you’re shopping for a pet during the holidays, it’s yet another reminder to watch out for big red flags, including a seller or breeder who is unable to take your credit card information and then asks you to pay with gift cards or Zelle.
Another tip: Don’t pay all the money upfront until you actually meet the pet in person. Many times that doggie in the picture online isn’t even real.
Total losses reported to the Better Business Bureau relating to puppy and pet scams hit $1.34 million based on complaints made from January through September. It is expected that the losses could hit nearly $2 million for the entire year. That’s down from a peak of $3.3 million in 2020 and $3 million in 2021, according to the BBB Scam Tracker.
So far in 2022, there were 1,577 reports of pet scams made to the BBB ScamTracker. That’s down from 3,979 reports in 2021.
Yet victims are losing more money on average to pet scams, as the stories that scammers tell become far more elaborate. The average loss in 2017 for pet and…
