Puppy scam hits Victorians as police investigate fake ads online
Updated
Detectives are investigating an online puppy scam that has conned Victorians into handing over cash for dogs that do not exist.
How to suss out a puppy scam
- Do a reverse-image Google search to check if the photo has been posted elsewhere on the internet. Some scammers get around this by altering the image
- Do an online search of the seller's email address, which may bring up warnings on other sites
- Check for membership numbers from breeder associations
- Check out the seller's previous web presence
- Try to meet the breeder in person and meet the adult dogs
Police said a number of victims had come forward about online advertisements tricking buyers into paying for dogs that they never received.
"Investigators believe that victims have been asked to make cash deposits into a bank account for a puppy, interstate transport of the puppy, insurance and registration fees," a police spokesman said.
"At the end of the payments the victims don't receive a dog or their money back."
The ABC last year revealed hundreds of victims across Australia had reported online puppy scams to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
In those scams, sellers often pretended to be interstate and asked the buyer to pay transport costs.
Detectives said there may be victims across Australia, dating back to the start of 2017.
In October, The ACCC said it had received more than 600 reports of puppy scams since January 2017.
In that period, would-be buyers had lost nearly $330,000 on puppies that did not exist, the ACCC said.
Topics: animals, corruption, fraud-and-corporate-crime, law-crime-and-justice, crime, melbourne-3000, vic
First posted
