Don’t Fall For The Scam With The Puppy Dog Eyes!

Sometimes the ad offers a free puppy. Or, maybe a pure bred dog needs a new home. The scam works like this: although the dogs are “free,” the seller will ask to be wired money in order to safely ship the dogs. Some victims have even gone to the airport to pick up their new pet only to discover there is no dog and they’ve been scammed. A recent version of the “puppy scam” offered two registered English Bulldogs “free to a good home.” Fortunately, the scammer’s attempt was thwarted because an alert Southern Oregon newspaper editor publisher smelled something fishy and refused to run the ad.

The puppy scam relies on the best intentions of animal lovers. Another version of the puppy scam involves a con artist posing as a “puppy mill rescue group”. These offers claim to have rescued a batch of purebred puppies from a puppy mill, when in reality it is the puppy mill operator itself posting the ad.

For more information about other puppy scams, and expert advice on humane pet adoption please check out the ASPCA Web site.

Anyone who believes they have been approached by a scammer should call the Oregon Department of Justice Consumer Hotline at 1-877-877-9392 or go to the Department’s Web site: www.oregonattorneygeneral.gov. To stay informed about scams, sign up for the Scam Alert Network at: https://www.doj.state.or.us/finfraud/scamalertnetwork.shtml

Attorney General John Kroger recently unveiled a new feature on called Be InfORmed, which allows consumers to look up complaints about businesses: www.oregonattorneygeneral.gov/beinformed

Contact:

Consumer Protection Hotline: 1-877-877-9392 |

Online: www.oregonattorneygeneral.gov |

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