How to spot a scammer:
There are thousand, if not millions of scammers out there. Waiting for that one uneducated person to fall for their scam. Some are easy to spot and some are upping their game to becoming better at it. On Facebook alone, I have encounter hundreds of scammers. Don’t become one of their victims. Do your due diligence to become educated and know what to look for. Know the signs, warnings, and red flags that can tell you that you are talking, messaging, and being scammed a scammer. In less than 2 minutes the other day I spotted 10 SCAMMERS on a Facebook page. This is one of the biggest places for people searching for a puppy to be easily scammed. Its gotten INSANE! Please do your research before just falling for a cute puppy picture and sending money! Scammers change names, profiles every single minute with stolen pictures and information. Here are some basic ways to ensure you don’t get scammed:
📌Speak with them on the phone!!
📌ASK for client references...more than 2!
📌ASK for Vet reference
📌ASK for website/FB business page
📌ASK to FaceTime or video message to speak in person
📌ASK a zillion ??? without feeling bad
📌ASK for parentage/lineage/ DNA/Health testing
📌ASK for a picture of puppy w/ hand written note next to said pup w/ your name on it!! Be creative.
There are thousand, if not millions of scammers out there. Waiting for that one uneducated person to fall for their scam. Some are easy to spot and some are upping their game to becoming better at it. On Facebook alone, I have encounter hundreds of scammers. Don’t become one of their victims. Do your due diligence to become educated and know what to look for. Know the signs, warnings, and red flags that can tell you that you are talking, messaging, and being scammed a scammer. In less than 2 minutes the other day I spotted 10 SCAMMERS on a Facebook page. This is one of the biggest places for people searching for a puppy to be easily scammed. Its gotten INSANE! Please do your research before just falling for a cute puppy picture and sending money! Scammers change names, profiles every single minute with stolen pictures and information. Here are some basic ways to ensure you don’t get scammed:
📌Speak with them on the phone!!
📌ASK for client references...more than 2!
📌ASK for Vet reference
📌ASK for website/FB business page
📌ASK to FaceTime or video message to speak in person
📌ASK a zillion ??? without feeling bad
📌ASK for parentage/lineage/ DNA/Health testing
📌ASK for a picture of puppy w/ hand written note next to said pup w/ your name on it!! Be creative.
Now before you call the numbers they give you google search them. Don’t just think the number is legit! Remember they are scammers. They don’t think like you and I when it comes to being honest. They up there game by giving you another number that they have or an accomplice/friend has. They will answer that number and pretend to be the person that you are intending to call for example. My Vets number is 16068786965. If you do a reverse look up or look up my bets Name it will show London Veterniary Clinic with that number and their London, KY address. A scammer will give you a number that they can easily get through an app and act like that vets office. But if you search for the actual vets number to verify that you are in fact calling the number that you are suppose to be, then that’s a sure way to know your talking with the person you meant to call. Research who you are talking too. Whether, it’s through Facebook or a website. Research!!! Research!!! Research!!! Ask for multiple references from past puppy buyers. Every breeders should be able to give you tons of references. Not just 2-3. I know me personally, I can. I also will make a post on my FB page for that person to person talk with those that post their experience with me. That way it’s not just me they are getting the name from. I personally do my best to bend over backwards to show people that I am in fact a real honest person that they can trust. I do all I can to prove that you can put trust in me and that I won’t do you wrong. If it’s sending all this info then that’s what I do. I send videos stating your name in the video that way it has been done right then. It’s personalized. I send you pictures with your name in the picture or a random word that you ask for. Just another way to prove I have the pup. Some scammers will have the said pup in the presents. Just another reason to do research with references to know how they have done people in the past. Watch and follow that breeder for a whole. Whether, it’s a few months up to a year. Build a relationship with the breeder. Get to know them on a personal level. For me like like building relationships that way people can see and know that they can trust me.
Every breeder should check everyone of these boxes. If you watch them over time they should be every one of these examples. But if you don’t try and communicate with them then you will not get nowhere.
Just be cautious! One sure way to not be scammed is meet in person. See the pup in person. I know for me if that’s what it takes then I’ll meet. But if my pup isn’t old enough then I have certain requirements that must be met before I meet. Like if it’s a young pup not weaned then you will come to my closest city.
When you message them and ask simple questions that shouldn’t be hard. They should become anger, aggressive, or mean like. Watch their language. For example, if they are short with you and talk like they are new at speaking English. Below are pictures of an actual conversation I had with one. First red flag is their name. Now guarantee some people do use weird/odd names on their profile. However, if you actually go to look at it you can tell. One is the number of friends they have. Some will only have a few. Some will have thousands. But look at who they are friends with. If they are a summer white by their profile pictures but have zero white friends that’s a flag. Even a white person will have at least a few white friends/family members as friends. Scroll through their pictures. If their picture just don’t add up. For example, one scammer had only two pictures of supposedly them as a white person. But if you scrolled through more they were African American. They steal people’s picture and use them as their own. Heck, they will even act as if they work for breeders and use breeders names/kennel names. Message that breeder/kennel personally and ask. I just seen where a scammer just did this and scammed a person out of their money. When the scammer no showed, the person then contacted the breeders business page. After talking to the actual breeder the person learned that the person they sent money didn’t work for them. I personally don’t have anyone either that works for us. I do everything personally myself. It’s sad that they use our names and ruin our names in ways by doing this. Shame on them! I know for me I have work long and hard to get where I am. I have worked hard to build my name and I wouldn’t do anything to ruin it. Another way on their business page not personal to tell is if it’s new and they have posted great looking picture of numerous breeds all in one day. On that page, you won’t see them talk with people openly either. In the below pictures a buyer/seller should have caught that when I stated my state that “my” is not a state. It was initially an error and I thought, “Nope, I’m not correcting it. If they are a real breeder owner, then they will ask me where MY is.” But they didn’t say a thing. Because it didn’t matter to them. Notice the way they talk to me. A real breeder won’t do that. When I keep asking for something so simple they got rude and then stop responding. Then when I called them out they blocked me. They did that so they can continue to post without me telling people they are a scammer.
Recap on that last part:
🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩RED FLAGS🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩
Less than a week on Facebook (new account), Less than a week in a FB group, Less than 50 friends & sometime more then 1000 friends, Friends not matching profile type, Not willing to LIVE CHAT, ETC.
Do your part and research the person/business that you are inquiring on. Us breeders are putting ourselves in harms way with them by outing them. They then turn around and try to say we are scammers. When we aren’t. Then they report our pages and do all they can to keep us from keeping them from reporting them. Sad that this is what it’s come to. Just be cautious and aware. I’ve did all I know to help you and teach you. Now it’s your turn to be proactive and put this to test. Can you now spot a scammer? Can you tell if your being scammed? Take these tools that I have taught you and put them to work. Let’s hope you can.