How To Avoid Puppy Scammers

Concerned that a breeder or rescue you are buying a dog from is a scammer? Here are some tips to keep in mind when buying a dog online.

- Always ask to Facetime. 

I will ALWAYS be more than happy to facetime my customers and allow them to meet the puppy in this way before picking them up. This assures me that my customer is committed to buying the puppy, and it also assures my customer that I am not a scammer, because they get to meet both the puppy and I, as well as see that the puppy is very much real, healthy, and owned by me. 

- Ask about reviews or references.

When asked about reviews or references, I will always send customers to the positive reviews that have been left on my Facebook page by previous customers. Many other websites will also have reviews that are visible to the public, such as Testimonials on Puppies.com and Verified Stories on Good Dog. These can prove that a breeder has had customers before. If your breeder DOES have some reviews, then read them and click on the profiles of the people who left them. Some scammers may create fake accounts to leave reviews on their fake breeder page. Some good signs of a legitimate review are including several pictures of the puppy, and if the account that posted the review has a profile picture, several posts, and was created long before the review was written. Most fake accounts will not have profile pictures, will not have any posts, and will have been created at the same time that the review was written. 

- Ask about their vet.

Ask if your breeder has a vet's office that they regularly go to. If they say no, then they are definitely a scammer! Ask for their vet's address, number, name or information. I always give my customers the name and information of my vet if they ask. In fact, my vet is listed on my website in several locations! Scammers will not have any of this information because they will not have an actual vet.

- Ask for videos of the puppies, and not just pictures.

Scammers do not usually have videos of the puppies, as videos are harder to steal. I will gladly send both videos and pictures of my puppies to anyone that asks!

- Ask for customised pictures.

Ask your breeder for a personalised photo of your puppy that cannot be easily found online and would not ordinarily be replicated. For example, ask for a picture of your puppy next to a HAND-WRITTEN sheet of paper that has your name, address, and number on it. You can also ask for a video of the puppy next to it and playing on top of the paper. Videos are harder to edit, and if the puppy is playing ON TOP of the paper, then it will be basically impossible for someone to edit-in words on it. Zoom in on the picture or video and make sure it is hand-written and doesn't look edited. It is usually pretty easy to tell if the writing is hand-written or typed! By asking for a customised image like this, you can prove that the breeder actually has the puppy. Some scammers will pretend to be customers and will ask breeders for pictures, videos, and pedigrees of their puppies just to steal them! By asking for an image with YOUR name and address on it, you are eliminating this risk, because the scammer would have been using a different name and address to contact a breeder. 

- Review their pictures or videos.

Do the puppies look consistent? Do the backgrounds look consistent? Sometimes, scammers will call a puppy a boy when it is really a girl, or vise verse, and this can sometimes be seen in pictures or videos. In addition, ensure that the pictures or videos of the puppies look like the area that the breeder claims to live at; a breeder in Texas, for example, shouldn't have snowy pictures of their dogs! Lastly, backgrounds. If the background of a puppy picture is fake, then that can be a sign of a scammer. Ask to see the original photo. Some responsible breeders will use fake backgrounds to create themes for holidays or to make photos of the parents easier to see and judge, but a responsible breeder will ALSO always send the original photo of the puppies and parents. A scammer will not, or will claim that the fake background is a real one! Look at the edges of the dog in the photo- if the edges are discoloured or weirdly smooth, then this may be the sign of a fake background. Aside from fake backgrounds or holiday themes, if a breeder's puppy pictures vary a lot in quality, background, or location, or you never see the same dog twice on their page, then these are huge red flags. Most breeders have a designated area in the home for pictures or videos of puppies, so the backgrounds and quality of the pictures usually remain the same for every puppy. Scammers might steal pictures and videos from multiple breeders, causing them to all have different quality and different backgrounds. If a breeder's social page has pictures that all look totally different, and no pictures that look similiar, then this might be a sign that they are a scammer.

- View their website.

While some more advanced scammers will create fake websites or steal websites from legitimate breeders, most of the time, a dog scammer will not have a website. If your breeder does not have a website but regularly has pups, then this might be a red flag! If your breeder does not have a website, then ask them why. In some cases, small in-home breeders will not have a website because they only have one litter a year. In other cases, a breeder will not have a website because they use an already existing website like Good Dog and do not need a personal website. If your breeder DOES have a website, then review it yourself. Does it look professional? Are there forms of contact on it? Do the puppies on the website look like the puppies you have already seen? How many litters are listed, if any? And what ages? If all of the puppies are the same age but NOT from the same litter, then this is a huge red flag! It is very unlikely that ALL of a breeder's puppies are the same age unless they are all from the same litter. You should also see if the puppies have their parents and birthdays listed on the site. I always include the parents in my litter listings and will give the birthdays of the puppies to my customers!

- Contact them on multiple platforms.

Unfortunately, there are cases in which a scammer will impersonate the name and location of a legitimate responsible breeder, and the scammer may even steal watermarked photos from that breeder. This happens fairly often on Facebook, in which a scammer will create a Facebook page impersonating a real breeder. So how do you know if a breeder is real or fake? In theory, if a scammer is impersonating a real breeder, they will use their image, name, location, puppy pictures, maybe even point you to their reviews and their website to make themselves seem more like the legitimate breeder! It can be difficult to tell in these cases that the impersonator is a scammer and is not the real breeder of those puppies. The best way to tell is by messaging that breeder from EVERY contact they have available. Send them a text message, an Gmail, a message through Facebook, leave a comment, and message them through their advertising sites such as Puppies.com or Good Dog. (This is exactly why I have my Gmail available first-thing on my website, my Good Dog page, AND my Facebook!) If the breeder responds weirdly or differently across all or some of the platforms, or if the breeder does not recognise you from your other messages, then this is a huge sign that you are dealing with an impersonator! It's important in this situation to report the impersonator and find the real breeder and to alert them that there is a scammer using their name and photos, which can hurt their real-life breeding program!

- Are they on Good Dog?

If your breeder is on Good Dog, then you can eliminate your concern of them being a scammer. Good Dog takes months to screen and evaluate every breeder before they are allowed to join the platform. Breeders must undergo evaluations, their website must be scanned, and they must answer lots of questions before they may be approved by Good Dog to join. It is not automatic; professionals that work for Good Dog personally take the time to evaluate breeders and approve or not approve of them to join. It can take months to be approved. Whenever a breeder is approved, they are still closely monitored. Their messages, posted litters, and uploaded images are all monitored by Good Dog staff. Good Dog has a money back guarantee if, somehow, a scammer does slip through the cracks. Good Dog also offers many other services for customers and breeders alike that aide in education, warranty, and care. If you are looking for a breeder, I highly recommend searching on Good Dog! My Good Dog page is linked under purchasing info.

- If they block you, then they are a scammer!

No responsible breeder would block a customer, even if they were having problems! The ONLY exception to this is if the breeder is in an UNSAFE SITUATION, such as them or their dogs being threatened or stalked. 

In the end, if you have a bad feeling about a breeder or rescue, then don't go through with the payment! Trust your instinct. It's usually right!