How to Avoid Pet Adoption Scams

Spotting the Warning Signs & Protecting Yourself

Adopting a pet can be one of life’s most rewarding experiences. It gives an animal a safe, loving home while offering the adopter companionship and the chance to build a lasting bond. That generosity can also make prospective adopters vulnerable. Unfortunately, pet adoption scams are growing, and they typically spike during the holiday season. Understanding how pet adoption scams work and recognizing their warning signs can help readers protect both their emotions and their wallets.

How Scammers Exploit Good Intentions

Pet adoption scammers prey on people who want to give animals loving homes. They create convincing stories, build trust quickly, and then use that goodwill to obtain money from prospective owners. They may also pressure prospective victims to act quickly, falsely claiming that other people want the pet and that immediate payment is required to secure the adoption. Demands to “act now or lose out” are a common warning sign of a scam. Or sellers may threaten to place the pet in a “high kill” shelter if not immediately adopted. This threat is another possible sign of a scam. Fraudsters often use photos of appealing animals to attract victims, targeting compassionate people, particularly those who may be isolated or vulnerable and have money available to steal.

Social Media Driven Scams

These schemes can spread rapidly through social media, where emotional posts are easy to share and identities can be difficult to verify. In advanced cons, logos for pet shelters can be stolen and used to pull off the scam, or people may be directed to fake look-alike websites that mimic real ones. Yet many incidents of pet-related fraud remain largely unreported because victims feel embarrassed or ashamed. Unfortunately, that silence protects scammers, not the people they target.

The Emotional Hook

The first warning may be the very feeling that makes the post seem irresistible. A video of a tiny puppy with big brown eyes or a sweet kitten with soft fur can create an immediate urge to rescue, comfort, or protect the animal. Scammers deliberately pair these images with stories about abandonment, illness, relocation, or an urgent deadline so that compassion takes over before careful questions are asked.

The puppy or kitten in the post may be real, but the person offering it may have no connection to the animal. Fraudsters can steal clips from breeders, shelters, rescue groups, or ordinary pet owners, then crop out identifying details, remove watermarks, or repost the footage with a fabricated story. Per the FTC, fraudsters may even use AI to show pets purportedly being mistreated in efforts to scam people. Treat an emotional reaction as a cue to pause. Liking the animal or wanting to help is not proof that the listing is genuine, and urgency should never replace independent verification.

How the Scam Unfolds

A scammer may advertise a pet that is not actually available or does not exist at all. Stolen photos and videos can make the listing appear genuine, while artificial intelligence can help create realistic images, messages, documents, or backstories. After gaining a victim’s trust, typically through storytelling, the scammer requests an initial payment and then invents additional expenses, such as:

• Veterinary care, health tests, or vaccinations
• A kennel or crate for transport or other pet supplies
• Shipping, transportation, or insurance fees

Most scams begin with fake yet believable stories, followed by requests for payments upfront. Asking you to pay ahead of meeting is a sign of a scam. Whenever possible, avoid doing business with someone you have never met. Also take the time to independently verify their legitimacy. Before proceeding, confirm that both the pet and the circumstances are genuine. If doubt exists, do not proceed. Never provide your personal information or send advance payment to an unknown seller simply because the story feels urgent or compelling. Even if the seller seems nice, you are taking a huge risk by doing business with someone you have never met. Protect yourself first. If someone selling or rehoming a pet asks for payment but refuses to meet in person and let you see the animal, walk away as it is likely a scam.

A Philadelphia Victim Speaks Out

NBC10 reported that Philadelphia resident April Libman lost more than $10,000 after responding to a social media post about a maltipoo named Leah in need of rehoming. The post claimed that a woman with stage 4 cancer could no longer care for the puppy, and Libman believed she was helping by offering the dog a new home.

She initially paid a $250 processing fee and $450 for the dog. The requests then escalated to payments for a shipping crate, insurance, and a large veterinary bill. After she sent the money, Libman received a message telling her that she had been scammed. By sharing her experience, she hopes to help others avoid the same trap.

The damage extends beyond the financial loss. Victims may feel betrayed, violated, angry, or ashamed, not only because their money was stolen, but because their compassion was deliberately manipulated. A scam can cause emotional harm as well as financial loss.

Warning Signs to Watch For

In hindsight, Libman recognized several red flags, including requests to send money through payment methods that are difficult to trace or reverse. Be especially cautious when a seller asks for:

• Cash or wire transfers
• Cryptocurrency
• Gift cards
• Other unusual or non-refundable payment methods

Asking people to make payments in hard-to-trace methods such as those above indicates a scam. Legitimate businesses typically strive to meet potential pet adopters before accepting payment. Most commonly accept checks or credit cards, which offer stronger fraud protections than debit cards and some other forms of payment.

Linda Levin of the Better Business Bureau explained the tactic to NBC10 Responds: “Scammers will always try to pull at heartstrings, will always try to appeal to human emotion so that you really lower those walls, so that you listen more and maybe you are not as alert or use that discernment to say, okay, there’s something wrong here.”

Being scammed can be devastating, and embarrassment may keep victims from reporting what happened. In this case, Libman was also disappointed in the outcome, not only was she financially cheated, but there would also be no puppy. Libman’s decision to speak publicly was a constructive one: sharing an experience can expose common tactics, reduce stigma, and help protect others.

How to Avoid Pet Adoption Scams & Protecting Yourself

Scammers are skilled at inventing believable stories and manufacturing urgency. The responsibility for the fraud lies with the scammer, not the victim. Still, a few careful steps can reduce the risk.

1. Be skeptical of unfamiliar social media posts. Treat listings from people you do not know with caution. Whenever possible, work with a local shelter, rescue, or seller whose identity and reputation you can verify. Visiting a pet in person helps you determine whether it is a good fit for you and your family.

2. Verify the pet and organization independently. Visit the shelter, rescue, or seller in person and meet the animal before paying. Confirm contact details through sources other than the original post, and do not rely solely on photos, videos, or documents supplied by the seller.

3. Do not pay in advance through hard-to-recover channels. Avoid cash, wire transfers, cryptocurrency, gift cards, and similar methods. If a seller refuses a conventional payment option and insists on an unusual one, walk away.

4. Look beyond a polished website. Scammers can build convincing sites and social media profiles. If a group claims to be a nonprofit rescue, verify that it exists and check its tax-exempt status through the IRS. Also search independently for its physical address, telephone number, history, and complaints.

5. Check photos and videos for reuse. Use a reverse-image search and search distinctive phrases from the listing. Look for the same animal appearing under different names, locations, or contact information. A pre-recorded clip is not verification; ask for a live video call in which the person responds to a simple, spontaneous request, such as showing the animal beside a handwritten note with the current date.

6. Verify every third party yourself. If the seller mentions a veterinarian, transporter, insurer, or shipping company, do not use only the telephone number or link the seller provides. Find the organization through an independent source, contact it directly, and confirm that it is involved. Be wary of invoices, certificates, and tracking pages that cannot be verified outside the seller’s messages.

7. Create a cooling-off step. Do not let a countdown, threatened cancellation, or claim that another adopter is waiting force an immediate decision. Save the listing, step away, and ask a trusted person to review the messages. A legitimate adoption source should be willing to answer reasonable questions and allow time for verification.

8. Protect your information and preserve evidence. Do not send copies of identification, banking details, account passwords, or verification codes to an unconfirmed seller. If you suspect a scam, stop payment if possible, keep screenshots, receipts, profile links, telephone numbers, and email addresses, and report the listing promptly to the platform, payment provider, and appropriate authorities.

9. Don’t fall for phony information. In some pet adoption scams, particularly those where people are asked to send money overseas, outright lies are part of fraud. For instance, a potential victim may falsely be told that the CDC quarantines dogs and requires fees to release them or bring them into the country. This information is false as the CDC does not “hold” dogs and charge fees for their release.

Pause Before You Pay

Pressure to act immediately is itself a warning sign. Slow down, compare the listing with other sources, search images for possible reuse, and ask for a live video call that shows the pet and seller together. Discuss the situation with someone you trust before sending money, and report suspected fraud to the platform where the listing appeared and to the appropriate authorities. You can also report pet scams to the FTC.

Steering Clear of Pet Scams

To steer clear of being scammed, never pay money upfront without verifying legitimacy and meeting the pet first. Also, use safe traceable payment methods, watch out for fee escalations, and stay educated on how pet adoption scams work to avoid falling victim.

Snowballing Costs in Pet Scams

Pet-adoption scams often begin with a relatively small, plausible charge, such as an application, processing, or transaction fee. Once the victim pays, the scammer introduces a series of new expenses for the pet, a shipping crate, transportation, insurance, vaccinations, veterinary care, permits, or an alleged emergency. Each request is presented as the final obstacle standing between the adopter and the animal.

This escalation is deliberate. After someone has invested money, time, and hope, walking away can feel like losing everything already committed. Fraudsters exploit that emotional and financial investment by creating urgency, promising reimbursement, or insisting that one last payment will complete the adoption. They may continue until the victim refuses, runs out of funds, contacts a trusted person or financial institution, or the scammer believes discovery is likely.

Key Warning: Changing Prices 

Pause immediately if new fees appear after payment, especially when the seller demands fast payment through wire transfer, cryptocurrency, gift cards, cash-transfer apps, or other methods with limited recovery options. (Again – never pay through those unprotected methods as they indicate scams.) Do not send additional money to recover what you have already paid. Instead, stop communicating, save the messages and receipts, contact the payment provider promptly, and report the account or listing.

Highlights: Avoiding Pet Adoption Scams

Pet adoption should begin with compassion, but compassion works best alongside careful verification. Do business locally, visit the facility and meet the animal, confirm the seller or rescue independently, question urgent or escalating fees, and use a payment method that offers protection. Speaking openly about these scams without blaming victims makes it harder for fraudsters to succeed and safer for genuine adopters to welcome a pet home.

Disclosure: This article is purely informational and is not a substitute for professional advice.