In an ongoing series highlighting festive scams, policy this week are warning people about puppy scams.
Scammers know Christmas is a popular time to gift pets, and tug at people’s emotions posting fake ads of sought-after breeds, police said.
The QPS as well as ScamWatch have warned previously about the rise in puppy scams seen during 2020.
“Don’t fall for the cute pictures and cheap prices for what is a non-existent puppy – always do independent research and cut off communication if the ‘seller’ requests upfront payments through unsecure methods such as wire or bank transfer,” police said.
“Doing a reverse image search is a good way to check if the puppy photo has been taken from elsewhere.
“Always get a veterinarian report on any animal before you consider buying it.”
Detective Inspector Vince Byrnes from the Financial and Cyber Crime Group said that you are always going to be better off buying a pet that you can see in person prior to buying the pet.
“We are reminding Queenslanders to stay in control when shopping online by ensuring the product website is legitimate, and researching the website online prior to making any purchases,” Detective Inspector Byrnes said.
“If a website does not participate with a secure payment service or a credit card transaction, or is offering greater discounts for direct deposit, it is most likely a scam.
“Usually the criminal is after your finances and your personal identification information.”
