Victims lose hundreds in beagle puppy scam: BBB
Posted June 10, 2019 10:10 pm.
Last Updated June 11, 2019 12:14 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — If you’re looking to adopt a puppy, make sure you’re not being taken for a ride.
The Better Business Bureau is warning about a scam that advertises beagle puppies for adoption on eclassifieds4u.com. Instead of getting a furry new friend, victims are getting swindled for hundreds of dollars.
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Karla Davis with the BBB, says six people in B.C. lost $500 each in the fake beagle puppy scam. Across Canada, she says there were about 33 reports of scams involving puppies reported to the BBB over the last year. There have been 18 so far in 2019.
She says the scams target people’s love for animals.
“Even if they love puppies or kittens or birds or whatever it is, there is always something out there that will pull on your heartstrings,” she says.
In the scam, victims are promised adorable beagle puppies at a low price, but there are some red flags.
RELATED: Free puppies: Nova Scotia woman issues warning about cruel and unusual scam
For instance, the scammer asked to be paid in Google Play gift cards, before asking for more money.
“One particular victim drove all the way from Ashcroft to Prince George where the scammer said that he lived, and when he got there, the people who lived in the community told him there is no-one with beagle puppies, and the house that he went to is actually being put up for sale, so there was no-one there,” she says.
