(MUSIC SEGUE)
[00:00:15] Bob: I have a dog named Rusty.
(audio insert-“Oh, he’s so cute.")
I’m on my third rescue dog now.
I love pet adoption stories.
The love of a pet is really something special.
Why the huge spike?
So thankfully, shelters and breeders are running out of adoptable pets.
That means no refunds if something goes wrong as it often does.
[00:01:49] Bob: Have you had dogs, have you had pets your whole life?
[00:01:51] Danny: I had them all, the whole time growing up.
We kind of lived on a farm and had all kinds of animals during that time.
I was in the military for 21 years in air traffic.
[00:02:01] Bob: Danny Shelton spent most of his life around animals.
[00:02:12] Danny Shelton: The first one we had was Otto.
He was the biggest, fattest puppy of the group.
But you know we took him wherever we wanted to go.
The family was broken-hearted and not sure they could love another dog again.
So they held out for a while, but the pull for canine companionship was just too strong.
If you want to come over here and uh and take a look.”
And so I went over there, and she must have had 7 or 8 puppies.
And I said, “Do I just pick one or what?
And she said, “You hear this thing coming down the hallway?”
And she said, “That’s your dog.”
So um, I had Lois…
[00:03:34] Bob: (chuckling) That’s fantastic.
[00:03:35] Danny Shelton: … uh for 8 years.
Best dog that we’ve ever had.
No more heartbreak, never again.
Until his daughter in Iowa called him right before he was about to head there for a family reunion.
[00:03:53] Danny Shelton: “Hey Dad, the lady down the street has Weimaraner puppies.
Do you want me to check and see if she has any?”
I says, “Yeah, I’m going to be up there anyway.”
So I was the one going to uh represent the family.
And uh my daughter said, “Well why don’t you just look online, Dad?”
[00:05:06] Bob: After all that anticipation and yet, more heartbreak, why not look online?
He found an adorable puppy right away.
[00:05:20] Danny Shelton: The dog’s name was London.
It had like a, a little Christmas uh, hat that uh was on it.
And to Danny’s relief, London was still for sale.
[00:05:58] Danny Shelton: Yeah, “We have a female, uh, $700.
And I said, “Well that, that’s sounds cool.”
And the guy says, “All right, well here’s the bill of sale.”
So everything looks legitimate.
His daughter kept pestering him for pictures.
It’s going to be about another four or five hundred dollars.”
[00:07:45] Bob: First the heartbreak of losing a dog to cancer.
Then Danny had a puppy slip right out of his hands in Iowa, and now this.
[00:08:50] Alison Blackman: Well it also takes place all around the neighborhood.
It’s beautiful, you’re able to see all of the uh New York skyline.
I mean I loved it there.
I didn’t leave because I hated Brooklyn.
[00:09:48] Bob: Oh my god.
[00:09:48] Alison Blackman: And so, we called him Bob Marley.
(laugh)
[00:09:51] Bob: Maine Coons are a very special breed of cat.
[00:09:54] Alison Blackman: Maine Coons are the only true American breed of cat.
They’re big, and they’re hunters.
Big Maine Coons are the size of medium-sized dogs, and they’re dog-like.
They’ll follow you around, they’re very personable and sweet.
Nike’s just a small one.
And we didn’t know she’d be small, so she just didn’t grow into her tail.
She has a big tail.
[00:10:34] Alison Blackman: He died the day before we had to move to Florida.
[00:11:04] Bob: When the family got to Florida, Nike just couldn’t adjust.
[00:11:08] Alison Blackman: We moved with Nike.
We got her down here, and she immediately was sick.
And nothing was helping.
And I thought we were going to lose her.
[00:11:39] Bob: Poor Nike.
Nike, all the familiar surroundings were gone, and her best friend was gone, right?
Oh, it was terrifying.
I mean I love my, my pets, and she was really suffering.
[00:12:27] Alison Blackman: We tried everything; I mean literally everything.
And there literally were none.
So, you know, everybody else is lonely too.
So, she turned to the internet.
[00:13:16] Alison Blackman: I did.
I went online and I, I have to just digress for a minute.
I was out in what Frank Abagnale calls the ether because of all of this stuff going on.
And then you just don’t think straight.
[00:14:26] Bob: Alison was immediately smitten with a tiny, precious kitten named Lucky.
Lucky was black and brown and white with piercing green eyes.
[00:14:43] Alison Blackman: I looked at this kitten, I said, this is for me.
But of course, anyone can put a logo on a website.
[00:15:05] Alison Blackman: I didn’t realize, of course, you could forge them.
[00:15:19] Bob: Alison had already picked out a name for Nike’s new best friend.
I’m so excited and we’re picking names.
We’re going to call him Adonis.
[00:15:30] Bob: They agreed on a price, $1200.
And the breeder insisted on getting the money quickly through Zelle.
So I sent the money to her son, and the payment went through.
But the minute that I sent the money, I just knew something wasn’t right.
I just knew it.
I’ve collected on this stuff, and so it’s a, it’s a big issue.
[00:16:35] Bob: Danny and Alison, they’re hardly alone.
Puppy scams have exploded during the pandemic, and it’s not just puppy scams.
Twelve percent of pet scam complaints to the Better Business Bureau were about kittens or cats last year.
But who are these con artists?
Is it an individual, a web link of international criminals?
How does it work, and why is it so successful?
He lives outside St. Louis, not too far from Danny.
They think they’re interested.
They reach out, contact them.
A, a lot of the time it’s, that’s through uh text messages or emails.
People say sure the pet’s available; they answer any questions you’ve got.
So, they confirm it’s a long distance sale.
They’re not going to let you come and inspect it in person.
So people send some money for the initial payment for the pet.
And if you send the money for that, then there’s special shots.
[00:19:09] Bob: Pet scams aren’t new, but complaints about them are skyrocketing.
[00:19:14] Steve Baker: Well, a lot of it’s due to the pandemic.
So, I mean the, the financial hit can be really significant for people.
And in addition to the financial damage from these things, a lot of people are really emotionally devasted.
[00:21:00] Bob: It’s that emotional component which makes these scams so effective.
[00:21:50] Bob: They also know the right payment methods to exploit.
[00:21:53] Steve Baker: Zelle and CashApp.
Zelle, I know you know a great deal about already.
[00:22:45] Bob: And they’ve also got you one more step hooked, right?
They’re like, oh, sorry the credit card didn’t work.
Maybe you’re free to use another method, right?
[00:22:52] Steve Baker: Well exactly.
Steve says there are many things consumers can do to protect themselves.
The absolute best thing is to see the puppy in person.
And sellers should allow you to do that, even with COVID.
And there’s a few other tips that Steve has.
Google Chrome allows it.
you could do that.
There’s a place called petscams.com, it’s a volunteer group that helps with these things.
A lot of the time you’re free to search the bogus websites on there.
They make a run at identify them.
And so that’s another way to test.
But really seeing it in person is absolutely the best thing to do.
So people are going to more and more extremes to get them, which opens the door.
[00:25:46] Steve Baker: That’s right.
I mean and, of course, the scammers know that, and they’re taking advantage of that.
But it’s, it’s tough.
There’s a lot of demand for pets right now, and not that much supply.
And that just drives more and more people into the hands of scammers, unfortunately.
In the US, a man was arrested in Minnesota for pet fraud, in December 2019.
He did have a lot of fun picking out his new dog at the farm in Iowa, however.
[00:27:15] Bob: Danny Shelton: She took me out to the barn.
And the little girls were going over and grabbing them, raise the tail up.
“No, this one’s a boy.”
Putting it in a different part of the barn there.
So I picked it up, and it was.
I said, “You know what, this is, this is my dog.
She picked me, and there you go.”
So that was uh, she just had a birthday uh back in October, November-ish, three years.
She’s three years old now.
So she’ll be lucky if she makes it through once, and she’s three years old.
Cant be, uh, you know, left alone.
Okay, my dog just knocked the phone off.
[00:28:55] Bob: (chuckling) I’m still here.
That’s perfectly appropriate though.
So she knocked the phone off.
So um, she said, “I’ll, I’ll basically just let you have one.”
[00:29:06] Bob: Yolo, it seems, has to be a part of everything.
Alison and Nike have a happy ending too.
He’s black and white.
He and Nike get along.
She gained her weight back, and both of them are happy and healthy and we love them both.
She was perfectly fine all along; she was just in the ether too.
So for me it’s, it’s, it’s my dream come true, really.
So the story has a happy ending in, in many ways.
She’s happily scratching, so we’re going to have to redo it.
It kind of came with the apartment.
And then I do my work.
Be sure to find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
For AARP’s The Perfect Scam, I’m Bob Sullivan.
END OF TRANSCRIPT
Danny searches for a new four-legged best friend after his beloved Weimaraner dies of cancer.
Alison looks for a second Maine coon to keep her current cat company after a difficult move.
AARPs Fraud Watch internet can help you spot and avoid scams.
