You found the listing on a Tuesday evening. Tiny paws. Floppy ears. A price that somehow seemed just right. Your heart skipped a beat. Maybe this was the one. You started picturing dog beds, first walks, the smell of puppy breath in the morning. Then you sent the money. The puppy never came.
This happens to thousands of dog lovers every single year, people just like you and me, who simply wanted to bring a furry companion home. According to BBB data, nearly 10,000 scam reports and complaints have come in during a recent three-year period about businesses selling puppies, and the FTC estimates that only about 10 percent of victims even report these crimes. That means the real numbers are almost certainly far worse. Read on, because what you’re about to learn could save you hundreds, even thousands, of dollars and a whole lot of heartbreak.
The “Too Good to Be True” Price Tag
Let’s start with the oldest trick in the book, because it still works every single day. Scammers know that a bargain puppy is almost irresistible, especially when you’ve been eyeing a French Bulldog or a Yorkie that typically costs well over a thousand dollars.
In the case of purebred breeds, the puppy being offered is often at a significantly steep discount compared with the average price for a puppy of that breed. That low price is the hook, pure and simple. It’s designed to get your emotions running faster than your logic.
Beware of prices that seem too good to be true. Maltipoos, for example, usually cost over $1,000 from a responsible breeder, so when you see them listed for $500 or $600, it’s often fraud. Think of it this way: a legitimate breeder invests in health testing, quality nutrition, and vet care. There’s simply no room in the math for a dramatic discount.
Stolen and Recycled Puppy Photos
Here’s the thing about that gorgeous photo of the puppy you fell in love with. Chances are, a scammer grabbed it from a real breeder’s Instagram or a stock photo website. Most scammers use stock photos of puppies to attract potential buyers, and if you do a look-up, you’ll probably find those photos on many different sites.
These con artists frequently steal photos from real pet owners, breeders, or stock image sites to make their listings look authentic. The solution is surprisingly simple. Upload photos to Google Images, Bing Visual Search, or TinEye to see if they appear elsewhere before you trust a single word the seller is saying.
The Sob Story That Plays on Your Kindness
Scammers are wickedly good storytellers. They know dog lovers are compassionate people, and they weaponize that compassion with a devastating effectiveness. Other points to look for: they almost always say they are only giving the pet away because their child passed away, that they moved for a new job and cannot provide enough attention for the animal due to work hours, or their new house won’t allow pets.
They spin believable cover stories about why the pet needs a new home, like a military deployment or allergies in the family, and using tales of illness, unplanned litters, or other hard-luck narratives, they pressure buyers to decide quickly before having second thoughts. If a seller’s story feels like a movie script, trust that instinct. Real breeders don’t need dramatic backstories to sell their puppies.
The “Email Only” Communication Trap
A real breeder wants to talk to you. They’re proud of what they do, they love their dogs, and honestly, they want to make sure you’re a good fit for one of their pups. A scammer, though, will dodge a phone call like it’s a hot coal. A reputable breeder will always communicate with you via phone or video chat before selling you a puppy. Fraudulent sellers are oftentimes outside of the U.S. and may be hiding their phone number by only communicating by email.
Be wary if the supposed seller only wants to communicate through certain messaging apps, cannot answer basic questions about the pet’s background, refuses video calls or in-person meet-ups, and insists on payment through hard-to-trace peer-to-peer money transfer apps. If someone genuinely has a litter of puppies, they can pick up the phone. Full stop.
The Fake Shipping Fee Avalanche
This is probably the cruelest trick of all, because it happens after you’ve already paid. You think the deal is done. Then the fees start rolling in, one after another, like waves that just don’t stop. In addition to the typical scam practices of advertising puppies that do not exist, demanding high fees once the purchase price has been paid is another practice used by scammers, and such fees can be for shipping, special crates, bogus insurance, health-related issues, and others.
Some of those tactics include: “Crate didn’t meet airline standards, so you need to pay for a different one,” or “Puppy needs medical attention, so you’ll have to pay for the services before transport,” or “Too warm or cold, so we need to buy special devices to keep the pet comfortable during transport.” Greedy sellers rarely are satisfied with stealing a few hundred dollars from their victims and most will demand additional payments until the buyer finally becomes suspicious or runs out of funds.
The Fake Airline and Shipping Company Website
I know it sounds crazy, but scammers actually build entire fake websites just for this trick. They need to make those bogus shipping charges look official. Scammers are now copying airlines’ websites, images, and logos to scam people out of additional money, and once you make arrangements with the fake shipper, you then receive an email from the “airline” saying that you need to send more money for missing paperwork, shots, improper kennel, or required pet insurance.
Others create fake “delivery company” websites to trick buyers into paying additional shipping fees, and you should always double-check the shipping company independently and never rely solely on a link provided by the seller. Think of it like this: if someone hands you a map to a treasure, it’s worth checking whether the map is real before you start digging.
The Gift Card and Wire Transfer Payment Demand
This one is a bright, flashing, neon red flag. No legitimate breeder on the planet needs you to pay for a puppy with Apple gift cards or a wire transfer. Ever. The seller asks for payment up front through Western Union, MoneyGram, a digital money app like Zelle or Cash App, or via a gift card. These methods were designed, from a scammer’s perspective, to be completely untraceable and unrecoverable.
Money transferred through bank apps cannot be recovered if the transaction is fraudulent. If a breeder insists on wire transfers, Zelle, or gift cards, it’s almost always a scam. Reputable breeders typically accept secure methods such as PayPal or credit card, which give you options to dispute charges if something goes wrong. Always, always use a payment method with fraud protection.
The Social Media Scam Page With No Real History
Scammers have moved aggressively onto Facebook and Instagram in recent years because that’s where the emotion lives. You’re already scrolling, you’re already in a browsing mood, and then a photo of an adorable Frenchie pops into your feed. While scammers have shifted a large percentage of their outreach toward social media over the last several years, the scam operates the same as those run through websites.
Scammers rarely have more than a handful of followers, no comments, and very few posts. A page created last week with thirty followers and fifteen photos of perfect puppies is not a breeder. It’s a trap. Check the page creation date, look for real interactions, and search for the breeder’s name independently before you send a single message.
The “No In-Person Visit” Excuse
A genuine breeder is proud of their home, their dogs, and their whole setup. They welcome visits, because a puppy going to a great home matters to them personally. When a seller refuses to let you come see the puppy in person, that should stop you cold. Those looking to purchase a purebred animal should always insist upon an in-person visit. There is no substitute for the ability to ensure the animal you are purchasing actually exists, and it allows a potential buyer to judge the legitimacy and ethics of the breeder as well.
Request to see the premises and the puppy’s mother. Avoid breeders who offer to meet you at a “convenient” public location and will not allow you to see where the animals are kept. Honestly, meeting at a parking lot is one of the clearest signs something is wrong. A real kennel has an address you can visit and verify.
The Animal Abandonment Threat
This one is genuinely disturbing, because it targets the very love you have for the puppy you’ve never even met. Once a scammer has pulled you emotionally into the deal, they flip the script and threaten you. Such emails may also threaten individuals with criminal charges of animal abandonment or abuse if fees remain unpaid, a common fear tactic scammers employ to demand additional money.
They will even try to convince you that if you do not send them additional money they will report you for animal abandonment to the authorities. This is pure psychological manipulation, nothing more. There is no puppy. There is no authority. There is no abandonment. The moment a so-called “breeder” threatens you legally over money you haven’t paid, you should stop contact immediately and report the scam to the BBB and the FTC.
Conclusion: Your Love for Dogs Is Your Greatest Strength, So Protect It
The reason puppy scams work so devastatingly well is because they target something real and beautiful: your genuine desire to love and care for a dog. Buyers should be especially aware that pet scams, unlike other online shopping scams, depend on the perpetrator being able to coerce the buyer into sending money several times, until they have lost hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
The good news? A trustworthy breeder will communicate openly, provide proof of their puppies, and make you feel comfortable with the process. Always insist on an in-person visit or a live video call, use payment methods with fraud protection, reverse-image-search every photo, and never let urgency or emotion override your instincts.
Online puppy scams will most likely continue to be an issue, but individuals and families can protect themselves by making themselves aware of the typical warning signs, and by adopting through an animal shelter, rescue group, or AKC-certified reputable breeder. The puppy of your dreams is out there. Just make sure the person on the other end of that listing is as real as your love for dogs.
Have you or someone you know ever encountered a puppy scam? Share your experience in the comments below, because your story might be exactly what saves another dog lover from the same heartbreak.
