The puppy that never arrives: how online pet-buying scams work
You find an adorable purebred puppy online at a great price, pay a deposit, and then the fees begin — a special crate, airline insurance, a vet certificate — for a pet you never get to see and that may not exist. Here is how pet scams work, the tells, and how to buy safely.
You search for a puppy — a specific breed, maybe — and find a beautiful one at a price that seems almost too good. The seller is warm, sends adorable photos, and gently warns that others are interested, so you’ll need to put a deposit down quickly. You pay. Then the costs start: a special climate-controlled crate, airline insurance, a last-minute vet certificate. The puppy is always one more payment away, and then one day the seller is gone.
How the scam works
Pet scams run on a powerful mix of emotion and urgency, and the pattern is well documented by both the FTC and the BBB:
- The irresistible listing. Scammers post ads — often for puppies — “advertising purebred puppies for a few hundred dollars when they often cost thousands,” the FTC notes, “pushing you to act fast before they’ve gone to other homes.” The cuteness and the bargain are the bait.
- Photos, never a meeting. You get a stream of pictures but can never see the animal live. The BBB found that when a buyer asks to see the pet, “the fake seller won’t ever allow them to visit in person or over video chat.” Instead they promise to ship as soon as you pay.
- The deposit, then the fee ladder. Once you’ve paid, the costs multiply. The BBB describes scammers adding “extra charges, such as immunizations, temperature-controlled cages, or even taxes and fees from airlines,” often with a story that the puppy is “stuck at the airport due to weather or documentation issues” and needs more money to continue.
- Untraceable payment. You’re steered toward gift cards, wire transfers, cash apps, or crypto — methods with no way to claw the money back.
As the FTC puts it bluntly: if you pay, “not only will you never see that puppy (who might not even exist), but you might also never see that money again.”
How to spot it
The cluster to recognize: a too-cheap purebred + urgency + photos but no live viewing + escalating untraceable fees. Real shelters and breeders want the opposite — they “encourage an in-person or video meeting,” the FTC notes, because they care whether you and the pet are a good match. A seller who resists every attempt to see the animal is telling you something.
There’s also a social-proof trick to watch for: the BBB found scammers “use multiple profiles to leave fake, glowing reviews” and even run “a fake screening process to judge whether a buyer is a suitable owner” — theatre designed to look legitimate.
How to buy safely
The single rule that defeats this is The Pause on Money: you do not pay for a living animal you have not seen alive. Insist on a real-time video call or an in-person visit before any money moves — the FTC’s advice is that if a seller won’t let you “visit, video chat, or even talk by phone, move on to someone else.”
Then layer the cheap, free checks:
- Reverse-image-search the photos. Stock or stolen pictures, the FTC says, mean “move on.” A bargain purebred plus pressure is classic Too Good = Gone.
- Search the seller’s name plus words like “complaint” or “scam,” and check their reputation.
- Pay by credit card. Never gift card, wire, cash app, or crypto — and remember the BBB’s point that demanding wire or prepaid payment is itself illegal for a seller.
If you’ve already sent money, stop paying any further “fees” and report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. This is a cousin of the broader fake online store playbook — same engine, a different irresistible product. For more, see the named defense moves or test your eye on the 60-second quiz.
- A purebred puppy or kitten is offered free or far below the usual price, with pressure to pay fast before it "goes to another home."
- You only ever get photos — the seller won't let you visit in person or meet the animal on a live video call.
- After your deposit, new fees appear: a special crate, airline insurance, vaccinations, customs — each one urgent, each one untraceable.
- Never pay for a pet you have not seen alive — in person or on a live video call. No visit, no money.
- A free or deeply discounted purebred, plus urgency, is bait. Reverse-image-search the photos; stolen or stock pictures mean walk away.
- Pay by credit card for the protections. Anyone requiring a gift card, wire transfer, cash app, or crypto is a red flag — and demanding wire or prepaid payment is itself illegal for a seller.
- Treat every "extra fee" after the deposit as the scam tightening, not a real cost. Stop paying and report it.
What makes this one sting isn’t just the money — it’s that people are buying a member of the family. The excitement and the rush of 'someone else will grab this puppy first' are doing exactly what every scam wants: switching off the slow, checking part of your brain. So I’d hold onto one unglamorous rule above all the others. You do not pay for a living animal you have never seen alive. A real puppy can be shown to you on a video call in two minutes. A nonexistent one cannot — and that single request, made calmly, ends most of these scams on the spot.
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Frequently asked
They keep asking for more money — a special crate, airline insurance, customs. Is that normal?
No — that escalation is the scam. The BBB found scammers "attempting to add extra charges, such as immunizations, temperature-controlled cages, or even taxes and fees from airlines, trying to steal as much money as possible." A common story is that the puppy is "stuck at the airport due to weather or documentation issues" and needs more money before delivery. A real seller does not invent a chain of new fees after you have paid.
The photos look real and they sent lots of them. Doesn't that prove the pet exists?
No. The FTC advises a reverse image search to "check if the pics of the available cute puppies are just stock pictures or copies taken from somewhere else." Scammers send plenty of photos precisely because photos are free and prove nothing. What proves the animal exists is seeing it live — which is exactly what these sellers refuse.
How should I pay to stay safe?
Use a credit card. The FTC is explicit that "nobody legit will ever require you to pay by gift card, wire transfer service like MoneyGram or Western Union, or cryptocurrency," and recommends a credit card "for the most protections if something goes wrong." The BBB adds that asking a customer to pay by wire transfer or prepaid card is illegal — so the payment method alone can tell you it's a scam.