Collier County, Fla. (WFLA) – This is a phone call that pet owners don’t want to receive. Someone on the other side of the line saying that dogs and cats are attacked by cars and may not survive.
For many in Collier County, those calls were far from reality.
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Officials said the scammers are preying on vulnerable people looking for lost pets, pretending to be Collier livestock services and asking for money for emergency surgery.
“They claimed they were working for domestic animal services and they let me know they had found my dog. She was attacked. I was wondering if she would survive,” Emily Gunn, a victim of the scam, told NBC affiliate Gulf Coast News.
Collier Das staff said they had previously encountered pet-related scams, which is one of the most offensive scams. The scammers have spoofed shelter phone numbers and chased potential victims based on social media posts and flyers about lost pets.
The numbers appear as Collier Das in your Caller ID, prompting the owner to pick up the pet thinking that someone may have actually found a missing pet. However, in many cases, scammers call days when shelters are generally closed.
Many pet owners, like cancer, share stories of meeting social media con artists. Gunn has not yet reunited with the lost Yorkie, Charlie.
“Why would someone want to hurt you when it’s just such a vulnerable time?” she said.
Collier Das said Gulf Coast News staff will not call or get injured on the phone. Rather, the shelter will find the lost pet, notify the owner, and ask them to come directly to the facility.
Anyone who receives a call that suspects they are fraudulent should contact Collier County Home Animal Services on a different line to ensure it is accurate.
