How to spot a scammer and what to look for when you are feeling suspicious. Unfortunately the scammers are taking over the internet are pretending to be someone their aren't on the internet. I'm here to try and help you and give you tips for not falling for their tricks.
#1 they don't actually have puppies! They only have screenshots and stolen photos like from real breeders like me. They are saving our photos and finding photos on the internet and making hundreds on Instagram, and Facebook pages, along with a website.
Google the business, do you research look them up. Do they have an online presence? Do they have reviews online?
Do they have a phone number or are they only able to direct message you on the internet? Ask to Facetime with the breeder. Ask to see the parents via facetime. Make sure the picture of the breeder MATCHES the face you are talking too.
On Instagram you can go to Account then, About. It tell you where the account is Based. Sometimes it will tell you if the account is even based in the United States. So far from what I've seen a majority of them are saying Cameroon, Africa. (see below)
Look at how many former usernames they have. Typically the number is much higher than this one. What they do is scam you, block you, and then change their user name so you can never find them again.
They often have user names what lots of underscores. I'm honestly not even sure why but the underscore user names are their jam.
Here is another example. They have turned off location so it doesn't tell you what country they are located in and have changed their user name 7 times in the last year.
Next when speaking with them they are pushy, rude and make you pressured into buying that puppy right that minute. They give you the deal or the century and tell you they will fly to the puppy to your airport for a small additional fee.
These puppies are not cheap and they often "get you" by the price that seems too good to be true because IT IS!
Any kind of puppy, coloring, size, and gender you are looking for they have because they have a huge folder full of photos of puppies taken from the internet.
Ask for them to take a photo of the puppy with a paper with your name written on it and the date or take a video of the puppy saying your name in the video.
I've told clients to do this when they were suspicious and the fake breeder aka scammer either blocked them right then and there or made them feel bad for asking. Saying "wow you don't trust me. how rude are you etc. etc.
The scammer have my family photos from my personal account, videos and pictures of my children, my clients photos, and have hundreds of accounts. I have contacted police, lawyers, I have contacted Facebook and Instagram to get them taken down and have only been told there is nothing they nor I can do.
They told me we take down 1 and they open 10 more. I have been watermarking my photos and they put a sticker over my logo. They are not only doing it with my but tons of other breeders.
Most of these accounts have mine and several other breeders photos. Try and look for inconsistency. Different backgrounds, different puppies, different breeders, different breeder families.
Another thing is they often tell you the puppies are AKC registered which Goldendoodles cannot be AKC registered because they are a mixed breed and not a pre bred (1 breed).
When talking to them look for language barriers or using the wrong words when writing/ texting not just typos.
I'm sorry you need to go into full investigator mode when buying online but unfortunately this is 2024 and the internet is scary place.
I have done some investigating myself and these are not dumb people. The person that has a lot of these scam accounts owns a computer center / I.T. company in Indonesia. Did I report this to the police, you ask? Well yes I did and it is outside of their jurisdiction because they are outside of the country.
Here are a list of breeder I have found and blocked that are scamming people out of their hard earned money. Some I reported so many times that Instagram has now told me if I report the scammer once more my account will be terminated for taking that action or using that button too many times.
Please reach out if you have any questions
Hopefully this is just a little helpful
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