BRYAN, Texas (KRHD) — Scams are becoming an ongoing issue everywhere. They target neighbors through call, texts and now through the desperate search for a lost pet.
- Scammers are pretending to be staff from the Aggieland Humane Society and pressure neighbors to send money through PayPal or other methods.
- The Aggieland Humane Society posted on social media that staff will never demand money over the phone for a lost pet and advises neighbors to avoid being baited.
- The executive director for Aggieland Human Society tells 15ABC one local family has already fallen victim to this scam.
- If you recieve this scam call, do not give any money and contact local authorities immediately.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
15ABC asked Aggieland Humane Society Executive Director, Katrina Ross about her reaction to this entire scam.
“Someone posted in one of our channels and was like, ‘this person called in, they were really upset, they told us that we demanded all this money from them’ and Iwas reading and I was like, what are they talking about? This is totally not something we would do."
The Aggieland Humane Society is warning neighbors about a new scam that is targeting local pet owners.
“I did see it, and it alerted me, and I wasn't aware that that type of scam was going on,” Iola resident, Bob Gibbons said.
Scammers are impersonating the humane society, demanding money from pet owners by phone to return their lost animals.
“And then lo and behold, they don't actually have their pet. They just swindle people out of their hard-earned money,” Ross said.
It's baiting pet owners to take actions out of desperation.
“You get emotionally attached to pets, they become part of your family, so you do some things that are irrational that you normally wouldn't do to get them back,” Gibbons said.
The executive director for Aggieland Human Society tells 15ABC one local family has already fallen victim to this scam.
“We've had to refer them out to the authorities because we hope that they can recover those funds and get their money back and get their pet back."
But she wants neighbors to work together to prevent this from happening again.
“Do anything to communicate before you send money over the phone. We will never demand funds to see your pet. If anything, we're going to encourage you to come to the humane society to verify in person that this really is your pet,” she said.
