SAN ANTONIO – Phone scammers are upsetting grieving pet parents even more by posing as an Animal Care Services employee and claiming their lost pets have been found.
According to the shelter, the scammer says they can be reunited but demands a hefty payment in advance.
This week, a resident told ACS that they were contacted by a scammer posing as an employee, claiming their lost dogs were found but needed medical help.
The scammer provided a fake name and a Venmo link so the resident could “pre-pay” their reclaim fees for the dog’s medical care.
Instead of sending money, the resident notified the shelter of the call they received, according to ACS.
The shelter confirmed it was a scam and that her pets have still not been found.
ACS is reminding residents that they would never ask for reclaim fees or payments over the phone or through digital payment platforms such as Venmo, CashApp, etc.
“Pet parents searching for their lost dog or cat should be wary of anyone who calls saying they have found the pet but will only return the animal once they have received an upfront cash reward or money is forwarded to their account,” ACS said in a statement.
If you receive one of these scam calls, you can report it by calling the San Antonio police’s non-emergency number at 210-207-7273.
ACS also has these tips for residents to follow while searching for their lost pets:
- Check the ACS pet listings at saacs.net which is updated hourly as pets are brought into the shelter. The shelter’s kennels are open seven days a week for anyone searching for their lost pet.
- In addition to posting flyers in your area, consider placing ads in your neighborhood Facebook group, and on Nextdoor and Craigslist.
- Put only a partial description of your pet in any lost ads so you can have callers fully describe your pet to you.
- When posting an ad, choose to include the vicinity or street on which your pet was lost instead of your home address.
- Call your pet’s microchip manufacturer and report your pet as lost.
- Go to Lost Dogs of Texas on Facebook and the website Lost.PetcoLove.org to create a free flyer and post on social media.
More on KSAT:
Scam callers ‘spoofing’ City of San Antonio numbers to target residents, officials say