“Online puppy scams rising sharply” due to surge in demand for pandemic puppies, Better Business Bureau says

Thinking about a pandemic puppy? Read this.

In a new report from the Better Business Bureau, the organization advised: “extreme caution when shopping for a pet online, especially considering scammers’ evolving tactics.” The BBB says it has received almost 4,000 pet fraud reports in 2020 from the U.S. and Canada. “Data from BBB Scam Tracker shows more reports about fraudulent pet websites in April than in the first three months of the year combined.

The COVID-19 bump is continuing into the holiday season, with consumers reporting 337 complaints to BBB about puppy scams in November 2020, a dramatic increase from 77 for the same month in 2019.”