Yet another scammer claiming they found my lost pet
I posted a text conversation with someone claiming to have found my lost cat about two months ago. They sent blurry photos of a black cat and said they found her on a street near where the missing flyer stated she went missing. I posted on this thread for help because I was emotional about my missing cat and couldn’t think clearly. Most people were kind and told me it was a scam but a few people tried to shame me for thinking it was a scam when it was clearly a good guy who found my cat and was being helpful. Some even criticized me as a pet owner for not knowing if a blurry photo was my cat or not.
After a lot back and forth with the guy who messaged me, we planned to meet up in a public area so he could return my cat. I was extremely doubtful he actually had her, but didn’t want to leave anything to chance. I brought my family and waited a ways away in the car, except he was nowhere to be found. He messaged me demanding a reward before he returned my cat. Clearly, he never had my cat and was preying on my vulnerability to scam me.
Unfortunately, an actual good guy reached out to me shortly after this incident to tell me he found a cat skull with some black fur on it very close to my home. We picked it up and buried it and are positive that it belongs to my baby and that my cat was actually gone the entire time.
Well, since that first scammer I have received at least six messages from other scammers claiming to have found my cat. I got this one today. I just want to warn people who lose their pets and post their phone numbers on flyers and Facebook groups that this is a reality to watch out for. Scammers are truly the scum of the earth.
I posted a text conversation with someone claiming to have found my lost cat about two months ago. They sent blurry photos of a black cat and said they found her on a street near where the missing flyer stated she went missing. I posted on this thread for help because I was emotional about my missing cat and couldn’t think clearly. Most people were kind and told me it was a scam but a few people tried to shame me for thinking it was a scam when it was clearly a good guy who found my cat and was being helpful. Some even criticized me as a pet owner for not knowing if a blurry photo was my cat or not.
After a lot back and forth with the guy who messaged me, we planned to meet up in a public area so he could return my cat. I was extremely doubtful he actually had her, but didn’t want to leave anything to chance. I brought my family and waited a ways away in the car, except he was nowhere to be found. He messaged me demanding a reward before he returned my cat. Clearly, he never had my cat and was preying on my vulnerability to scam me.
Unfortunately, an actual good guy reached out to me shortly after this incident to tell me he found a cat skull with some black fur on it very close to my home. We picked it up and buried it and are positive that it belongs to my baby and that my cat was actually gone the entire time.
Well, since that first scammer I have received at least six messages from other scammers claiming to have found my cat. I got this one today. I just want to warn people who lose their pets and post their phone numbers on flyers and Facebook groups that this is a reality to watch out for. Scammers are truly the scum of the earth.