Scammers are cashing in on distraught dog owners with missing pets – and threatening to “kill and rape” those who don’t pay up.
The crooks target the owners after finding their contact details on social media posts pleading for help.
They then pretend they have kidnapped their dog and demand money for the animal’s safe return – with some even making “threats to kill and rape”.
Hundreds of cases have been reported nationwide. A single gang in Cumbria is thought to have made more than £100,000 from scam calls.
Holly Thackeray, 31, told us how she was conned after her American Bulldog Chapo escaped from her garden.
The mum-of-two, from Huddersfield, West Yorks, said: “I searched for him for days and put ads on social media. Then I got a call from a man who said he had Chapo.
“He told me to send £500 and he would leave him tied to a lamppost for me. He said if I didn’t pay, he’d chop him up. I genuinely believed he had my dog so I sent the money.” When the man called Holly again and asked for more cash, she refused to pay. Chapo was later found dead after being hit by a car.
Kayla Green, 34, was also conned out of £1,000 over her pocket bulldog Seven, who is still missing.
Kayla, from Handsworth, Birmingham, said: “We paid with the understanding he’d leave Seven with a nearby vet. This didn’t happen. The man rang us a few more times but by this time, we were certain he didn’t have our dog.”
Nathan Swalwell also got a call from a private number when his timid nine-year-old Shih Tzu cross Lexi vanished just before Christmas.
Nathan, of Orrell, Gtr Manchester, said: “‘He told me, ‘I’ve got Lexi. Give us 500 quid or I’ll shoot it’. I told him to send me a picture and he said I had to pay £50 for it.
“I got the bank details and paid. He wasn’t telling the truth and I didn’t see the money again. But when you’re desperate, you’ll do anything.” Lexi was later found.
Taylor Marie Clark, 25, of Royal Wootton Bassett, Wilts, warned others about the scam on a lost dog page on Facebook. She wrote: “I’m £380 out of pocket and no dog.”
And calls recorded by one owner, who did not want to be named, show just how low the swindlers go.
In one, the victim – who tried to back out of paying – is told: “Listen mate, I hope you’re not messing me around. If we have any police, we’ll destroy the dog. I want £700 now.”
Karen Harding, of charity Dog Lost, said: “These people are scum. We know of at least 100 cases where owners have paid fraudsters pretending to have their dog.
“The calls are threatening and violent. We’ve had threats to kill and rape. Some victims are highly vulnerable, like elderly people who are willing to part with their savings if it means getting their dogs back.”
In advice to owners, she added: “If they say they have your dog, ask for a picture containing something with the day’s date on. That way you’ll be able to tell if they’re lying.”
