Dog lovers duped online

Scam artists conning animal lovers on social media have just been arrested by the Guardia Civil.

Their modus operandi consisted of publishing fake advertisements online claiming they were selling dogs, when the dogs never actually existed. The Guardia Civil’s operation ‘Dog Fake 2022’ identified 9 alleged perpetrators who have been formally accused of fraud, money laundering and of belonging to a criminal organisation, according to a Guardia Civil statement.

Social media users told to transfer money

An investigation began in 2022 after a flurry of reports by people claiming they had been conned in online puppy sales on well-known social network platforms. Scammers gained their trust by sending photos of the puppies and then requesting a Bizum payment or bank transfer under a variety of concepts such as ‘transportation’,’insurance, ‘vaccines’, among other fictitious expenses. Once the money had been received, all communication was cut by the con artists and their victims’ accounts ‘blocked’.

Most of the victims were in Nerja (Malaga), Pamplona, Lerín (Navarra), Albacete and Castelldefels (Barcelona). One person reported that they had been a victim of an online scam when he tried to buy a Dogo Argentino puppy through a puppy sales website. He contacted the seller and was asked to transfer €260 up front, followed by another transfer for €1,200 to cover the rental of a cage, and then a further €800 for travel insurance, of which the victim could only manage €400. And then, he was told to pay another €525 for supposed vaccinations.