I have taken a guide off of puppyfind.com for you to use to determine if you are being scammed buying or selling a puppy on the internet, it is sometimes hard to determine, so get references if you are having a puppy shipped and can not see facility or home were the puppy is being raised and parents of the puppies, it is never a good idea to meet someone to purchase your new puppy, they can clean the puppy up and you would never know that the puppy was raised in poor conditions. A vet reference is the best reference you can get!!

Joanie Hebert

Online fraud is growing, infecting many websites and other forms of communication. Everybody needs to be aware of what to look for and how to protect themselves so they can continue to have a good online experience. Our customer service team is doing everything possible to pinpoint and block scam artists attempting to defraud our members - keeping up with their evolving strategies to sneak by us undetected. Even with our new fraud-catching tools and a virtually 24/7 fraud department a few scam artists are still able to sneak by - usually not for long - and may come in contact with some of our members. In order to further deter the few that find their way in we need to raise awareness to sellers about the scam attempts that can hurt them directly.

What to watch out for:

1. A buyer that wants to send you a money order or cashier's check, usually over the amount you are asking.
2. A buyer that requests a refund for all or part of their payment.
3. A buyer requests to send the extra payment to their "shipping agent" who will be picking up the puppy.

Scam artists exploit the delay in processing deposited money orders and cashier's checks by asking for refunds after they are sure you have received their counterfeit payment. It's hard for your bank to determine that the deposited funds are actually in your account. To give you an idea, counterfeit money orders / cashier's checks can take two weeks or more to be recognized, especially if the originating bank is outside of the US. We have received reports that some banks will confirm that the money order is good, however, it will come back as fraudulent several weeks later. Your bank may be able to give you a time frame for when they can give you a solid answer about your deposits. So, make sure your bank understands the situation and that you have given your deposits time to clear completely before you send requested refunds.

If you feel a buyer may actually be a scam artist then email all buyer information and email correspondence to scamalert@puppyfind.com. We can research the account and remove scam accounts so that others will not be affected. Collect all your correspondence (e.g.; email, letters, payment) to give to your local authorities. You can also report them to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (www.ic3.gov).